Culture and heritage key to success

(Originally published in TOURISM)

by Ernest Labrèque

Despite the existence of such powerful icons as the Cirque du Soleil, Canada ranks no higher than 18th in culture and heritage overall, in terms of international perception, according to the 2005 Nation Brands Index (Simon Anholt).

Will Canada one day be perceived as a destination which can offer its millions of visitors a rich cultural experience? How will we be able to ensure that museums, festivals and cultural institutions do not become critically under funded? How can we keep the major heritage sites – so beloved of tourists – from deteriorating to the detriment of the international competitiveness of our country?

These are real issues. The results achieved by two national co‑operative initiatives involving the tourism, culture and heritage industries are worthy of our attention, even though they start out with different perspectives on the issues. One of them is the CTC’s now‑completed Packaging the Potential and the other is the Federal‑Provincial‑Territorial Culture/Heritage and Tourism Initiative (FPTTI), a unique joint effort involving Canada’s 13 departments of culture and heritage.

Did you know that the FPTTI, which started in 2003 and was renewed in 2006, provides cultural organizations with extremely useful tools which are accessible on line?

  • A model for the analysis of tourism spin‑off for cultural sites, useful for working with decision‑makers to obtain funding;
  • 23 case studies (tourist attractions) of successful collaboration between tourism and culture;
  • a complete survey of domestic and international market studies in this field.
These reports, and many others, can be consulted at www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/pubs/tourism/index_e.cfm

The 2000‑2005 business strategy which was prepared by the CTC and adopted by its board of directors does, in fact, present a number of resources and new marketing models:

  • Canada: Destination Culture, which came out of a symposium where international buyers presented their expectations with regard to Canadian cultural product;
  • innovative partnerships as part of tourism trade shows and specialized forums aimed at cultural products, such as Bienvenue Québec and Sharing Manitoba’s Culture with the World;
  • the “Learning Travel” tourism product, which sets forth a selection of more than 320 certified educational experiences suggested for international buyers;
  • research on US and Canadian tourists interested in entertainment events, art, museums and heritage.
Ernest Labrèque was a culture tourism specialist with the CTC until 2006, and is currently head of film and television for International Cultural Relations, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada.

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