Getting ready to hit the trail at the Eastview Wilderness Guest Ranch on the edge of Saskatchewan's Pasquia Hills.
source: Farm and Food Report
When Corrina Kapeller registered for a pilot adventure tourism course through Vermillion College in 1994, little did she know that she and her husband Larry were about to turn their mixed farm operation into a tourism destination.
"We put an ad in the local paper to look for smaller houses that could be moved into our yard. We needed buildings that would be suitable for conversion into cabins. Well, we received about 30 calls from folks proposing everything ranging from rickety shacks to $40,000 houses."
The Kapellers eventually acquired two houses from communities close to theirs that had been abandoned and needed a fair bit of work before becoming inhabitable. They were moved to their property.
"We started by renovating the one house and marketing it as a place to stay for visiting hunters and snowmobilers. We live right on the edge of the Pasquia Hills. We are very lucky because there is an abundance of trails around here, which makes it attractive for them."
Corrina and Larry renovated the second building to host guests in 1999, and by the following year, they started to market life on the ranch as a tourism product to travelers from around the world.
"We are pretty much off the conventional tourism trails out here. Guests who stay with us like the secluded aspects one experiences while being here. There is a certain intimacy they find here that is unavailable in large commercial properties. Obviously, there is a more personal contact at our place that is very dear to them. They get to talk to real cowboys at the Eastview Wilderness Guest Ranch."
Corrina will never forget the initial reaction many of the local folks had when she shared with them her tourism plans.
"Most people in our area don't know what we do. They just can't get their head around the fact that people are willing to pay to experience being here with us and sharing what we do for a while. I guess, it is partly due to them having lived here all their lives and not being able to put themselves in visitors' shoes."
But when seen from the inside, it all makes sense. Trends worldwide point to an increasing appetite for behind-the-scenes types of experiences among travelers. Learning what looking after a working ranch is like is very much reflective of tourism market developments elsewhere. And attention to detail is imperative, according to Corrina.
"I do all my own baking, which international guests in particular really appreciate. When we renovated the houses, we incorporated as much of a rustic wood character as we could inside. We have actually had to adopt a more strategic approach to business development and marketing. I'm getting more of a sense now that we live in two worlds. One is agriculture - it's in our blood; the other is the tourism industry. It brings different rewards and we have made so many new friends as a result."
Corrina notes that it takes time to feel at home talking to these people in suits with international accents at tourism trade shows, but that in the end they are not that different. They are just trying to earn a living from an industry that has its ups and downs, like agriculture, and where relationships are extremely important. This is something Corrina and Larry can relate to. Common ground is often the basis for mutual understanding.
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