Newfoundland and Labrador Product Development Strategy

- 98 -Section 6Strengthening and Building on Tourism DemandInfluencers, particularly those having Shoulder orWinter Season PotentialOverall ApproachSome tourism products help generate travel; others feed off of that travel.For Newfoundland and Labrador, the primary things that generate leisure tourism are the uniquenatural attractions of the province and its people. The tourism products that are revenueproducing and of commercial character are most commonly depending on tourism, notgenerating it. This applies to accommodations, restaurants, retail stores and other travellerservices.This produces a conundrum. How are we to grow tourism if the things that will contribute tothat growth are not self-sustaining from revenues? And how do we justify investing in selfsustainingbusinesses if they are not contributing to tourism growth?The answer, in our professional opinion, lies in the following approach:o Building tourism products around the natural attractions – interpretation, animation,packages, tourso Developing commercially sustainable tourism products rooted in the natural, cultural andheritage attractions of the province – packages, tours, performances, merchandise, etc.o Giving support to the tourism products that can actually influence demand, treating thoseof less than commercial character (meaning they can’t be expected to cover operatingcosts from revenues) in the same fashion as tourism infrastructure, warranting publicsector funding support. This is done for national and provincial parks, museums, historicsites and visitor services. A somewhat similar, albeit hybrid approach, is warranted forother such products. Examples include ‘leisure style’ accommodations, attractions,outdoor adventure products, cultural programs, on-going special events and package tours(local, regional and provincial).How these approaches might be applied to different kinds of demand influencing tourismproducts is discussed in this section.We will also evaluate in the shoulder and winter season potential of the demand influencingproducts and then rank them overall, i.e. based on their shoulder and/or winter season potentialand their demand influencing potential.THE ECONOMIC PLANNING GROUP of Canada Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism Product DevelopmentD. W. Knight Associates Strategy and Accommodation Needs Study