Lets Get this Buggy Going!

Table of Contents:
Exploring Experiential Travel on the Boomtown Trail 1 The Boomtown Trail 2 What is Experiential Travel? 3 Experiencing Experiential Travel 4 Experience #1 - A Victorian Culinary Affair 5 Experience #2 - Discover Your Terroir 7 Benefits of Experiential Travel Discovering the Value of Partnerships Everyone is in the Tourism Business Moving in the Same Direction 11 13 15 17

Next Steps 19

Exploring Experiential Travel on the Boomtown Trail

On April 29th and 30th, the Boomtown Trail hosted a symposium evaluating the merits of experiential travel. Leaders from throughout the region assessed the value of adding to existing sustainable tourism initiatives, and determined if the Boomtown Trail should further invest in training for its people. Lets Get This Buggy Going! was a symposium, as opposed to a training session or workshop. The intent was to bring travel experts from industry and government together with Boomtown Trail community, business, and political leaders for an in-depth discussion of the potential for experiential travel. Presenters were leaders in their fields, that were handpicked to ensure the material presented was of the highest caliber and relevance. The symposium welcomed representatives from Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation; Travel Alberta; the Chinook Country Tourist Association; the Gros Morne Institute for Sustainable Tourism; Earth Rhythms; and the Tourism Caf. The symposiums sessions and hands-on activities walked participants through the theory of experiential travel, its practical application, and its place in the overall economic development of the region. Experiential travel is about taking the tourist experience beyond sightseeing and picture taking it is about engaging visitors in ways that are immersive, memorable, and personally relevant. This is an extension of our visitors willingness to pay for experiences. Experiential travel is not a fad; it represents a new layer of opportunity and that businesses and destinations can choose to embrace to respond to demand, generate new markets, revenues and community pride. The symposium itself was experiential and illustrated how participants could create similar experiences in their own communities. Facilitators challenged the group to expand their traditional views of tourism and develop the mindset that everyone is in the tourism business. The importance of partnerships was emphasized and participants developed an understanding of how working together could not only generate economic growth for their region, but develop strong communities.

The Boomtown Trail

The Boomtown Trail is located east of the Queen Elizabeth II Highway and encompasses Highways 21, 56 & 9, reaching from the town of New Sarepta in the north to the town of Bassano in the south. It has 25 municipal members; one post-secondary institute, the University of Alberta (Augustana Campus); and one Aboriginal member, Metis Nation of Alberta Region 3.

Boomtown Trail features original buildings from the boomtown era, taking visitors back to the origins of small town Alberta. The Boomtown Trail is officially known as the Boomtown Trail Community Initiative Society and its mission is that of regional social and economic development.

The Boomtown Trails name is derived from the distinctive style of architecture found throughout the region. Known as boomtown architecture, it is characterized by a grandly designed front covering a more humble building behind it. Almost every community along the
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What is Experiential Travel?

At the symposium, Canadian experiential travel experts Celes Davar of Earth Rhythms and Nancy Arsenault of the Tourism Caf explained the concept of experiential travel. More than ever, people are traveling their passions, according to Nancy, We have become an experience driven society. We now pay to do things, not have things. Introduced by B. Joesph Pine and James H. Gilmore in their 1999 book The Experience Economy, this concept recognizes that consumers want more than goods and services, they are looking for experiences that will create lasting impressions. Nowhere is this more evident than in the example of trendy coffee shops that can charge $5.00 or more for a cup of coffee. Customers can easily make a coffee at home for a fraction of the price, but they choose to go to the stylish and comfortable coffee shop, order the special blend, watch as a barista prepares their hot drink, and step forward as their name is called. This is all part of the experience, an experience that consumers willingly pay for everyday. The Boomtown Trail is well positioned to be an active player in the experience economy. Its location between two major urban centres means that the region has access to over two million potential visitors each year; and they are gateway cities for entering Alberta. The trail has something unique to offer: the rural lifestyle. an experience that the businesses along the Trail can package and offer to visitors. The Boomtown Trail has already ventured into experiential travel with the Alberta Prairie Steam Tours, Dessert Theatres, and Walk Among Us; and has seen great success. It is now ready to move forward with experiential travel, and this symposium created the roadmap that will take them there.

This is some of the best stuff I have seen in 30 years. - Ted Ritzer, Alberta Parks

Experiencing Experiential Travel

Symposium organizers felt that the best way to show the benefits of experiential travel was to have participants actually experience it. The effect was transformational for all involved.

