Newfoundland and Labrador Product Development Strategy

- 90-Newfoundland’s major tourist areas are heavily committed in the summer season. But oneseason of good demand is not adequate to make businesses profitable, or even sustainable. Thefuture focus needs to be on growing demand in the shoulder and winter seasons, to takeadvantage of underutilized capacity on the one hand, and to improve industry viability on theotherFor this to happen, the tourism industry needs to be open for business in the spring and fall,particularly public sector facilities such as museums, tourist chalets, etc., as well as travellerservices such as restaurants. Additionally, there needs to be a concerted effort to developtourism offerings that will sell in these seasons, not just discount the basic offerings of thesummer season. This means building product offerings around experiences that are appealing inthese seasons.Tourism product development, to be effective in achieving products that will significantlyinfluence demand and successful economic development, cannot be built on the basis ofeconomic need, as urgent as that need may be. Rather, tourism development needs to respond toopportunity, real market-based opportunity. Being successful in a very competitivemarketplace is not about democracy or equality of access for all, or, in fact, about communityeconomic development. It is about taking the best products you can to the marketplace, thosethat meet market expectations and can compete and succeed, and investing the level of effort anddollars necessary to achieve success. It means building on our strengths, the icon attractions ofthe province, our already-established tourist communities and areas, our best travel routes.It inevitably means doing a few things well, rather than a lot of things superficially. Tourismdevelopment based on market opportunity works; doing it for other reasons in the absence ofresponding to a market opportunity doesn’t. This will require some fresh thinking aboutcommunity economic development approaches involving tourism, a topic we will address inSection 7.It is important to take a clustering approach to development. Clusters of scenery, attractions,activities, accommodations, plus traveller services work together synergistically in creatingdestination appeal. Having a critical mass of such things makes a tourist destination. Thismeans building on existing tourism assets in destination areas as a priority over attempting toestablish new destinations.Labrador (other than the south Coast) is a completely different destination. It has differentproducts and different markets. It requires different strategies, tactics, partners, etc. What worksfor the island won’t work for Labrador, and vice versa.Traditionally, the island of Newfoundland has been marketed by the Province as one destination.However, because of its size, the island really requires a stay of two weeks or more to see evenits highlights alone. The modern North American tourist prefers shorter trips today, particularlythose travelling by air. We should therefore, in addition to our current approaches, bedeveloping and offering shorter itineraries and packages, and encouraging repeat trips. Weshould be ‘clustering’ experiences and traveller services on a regional basis, as follows:THE ECONOMIC PLANNING GROUP of Canada Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism Product DevelopmentD. W. Knight Associates Strategy and Accommodation Needs Study