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‘Experiential tourism’ takes off, and new CTC guide leads the charge.
CTC’s Experiences Toolkit is helping Canada’s small operators create world-class tourism experiences that sell
Creating “wow” experiences—the ones you remember long after you’ve arrived back home—that’s what sets Canada apart in the competitive tourism marketplace. Consumers today want more than just a trip or a hotel stay—they want a living, breathing experience. They want to swap stories with local fishers on the dock, find a new best friend, make a connection to a place they can’t get anywhere else. Sounds great, but how to deliver?
The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) Experiences Toolkit, launched in February 2008, helps small- and medium-size travel businesses create memorable experiences for travellers. The free guide is packed with expert advice, from finding your best customers to positioning your product in the marketplace.
Want to know more? Download the free CTC Experiences Toolkit.
Here are some tips from CTC’s Product Innovation & Enhancement (PIE) team, creators of the Experiences Toolkit, on experiential tourism:
A tourism product is what you buy. A tourism experience is what you remember.
Say your product is a boat tour to take tourists to enjoy Malpeque oysters in PEI. How do you differentiate this experience?
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Incorporate unexpected elements into your experience.
Have visitors tag along with local fishers to harvest and shuck their own Malpeque oysters. After the tour, offer them a chance to savour the spoils of their work by pairing local wines with freshly prepared oysters.
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Enhance the learning.
Offer more than a hands-on, oyster-shucking experience. Give visitors a chance to train with a local oyster-shucking champion while on board to master the quick “jab-and-twist.”
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Think about the experience in terms of making memories.
Stand in your visitors’ shoes and imagine them sharing highlights of the trip. Was it when the fisher shared boyhood stories of life on the island? The secret oyster-shucking tip they got from an old salt? The personalized tour of PEI’s hidden island coves? Or the satisfaction of savouring the fruits of their labour?
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RT @jminter: Irish House is hoppin' http://twitpic.com/126ijr #van2010
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RT @FCV: @FCV aide concours de lancement @ctccct nouvelles sections secret d'ici! http://tinyurl.com/ye8s7mp @secretdici
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Vancouver's Top 5 public transit sightseeing tours: http://ow.ly/15j3V
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RT @FarWriter @JByers11 Heading up Star Olympics coverage 6th time. Will do Olympics & travel tweets & blog: www.thestar.blogs.com/travel
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@TourismNiagara thx for the contest RT!
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