Experience #1 A Victorian Culinary Affair

The first experience was lunch at the Camrose Heritage Railway Station and Park. This local museum treated participants to a traditional Victorian luncheon and illustrated how a museum can be combined with historic characters and a culinary experience showcasing locally sourced foods. Volunteer servers dressed in period clothing greeted participants as they entered the building. Beautifully set tables complete with fresh flowers, a detailed menu, and real china teacups awaited guests in the Tearoom. Local historic character Sara Brown, wife of an early local pioneer, welcomed the group and regaled everyone with stories of pioneer life in the Camrose area circa 1900. The stories were real, entertaining, and emotional as Sara told of the joys and sorrows of pioneer life in rural Alberta. The menu on the table not only informed guests of the lunchtime fare, but also highlighted the use of locally sourced ingredients. The servers were lively and engaged guests with questions and comments about the venue, pointing out architectural and historic details, and initiating discussions that continued well after the servers had left the tables. To connect the participants to the core concepts of experiential travel, they were divided into groups and sent to different areas of the museum where they were engaged in a new visitor experience that could be replicated with guests. This gave people an opportunity to explore areas of the
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building that they would not have otherwise seen, prompting discussions about how the building was originally used and how lucky they felt to have this exclusive experience. The Victorian Culinary Affair highlighted the need for museums to provide experiences, rather than simply things to look at, in order to be sustainable. Sara Browns performance was an example of storytelling on the oral tradition and is something that all communities can do. She was not a fictional character, but an actual pioneer who lived in the Camrose area. In fact, one of Saras daughters still lives in Camrose and knows the volunteer who plays Sara Browns character.

The lunch was more than a meal; it was truly a culinary affair. Everything was made locally and wherever possible ingredients were sourced locally. The menu was true to the era it represented: herbed tomato soup, salmon canaps, cucumber and cream cheese canaps, current scones served with homemade jelly, crustless quiche, and for dessert a rhubarb apple coconut crumble with whipped cream. The menu highlighted the locally grown tomatoes and cucumbers, the locally produced eggs and dairy items, and the locally milled Sunny Boy Flour used to make the Sunny Boy Bread. It was a one-of-a-kind experience, and participants felt honored to have been part of it.

Experience #2 Discover Your Terroir

This experience also focused on a meal, but it was so much more than food and entertainment. Discover Your Terroir showed the importance of partnerships in generating economic growth and creating strong communities. Discover Your Terroir was a full evening experience including a locally sourced meal, entertainment from Boomtown Trail characters, and a hands-on lesson in sausage making. The location for this experience was Caf Connections, a local restaurant affiliated with Open Door, a local organization that meets the needs of youth at risk in the Camrose area. The evening began with beer sampling from a local brewery and a warm welcome from the Executive Director of Open Door. Participants met Malorie Aube of Country Accent, a business that promotes good, healthy, and locally grown food; and learned that they were not only going to dine on locally made sausage, but they were going to make some themselves! Everyone was brought into the kitchen where they met Nicola Irving of Irvings Farm Fresh, a local pork supplier and sausage maker. Nicola shared the story of her familys arrival to the Camrose area and the establishment of their farming operation. Copies of the sausage recipe were distributed and as the ingredients were brought out,
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Nicola shared the local origins of each one. Participants were not only interested in learning where these ingredients came from, but expressed surprise that so many were locally sourced. Many eagerly took notes on where they could purchase these items and chatted with Nicola, and each other, about where to shop local in Camrose. This was certainly a hands-on experience and as ingredients were brought out, participants got busy chopping, food processing, mixing, and laughing. Making sausages is not something most people do in their day-to-day lives, and the novelty of the experience brought people together in a way that simply eating together could not.

The group was brought back to the dining room to eat and enjoyed a meal that was prepared and served by the youth of Camroses Open Door. A detailed menu was provided at each place setting listed the food being served and included interesting tidbits about the ingredients and origins of the recipes. After dinner, the group was treated to a sampling of the Boomtown Trails Dessert Theatre. A unique experience, the Dessert Theatre was designed to showcase Albertas early pioneering history in combination with our provinces rural charm and hospitality. While guests indulged in a homemade dessert, they enjoyed live

entertainment compliments of the Boomtown Trails historic character program. Nora Smith told of her life as Delburnes first telephone operator in the early 1900s, Irene Parlby voiced her support for womens rights as one of Canadas Famous Five, and James Gadsby shared a few stories about his runins with outlaw gangs in the 1870s. This experience was multifaceted and could not have happened without strong partnerships. The entire program illustrated the community-building aspect of experiential travel and showed how everyone is in the tourism business. Two local familyowned businesses worked

together with a nonprofit and local volunteer actors to create a memorable, oneof-a-kind experience for visitors. Hosting the event at Caf Connections supported Open Doors PEER Connection program, which gives youth at risk paid work experience at the caf. It also gave Open Doors Executive Director, Randal Nickel, an opportunity to chat with the group and share stories about how Open Door is changing the lives of youth at risk in Camrose. This experience demonstrated the harmony between economic development and community development in action.

