Lapplandsafari, Vaästerbotten, Sweden (Traditional Sami
cultural camp and conference facilities.)
...Once the mountain camp was finished, we invited
the whole village to show everybody what we had done, so everybody
would feel that they were participating in the project. The whole
village came, including the holiday cottage owners, and they were
all very impressed. Today everybody in the village has only good
things to say about Geunja and it has also spread to other areas
through the holiday cottage owners.
Snow Games Ltd., Lapland, Finland
Local stakeholders are consulted when snowmobile
and enduro-safaris are being planned. These stakeholders include:
Forest and Park Service, private land-owners, reindeer owner’s
association and environmental organizations. As a result of negotiations,
agreements were reached to arrange safaris on property of the
landowners. The operator always informs reindeer herders about
safaris beforehand.
Bathurst Inlet Lodge, Western Nunavut
We make it a policy to:
- Actively encourage ‘ownership’ of our facility
by seeking community involvement and input into what we do
- Communicate activities and direction to the broader community
- Offer industry placements or work experience to students at
local schools
- Give the local workforce access to training that will improve
their chances of more highly-skilled (paid) occupational jobs
Having a ‘purchase local when possible’
policy is good for the community and strengthens the ‘local
flavour’ for customers at the same time.
Rid I Jorm, Sweden, offers the following hints:
I have learned that if I’m going to succeed
with my tourism investments, it’s extremely important to
involve everybody who lives in the area or is involved in it.
Therefore, you need to get as much information as possible before
you start the business:
- Which other interested parties exist in the area
- Can any problem come up with hunting groups and landlords
- Focus on common interests instead of prospective conflicts
- Arrange a general meeting, inform in an informal way, invite
hunters, landlords and other interested parties, involve the
people
- Don’t run over the locals
The Anishinabe Experience, Golden Lake Ontario, Canada
In the aboriginal community, it is important to
seek and obtain approval of community elders before beginning
a cultural tourism business...
- The community should set boundaries on what they deem appropriate
or feel comfortable in sharing with visitors.
- Know the community’s rich and distinct heritage.
- Conduct an inventory of all human resources based on expertise,
skills, language, etc.
- Build partnerships with others in the development of packages.
- Ensure [that] the business benefits the community.
- Partner with the community on publicity and media opportunities.
- Promote your business and other local businesses, your community,
and your region.
- Utilize local resources and expertise as much as possible.
- Build upon community pride in sharing the heritage, cultural
diversity, and beauty of the region and surrounding area
- Keep the community abreast on new trends and opportunities
in tourism for the overall benefit of the whole
- Share feedback on the business with the community, including
thank-you’s and compliments, media coverage, publicity,
etc. This builds community pride and strengthens the business.
We believe that we do not have a business without
the support of our Algonquin community. What the community thinks
and believes is very important to us. We ensure that all the community
values are instilled into our cultural programs. The community
is our most valuable asset. In other words, without the community
there is no Anishinabe Experience.
Snow Games Ltd., Lapland, Finland
Local subcontractors are used whenever possible.
About 25% of the business’s turnover goes to subcontractors.
From the customers and staff’s feedback we are able to recognize
if something does not go well with the partners.
Polar Sea Adventures, Baffin Island, Nunavut
Nunavut communities have limited resources so
it is important we work together. We buy locally whenever possible.
It is easier to deal with neighbours – the cost may be higher
but it comes back in relationships with local business. Later
on stores will help when you have a problem. And don’t be
shy to ask for quantity discounts from local stores – this
is about building partnerships.
Frontiers North, Kivalliq Region, Nunavut
We make use of locally-owned hotels (Coops) in
all the communities we work with, as well as using local guides
or outfitters. Clients are taken on community tours which include
visits to arts and crafts outlets and encouraged to go into the
shops to buy.
Kairosmaja, Lapland, Finland
We have always felt it important to hire staff
locally, because in this way they can commit themselves to the
values and operations of our company. The customers appreciate
this. The permanent staff is mostly employed year-round and some
additional help is hired during peak seasons. It is important
to take care of the staff, as it reflects on the customer service.
We purchase some local products like fish, potatoes, berries and
souvenirs.
Some suggestions from our operators:
We hire locally on principle - A cook from down
south might be more professional but for us it’s a conscious
choice. We stick with local guides on principle. It’s investing
in the community. Money stays in the community and people can
see tangible benefits from tourism.
Shopping at the Coop store and using the Coop
hotel indirectly benefits all the Coop members – almost
everyone in the community.
…we trade locally and provide packages of
supplies to our guests…[from] small distributors such as
the little shop in the village which might otherwise have closed
down.
Summer students work at [our] Lodge every year.
Snow Games Ltd., Lapland, Finland
We encourage our staff to become citizens of the local municipality
and thus pay taxes to the local municipality.
Webb Outfitting, Western Nunavut
We seek advice from the local Hunters and Trappers
Organization on which individuals to hire as guides. We provide
short informal training courses and then our guides learn almost
as apprentices. (There are already families where young people
have lost the traditional skills.) For our kind of business, [the
local college] classroom courses don’t work – especially
because of their selection criteria for students.
Training to be a hunting guide is best done along
with experienced people. We cannot teach anyone to be an Inuk
[singular form of Inuit]. It is a good attitude that we can work
with. At the same time, the community has invested a great deal
of trust in us, in becoming our partners.
