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Field Study across Vancouver Island 2018

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Field Study across Vancouver Island 2018

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The Unsworth Winery in Mill Bay

A stunning and clean facility, they have many co-operations and partnerships that allow them to position themselves nicely within the wineries of Vancouver Island. Amongst a variety of award-winning wines, they have an award-winning restaurant on site. Visiting this winery immediately brought me back to Niagara on the lake and the beautiful wineries of the Niagara region of Ontario.

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When the Unsworth Winery first opened they were a sponsor of many. However, since they've developed themselves as a successful brand they became more selective. Recently, they came to a collective and easy agreement that they would no longer sponsor events that included minors (i.e. minor league sports teams). This statement stood out to me because I wondered about the implications of offering wine for an event that's heavily involved with minors.

I noticed during our winery tour that when asked about unique selling points, the response was uncertain. Our guide said they had an award-winning restaurant on site and that they wouldn’t sell a bottle that they wouldn’t drink themselves. While these were two excellent points to make, I question whether that is enough to stand out against their many competitors.

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Interesting fact:

The Unsworth Vineyards don’t usually accept groups larger than 16 to keep the authenticity of the family-run vineyard. I found this a definite unique selling point. Promoting this makes the customer feel more exclusive and excited about their visit- something that other wineries may not offer.

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To my understanding it was the intention when visiting Coombs to visit the many unique shops and the market that the Coombs stop usually has to offer. Sharon had mentioned that it was the first time in years that the only place open was the one restaurant. Sharon seemed disappointed and quite frankly, we all were. What is interesting is that this made me question the consistency of the place. What could be a nice tourist spot that has the potential to be a stop where tourists come as they make their drive up-island will lose traffic if they aren’t consistent because of how close by the grocery store and other various restaurants are (just a tad bit north).

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Deserted Tofino.

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Walking through the streets of Tofino on Tuesday morning felt like a ghost town. The only noise that I’d heard that morning was screams coming from the men’s bathroom at the youth hostel Whalers- rumors lead me to believe a young man was in the shower when the water shut off abruptly. Covered in soap he screamed for the water to be turned on, but nobody heard his cries for help. I couldn’t believe this very quiet town would soon be packed with close to 20,000 tourists, making the tourist to resident ratio 10:1- as I learned the previous night from Cathy Thicke (councillor for the district of Tofino). It’s concerning that Tofino’s tourism growth rate is unsustainable.

Cathy Thicke’s largest concerns were destination overcrowding and the disregard for the local community, but that day I saw more wildlife than humans. The exploration of Tofino began at what looked like a deserted beach called Mackenzie (but in the summer is booming). I went paddle boarding with two excellent instructors from the Pacific Surf Co. sports school in Tofino. It was a beautiful and peaceful experience paddle boarding with no one on the water but ourselves, calm waters and low tide. I wondered what it would be like to paddle board on an extremely busy beach with many frolicking in the water and dogs running on the beaches… I don’t know if I would have enjoyed the experience as much.

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Mackenzie Beach.

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Tofino became the surf capital of Canada a short while ago and it was inspiring to hear Emre discuss the leap of faith he took with his partner of aboriginal descent with paddling. He saw a gap in the market for their emerging product/sport and took advantage of it. I found Emre’s mention of the MRDT very interesting- mostly because I pictured tourism Tofino as a large organization with contracted staff and professional marketers. Emre made it clear that tourism Tofino employs community members who are also very concerned about the welfare of Tofino and the problem of over-tourism.

Just a thought: What if Tourism Tofino just stops spending the money? Push back and don’t use the money- let it go. Stand up for what’s right and stand up for the community (further research on this idea will be conducted).

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Wickaninnish Beach

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Our visit to the Wickaninnish Beach was absolutely mesmerizing. I thoroughly enjoyed staring out into the ocean imagining the abundance of species underneath the water that Parks Canada works so hard to protect. Parks Canada mentioned a couple of issues that really stood out to me. They have a steady issue of community dogs running free on the beach as if it’s a dog park. After learning of this issue, I began to question how involved the community is with Parks Canada and whether they are educated on the implications of having their dogs run free on the beaches. As a current dog lover and tourist, I initially think it’s a beautiful sight to see dogs free, running and playing in the ocean. The concern of Parks Canada comes from the disruption that the dogs cause to the ecosystem.

Interesting Facts:

If a dog is running free on the beach and gets attacked by a wolf, the wolf gets put down- but, the land is home to cougars and wolves. As a dog lover and an animal lover, this shocked and saddened me. If these are the types of communications made with the community and if the messages are mediated correctly than people will be educated, and they will stop! I also wonder about community pushback and if these messages have already been conveyed and are simply not effective.

Birds don’t like dogs and the ones that stop at Wickaninnish to fuel up before they migrate certainly don’t.

Coast Smart- educating tourists on disaster for Wickaninnish beach and the hazards associated with the west coast trail (including natural disasters). I found this interesting about Parks Canada because Cathy Thicke (councillor of the district of Tofino) suggested that tourists in Tofino or Ucluelet are not enough educated on what to do in the event of a disaster.

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From the perspective of a tourism and hospitality student, I also thought I’d write a review about the Whaler’s hostel.

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What an excellent hostel! With only my first few steps onto the property, it was evident that it was clean and safe. As soon as you walk into the hostel it’s well lit, cozy and there’s a wonderful clean smell as if it was freshly cleaned for us. Our rooms and beds were clean and the room had a thermostat that we were able to adjust as we liked. The hostel provided us with fresh baked muffins in the morning and it was full of pleasant staff who were always smiling and extremely eager to help in any way they could. There was also an exceptional view of the Ocean! If every hostel followed this example than business would boom. I’ve stayed at many hostels across the globe and this one was one of the best. My only recommendation for the hostel would be to properly ventilate the bathrooms as they could get quite hot, muggy and smelly if there were many people in there at the same time.

