Newfoundland and Labrador Product Development Strategy

- 130-Other Opportunities in Packaged ProductThere are other packaging opportunities worthy of pursuit:o Learning travel products and packages (the new GMIST program is expected to assistwith assisting the development of such products)o Highly unique and specialty tours/packages having exotic appeal. For example, apackage in which tourists could travel by ferry along the South Coast of the island, to andfrom Bay L’Argent on the Burin Peninsula in the east and Rose Blanche in the west.Others might include trips to the new Torngat Mountains National Park, and/or a newcoastal Labrador cruise program.Need for Industry Training on Working with the Travel Trade and PackagingA workshop program needs to be developed and delivered to the tourism industry across theprovince on business practices in dealing with the travel trade, most particularly with respect topricing their products to be able to provide wholesale prices to tour operators in all seasons.A program designed for this purpose, ‘TradeSmart – The Travel Trade Supplier CertificationProgram’ is available to Provincial DMOs on a license fee basis through The Economic PlanningGroup of Canada (EPG). It involves both training on working with the travel trade andcertification of operators meeting a high standard of business practice in this regard. Thisprogram is currently being delivered in both New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.(As the present report has been authored by the same company, EPG, we declare a conflict ofinterest here. Our comment should therefore not be taken as a recommendation with regard to theTradeSmart program, but rather as a point of information. Others will have to judge whether thisprogram, some other program or a new program would best suit the interests of Newfoundlandand Labrador.)Seminars on packaging have been developed and delivered in the province in the past, it appearswith limited effect. The fundamental problem is that most operators feed off of tourism that isoccurring and only a minority of them engage in proactive efforts to seek out and developmarkets, which is the essence of the rationale for packaging. It isn’t realistic to expect thatsituation to change much in future regardless of efforts to the contrary. We have recommendedseveral initiatives here that engage real packaging professionals, the tour operators, in packagedevelopment. These will be more effective ways of pursuing package development. Theindustry training programs should therefore focus on working with tour operators rather than onpackaging itself.Outdoor AdventureThe outdoor adventure sector involves outdoor equipment outfitters and adventure experiencecompanies offering guided trips. In this province, the industry association is the ‘AdventureTourism Association of Newfoundland and Labrador’ (ATANL). Boat tour operators are alsomembers.THE ECONOMIC PLANNING GROUP of Canada Newfoundland & Labrador Tourism Product DevelopmentD. W. Knight Associates Strategy and Accommodation Needs Study