Expédition Eau Vive, Québec
Allow me to say a few words about the benefits of social involvement
in your community and your industry... My volunteer efforts include:
- As a canoe instructor, I give volunteer courses at canoe
camping clubs
- I loan out my equipment for good causes
- I am a member of the Board of Directors for the Québec
Human Resources Council
- I lead an important initiative concerning the qualification
of guides
- I am a member of the Québec Canoe Camping Federation’s
training committee
- I am the President of the Association of Québec
Adventure Tourism Professionals.
In total, this adds up to approximately one day of volunteer
work per week, which is a lot. However, there are benefits associated
with this involvement which I consider to be important:
- Credibility and high visibility
- Reputation
- Always keeping informed about new legislation, policies,
etc.
- Always keeping informed about new programs such as new
sources of funding.
Many adventure tourism operators have an excellent product, but
they don’t have enough visibility and are not well known.
Excursion Mauricie, Quebec
In order to make our products known, we do tours to familiarize
the local accommodation operators in our region with our products.
This procedure allows us to consolidate the links of trust and
partnership forged with us and towards their clients. At the end
of the season, we host a dinner in a traditional maple sugar shack
to present our new products, and to talk about our operational
methods and client service.
Lapplandsafari, Sweden
A project must be dealt with thoroughly to be
successful. It’s important to communicate with all parties
concerned during the procedure – with the guests, the experts,
the museums in the province, the local politicians, the authorities
and other contractors in the area.
But above all, the older locals who have so much
knowledge and experiences to share, you have to care about the
details…
Bathurst Inlet Lodge, Western Nunavut
Bathurst Inlet Lodge has always been an important part of the
community. Some of their approaches have been:
- Provide tangible support (financial contribution, technical
assistance and in-kind) to at least one non-profit group or special
event that contributes to the welfare of the regional community
in which you operate.
- Support, volunteer and contribute to local events, such
as donated prizes.
- Be active in a local organization or association.
- Work with other community groups to promote the region
as a tourist destination.
A number of local benefits can be in-kind through discounts,
community services, sharing facilities or skills, hosting events,
volunteering, partnerships or other creative kinds of activities.
Snow Games Ltd., Lapland, Finland
We are board members in both marketing organizations
in the area, Pyhäa-Luosto Association and Luoston Syli. We
are participating in several projects at a time. One project has
been about creating a new master plan for Pyhäa-Luosto area.
The master plan will be important for the company
in the future because it enables us to map out new routes and
areas for tourism activities.
Bathurst Inlet Lodge, Western Nunavut
Some fundamentals that Bathurst Inlet Lodge puts into practice:
- Communicate activities to the broader community.
- Invite families and others with particular interest to
special occasions.
- Provide information to clients on how they can minimize
negative impacts on the local community and its heritage.
- Provide free or discounted tourism experiences to local
schools/educational institutions and special interest groups.
Lapplandsafari, Sweden
Then we went collecting useful information on
the area – such as measuring old edifices, talking photographs,
visiting museums and talking to old people and relatives to obtain
as much information and knowledge as possible.
It was also important to find somewhere where
the camp could fit into nature and with the right conditions –
a spring, fishing grounds and hunting grounds – exactly
as Sami were thinking 100 years ago.
Snow Games Ltd., Lapland, Finland
Local culture and nature are being highlighted
in the products that we develop and are based on the customers’
interests. Different customers like different things; for some
the safari is the main attraction and for others it is the nature
and they only use snowmobiles for transportation.
An old logging site house of the Forest and Park
Service has been used for tourist groups. Lumberjacks who used
to work there were invited to share stories about the local history
and the stories have been documented to save the traditions and
culture.
We also hire reindeer herders for the visits
to the reindeer farms. For their part, the herders advise the
customers about sustainable development uses.
Nutti Sami Siida, Sweden
The guides and the staff members must be proud
of telling about our [the Sami] way of living and represent what
our product is promising.
The guide has a very important part in our arrangements
– they are the ones who can make our inheritance lifelike
by showing how we are working with the reindeer, cooking traditional
foods, and wearing Sami clothing. But above all, they can in a
real and genuine way tell about how the Sami are living and have
been living because they have strong connections to the traditions
themselves.
Kairosmaja, Pyhaä area, Lapland, Finland
We cooperate with the local community by working with local churches.
In the Levi tourism destination, we have begun to work with companies
that have similar values as us, in developing tourism products
around the theme ‘silence’ and supporting the off-peak
seasons.
We have an association of 2000 members, who support the Kairosmaja
and in this way we can commit to regular customers of our operation.
This enables us to have long-lasting, deep relationships with
those customers. With the help of the members’ voluntary
work, we have been able to build a new sauna by the lake Pyhaä.
Blueberry Harvest Gifts, Onslow Nova Scotia
My mum has a Blueberry Gift Shop in Onslow, Nova
Scotia. She is open seasonally from May until January. Every year
she has an open house to re-open the shop and another open house
at Christmas.
This gives her the opportunity to invite the surrounding
communities and any tourists that happen to be visiting the area
at that time into the store for blueberry tea and blueberry flavoured
baked goods. This way she gets to know people and they get to
see her products. By forming this relationship with the community
they are accepting her store, are able to give feedback, and then
also help her business through word-of-mouth advertising.
She ends up getting repeat customers some of which
are blueberry item collectors. It’s also a good way to meet
other Nova Scotians who are making blueberry merchandise and might
be interested in having their goods sold at the gift shop. Inviting
the local residents into her home-based shop twice a year has
had a positive impact on my mother’s gift shop and her relationship
with the people who visit her shop.
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