The two experiences, created for the Symposium, showed participants how experiential travel works. When they returned to the conference room, participants were challenged in workshop activities to identify just what made these experiences so successful. The group identified what made these activities experiential and began thinking about how this could be developed in their own communities. By the end of the symposium, participants felt empowered and knew they had the raw materials needed to deliver experiential travel, now they just needed to package it and deliver it to travellers.

I have been to events that preached the value of local food, but still did not serve it. Here at the Camrose Railway Station we had bread made from Sunny Boy! How much more local can you get? - Bill Cunningham, Deputy Mayor, Trochu

I loved the hands-on, experiential stuff they gave us. We all had to participate. It really was a working symposium. - Brenda Campbell, Economic Development Coordinator, Town of Irricana

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Benefits of Experiential Travel

The mandate of the Boomtown Trail is regional and socioeconomic development led by tourism. Integrating experiential travel into existing sustainable tourism initiatives will give the region an edge in generating economic growth and strong rural communities. Studies show that demand is growing for experiential travel: 85% of tourism operators rate experiential travel as important or extremely important to their business, only 53% plan to offer it. This presents an opportunity for the Boomtown Trail to take a leadership role in the delivery of experiential travel. The economics of experiential travel have been studied and proven. Jonathon Foster, Executive Director of the Gros Morne Institute For Sustainable Tourism (GMIST) in Newfoundland and Labrador, shared the story of Atlantic Canadas tourism industry. When the cod fisheries closed, the region had to look to other economic drivers and tourism was the answer. The region moved from a resource-based economy to a tourism-based economy. With a lot of work and commitment to partnerships, the region developed a tourism industry that boasts world-class arts and culture experiences and has seen a 37% increase in new tourism business over the past ten years. Ken Duncan, CEO of the Boomtown Trail, identifies with Atlantic Canadas experience, pointing out that rural Alberta is still feeling the effects of many years of drought, and Bovine Spongiform Encephalaphy (BSE) on the cattle industry. These were then followed by a significant economic downturn. The crisis rural Alberta has been in for some time is worsening and our region is not immune. Populations are dwindling; economic impacts of energy and agriculture are waning. Young people are leaving and not returning. In addition, the demographics of an aging population loom large. This is, in part, why the Boomtown Trail has looked to tourism as an economic driver.

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The economic benefits of incorporating experiential travel in a tourism-based economy are clear. Experiences reach a smaller number of people than traditional travel activities, but generate a higher return due to the higher price that can be charged. Experiences are based on the commodities, goods, and activities/services that are unique to the region. While experiences are a distinct tourism product, they also drive sales of commodities, goods, and activities/services. For example, the sausagemaking experience offered to symposium participants was a customized activity for the group: they had the opportunity to meet with and talk to the pork producer, learn about the

local ingredients used in the sausage, and actually make sausage together with a local expert. At the end of the sausagemaking experience, participants were asking where they could purchase the sausages as well as the ingredients. The community benefits stem from the premise that everyone is in the tourism business. The symposiums Discover Your Terroir experience illustrates this point well: with the exception of the historic characters, the partners were not from the tourism industry. This experience was created by small, locally owned businesses and a local nonprofit. Partnerships are the key to the successful development of experiences, and partnerships also create strong communities.

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Discovering the Value of Partnerships

A consistent thread throughout the symposium was the value of establishing partnerships to deliver exceptional experiences. Successful partnerships can involve traditional tourism operators, local businesses, and government. The group was challenged to look at their experiences through the travellers lens and acknowledge that travellers are not concerned with who owns the company, they are simply looking for a meaningful experience. Colleen Kennedy, Executive Director of the Gros Morne Co-operating Association in Newfoundland and Labrador, spoke to her regions success in developing partnerships. The practice of business-to-business partnerships was a huge change from the way their tourism operators used to work, but the benefits have proven that a new way of thinking was needed. Nicholas Wyslouzil of Chinook Country Tourism Association (CCTA) shared how partnerships are working in Alberta. CCTA partnered with Travel Alberta to obtain a sub-license to use the Explorer Quotient (EQ) customer profiling research, allowing them to

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leverage the work that Travel Alberta is already doing to target specific traveller types. Clustering has allowed tourism operators to realize the benefits of co-opetition by working together to reach their target markets; for example, the Belles of the Badlands have come together to promote ranch vacations throughout Chinook Country. The development of an online booking system for all businesses has provided one-stop shopping for visitors to purchase event tickets, make dinner reservations, book accommodations, or even secure a tee time at a local golf course.

