Newfoundland and Labrador Product Development Strategy

- 88-This is not to suggest that we not attempt to upgrade our products and customer service. Nor is itan excuse to say that we don’t need to participate in training programs and upgrade our skills. Itis simply to suggest that, more importantly, we need to make sure we protect and nurture ourspecial features. That has to come first. The other stuff needs to be pursued more carefully lestwe disturb what’s more important.If waitresses are used to calling people ‘love’ or ‘dear’, let them do it. Don’t tell them that theyhave to change just because they don’t talk like that in New York. Talking like aNewfoundlander is part of what makes Newfoundlanders special. Treasure it. Celebrate it.Protecting and nurturing the sense of place that is so important to the Newfoundland andLabrador tourist visitor is of critical importance to the long-term sustainability of a qualitytourism industry in the province. We need to make sure that Newfoundland and Labrador doesnot become the same as everywhere else, that it maintains and strengthens those things that makeit different, unique and appealing. The province needs to have an explicit set of values thatprotect the uniqueness of place and culture from the negative impacts of homogenization andoverdevelopment. These values should be woven through training programs, through thedevelopment of our accommodations plant, attractions, cultural activities and entertainment, andthey should be reflected in the way we treat our customers.ValuesIt is important that a set of values associated with the quality of place be articulated and agreed toby the stakeholders. That will provide a common framework to guide and anchor the effort.The Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation in its publication ‘Vistas and Views:Management Conference TCR Workbook, November 2000’ articulated the following mission forthe department:“The mission of the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation is to help achieve the bestpossible quality of life for people in the province by strengthening economic growth andemployment in the tourism industry, fostering creativity through the contemporary arts,preserving and interpreting the province natural and cultural heritage, and promoting activeliving through recreation and sport.”The document went on to present a set of values to guide its work, in terms of what thedepartment and its staff believe to be important in what they strive to achieve, along with othersof a more operational nature. We quote the first five of the values, all of which are relevant toour discussion here:o “We believe that the province’s natural eco-systems, processes and organisms, as well asits culturally significant structures, landscapes, places, artifacts, objects and fabric, haveintrinsic value, beyond their economic value;o We believe in managing now for the future, to protect and sustain the health, diversityand productivity of our rich natural environment and distinctive culture, for the benefit ofTHE ECONOMIC PLANNING GROUP of Canada Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism Product DevelopmentD. W. Knight Associates Strategy and Accommodation Needs Study