Newfoundland and Labrador Product Development Strategy

Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism Product Development Strategy andAccommodation Needs StudyThe Top Ten ConclusionsTourism is growing in Newfoundland and Labrador. That growth is good for the economy andthere is much more potential for the future. But there is a very real risk of the homogenizationand overdevelopment that is common to so many other destinations. We have a special placeand special people, and these are fundamental to our appeal as a tourism destination. If theseunique features are lost, then the province’s potential as a tourism destination will be lost aswell. Unlike other destinations, we can’t rely on beaches, hot weather, casinos and largemarkets next door to keep visitors coming in spite of losing the destination’s natural and culturalintegrity.Now is the time to take steps to protect and nurture the unique features of this ‘special place’.This is fundamental to being able to sustain and grow the province’s tourism. The tourismindustry has a unique window of opportunity today to really ratchet up the potential of theprovince in the international tourism marketplace. In this context, we offer the followingoverall conclusions with respect to strategies for tourism product development in the province:1. The experiences that draw people here are rooted in the province’s natural and culturalheritage. Visitors have a great time enjoying the dramatic and unique outdoors, wildlife,cultural heritage and the people.2. As mentioned above, strengthening and growing tourism requires a serious commitmentto protecting and nurturing this ‘special place’ - its natural environment, its built heritageand the culture of the people of the province.3. It also requires, as a priority, building on the tourism features and types of tourismproducts that generate and influence travel, on destination areas having clusters oftourism assets and services, and on touring routes.4. The viability of the industry in future will need to come from marketing and growingdemand in the shoulder and winter seasons, along with enhancing the quality of ourtourism products and services, our professional skills, and our pricing.5. The industry in the key destination areas in the province is operating at capacity in thepeak summer season, but at comparatively low levels most of the rest of the year. Forgrowth in capacity to come, we will have to lengthen seasons to make it feasible for theindustry to invest in expansion. We have to be ‘open for business’ in the other seasonsoffering potential and make a special effort to develop products and packages that cangenerate demand in these periods.6. The provincial and federal governments are the province’s largest tourism operators,operating the tourism products that play a large role in influencing travel. As such, theyneed to strengthen their commitment of resources to these tourism assets.….cont’d