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Everyone is in the Tourism Business

Closely tied to the importance of partnerships, is the concept that everyone is in the tourism business. This led to an understanding that the regions infrastructure, activities and programs could be strengthened by examining the visitor experience with each type of business. For example, a financial institution is generally not considered to be in the tourism business, but the experience one has at a local bank affects their visit to, and impression of, a community. This applies to all aspects of a community, whether it is a local grocery store, gas station or even a clothing store. A shift in thinking needs to be made throughout the region about the experience customers are looking for, because it is that very experience that they will share with family and friends when they get home. The two experiences offered by the symposium fully demonstrated the concept that everyone is in the tourism business. Local businesses and nonprofit organizations, as well as traditional tourism operators, worked together in the creation of unique and memorable experiences. Participants saw firsthand how this way of thinking, and working together, can be successful.

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Boomtown Trail communities need to understand that experiential travel helps everyone, not just tourism operators. The more experiential travel opportunities that are created, the more travellers that will be attracted, and this benefits the entire community. Clearly, this work has more implications than just tourism, it impacts the economic and socioeconomic health of the entire region.

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Moving in the Same Direction

Presentations from Marty Eberth and Sheila Campbell, representatives from Travel Alberta and Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation, supported a move to experiential travel and explained how this fits in with the work of both government departments as Alberta works to meet its goal of increasing tourism revenue to $10.3B by 2020. Marty Eberth shared information about Travel Albertas remember to breathe campaign that focuses on creating Goosebump Moments for travellers. Marketing materials and workbooks were shared with participants to assist them in the creation of Goosebump Moments when developing experiences. Marty also described Travel Albertas motivation for investing in the Canadian Tourism Commissions EQ research. They are using EQ to target specific traveller types and the Boomtown Trail can capitalize on this existing marketing effort. By piggybacking on the work that Travel Alberta is doing, communities along the Boomtown Trail can adjust their own marketing strategies to better meet the needs and desires of travellers that are already coming to Alberta.

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Sheila Campbell also supported a move to experiential travel and highlighted how this aligns with three areas that Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation have identified as priorities: Culinary tourism with an emphasis on meaningful, high-quality culinary tourism experiences; sport Tturism that creates linkages between sporting events and the travel experiences that would appeal to family members and spectators; and event tourism through the development of an event planning manual and event planning workshops.

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Next Steps
This symposium was a transformational experience for participants it showed participants how easily they could apply the principles in their own communities. The realization that some communities are already doing experiential travel meant that these experiences can now be packaged and marketed to specific groups using the EQ strategies. Most importantly, the symposium alerted the Boomtown Trail to the value of participating in the experience economy, with experiential travel leading the way. Participants were challenged to ask themselves if experiential travel is relevant to them and their communities. If the answer was yes, they were further challenged to consider how could they be a catalyst for change. The idea that everyone is in the tourism business was clear and it was agreed that this message must be delivered to businesses and municipalities throughout the Boomtown Trail. The need, and demand, for training became evident during the symposium. From the types of questions being asked to the outright request for training, it became clear that the Boomtown Trail must

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pursue training opportunities for its people. The Boomtown Trail will respond to this need by investigating partnerships with organizations such as GMIST, the University of Alberta, and government to provide experiential travel training. The Boomtown Trail recognizes that its residents choose to live in this region because they want to enjoy a rural lifestyle, and what is a lifestyle but a sum of all ones experiences? The Boomtown Trail also recognizes that maintaining this lifestyle is critical to the future of the region. The manner in which this rural lifestyle is portrayed will impact the regions ability to attract others to the area, whether they are travellers, potential residents,

or investors. The Boomtown Trail is determined to build its rural communities by delivering the kinds of experiences that people want. The Boomtown Trail is the right organization to create this strong future, with a strong track record of both ability and accountability. Its program successes have led to national and international recognition, pointing to the efficacy of its governance and operational model. Sustainable economic growth can be achieved by the Boomtown Trail, but it will require a concerted, collaborative investment in the region as a whole. While a significant investment in physical infrastructure

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is necessary, a larger investment in its people is needed, especially for the younger residents. To secure a bright future for rural Alberta, the Boomtown Trail needs to support its people now. After the symposium, we made contact with Christie Mason (who played Irene Parlby) and our museum in Trochu is going to pick her brain to develop our own character. We may even do an event with Albert Parks at Dry Island Buffalo Jump. - Bill Cunningham, Deputy Mayor, Trochu

I appreciated the real-life examples of how others have made this work. Instead of just telling us to come up with our own unique ideas, they actually showed us how we could. - Brenda Campbell, Economic Development Coordinator, Town of Irricana

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