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Cathedral Grove

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Cathedral Grove

Cathedral grove was a majestic destination. I felt like Alice in wonderland walking through the park (as a result of all the greenery and large trees). I thought that the way the path was created allowed for a simple visitor experience and it was easy to navigate. Cathedral Grove created a trail with small fences on either side that force you to stay on the path that they’ve created. I thought this was excellent because it discourages the visitor from climbing into wildlife and onto territory that is being preserved. However, for the adventure traveller the path is a bit restricting and it is more of a walkway and less of a hike. In addition, for someone more interested in getting the perfect Instagram photo- this type of path may not stop someone from leaping over.

In Contrast to the Lighthouse Loop

However, in comparison to that of the Lighthouse Loop Wild Pacific Trail, the Cathedral Grove pathway seemed smart. Many parts of the Lighthouse Loop hike were fairly straightforward- you couldn’t really walk anywhere other than the path or you’d be climbing upwards or falling off of a cliff. With that being said, in one area where we approached a fork in the road, Eugene explained that a thick branch was put there to discourage traffic. I think locals have a heightened awareness for nature and are less inclined to climb over a tree branch (they may know someone intentionally put it here); however, ignorance has led me to believe in the past that branches have naturally fallen. An adventure traveller such as myself may hop over the tree branch out of instinctual curiosity- to see something no one else has seen before.

Back to Cathedral Grove

A fellow classmate questioned why there were no trash cans along the path of Cathedral Grove. While the city perhaps is trying to save on resources (and the path itself is not too long so perhaps garbage isn’t anticipated to accumulate), there isn’t adequate signage that informs the public whether trashcans are or aren't accessible on the path. With that being said, the signage at Cathedral Grove and the Lighthouse Loop seemed to be far better than that in the Goldstream Park. In this park, one cannot make out which way is the trestle and which way is the gold mine. I hiked the route twice before bringing a couple of friends to the trestle and missed the trestle completely as we hiked an extra 2 kilometres to the gold mine for absolutely no reason (how frustrating). I think it comes down to educating tourists.

I think that adequate signage as to why trails are blocked off and what you would damage if you walked there would make people think twice?

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Mount Washington
This beautiful ski destination seems to be particularly concerned with the development of a year-round product. The director of sports, Mike Manara highlighted the concern with sustainability and mentioned a variety of issues (including climate change and global warming) but in particular- ensuring that they cater to a market beyond their snow sport clientele.

Mike mentioned an excellent initiative taken to re-engage locals and offer special deals for new customers. Visitors from the island and essentially part of the community learned to ski for free. While skiing for free customers learned about the facility and what it has to offer and purchasing food and beverage, accommodation and equipment. The marketing strategy that Mike explained was an excellent effort to get the name out there while creating a path to purchase.

The development of a year-round tourism product can be a difficult and daunting task. A resort that has established their name on the island as a destination to participate in snow sports has to be thought of now in a different light. While the established destination could very well implant the idea of diversified product offerings into the minds of consumers, actually remaining open all year-round and entertaining guests throughout the year comes with implications.

Missed opportunity?
I think it would be excellent to cater to students at the universities (whether through partnerships or just student discounts). Snow sports are extremely expensive and at Royal Roads students are very diverse but also unable to pay full price. However, we are an opportunity for excellent word of mouth. A lot of us students opted not to go skiing/snowboarding because of cost.

Recommendation?
Better student rates!

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Recovery Centre
The goal of the North Island Recovery Centre is to recover animals and get them back out into the wild. I think there is a clear distinction between recovery centre and sanctuary that needs to be made to the public/visitors. Personally, before this trip I would have never known the difference.

Shocking News:
I was shocked to learn of the amount of birds that were in the recovery centre because they were imprinted on by humans. The instructor in particular mentioned a raven that was taken out of the wild and was raised as a pet. The instructor said that in most cases when this happens, the bird becomes too much to handle as it ages and the captivators let it back into the wild. A bird that has been imprinted on is likely unable to survive in the wild and either dies or gets saved by a recovery centre.

After learning of this raven as a pet concept, I thought of the illegal wildlife trade across the globe (in particular Southeast Asia because that was a topic of study in my Ethics class) and was shocked to learn that it's a tragedy taking place so close to home. I couldn't imagine people taking birds (or any animal for that matter) out of their homes to keep them as pets. Why do people think it's okay to treat wildlife this way? Why aren't the laws against the use of wildlife for human pleasure more seriously implemented?

I really enjoyed participating in the recovery centre's tour in particular because of the guide. I think that the more passionate the guide is about what they do than the better the message comes across. The mediator plays a very important role, especially when they are the voice of animals. While I don't remember much of what was said by the tour guide as I was so in awe by the wildlife in the facility, I think that below are some interesting facts.

Interesting facts for visitors:

Bald eagles are released where they are found because they mate for life

By law, you cannot release an animal into the wild when you know they're been imprinted on by humans

The majority of birds in the recovery centre are there because they've been hit by cars or shot

Non-native species cannot be released back into the wild because they will disrupt natural progression

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The final day of our field study was the most humbling. It was wonderful to walk through the town of Chemainus. It’s a beautiful little town known for its mural art-this art is what pulled it out of its economic depression. Currently, the destination appears to be in the declining stage of the tourism area life cycle. It wasn't clear on our visit when the destination hit post-stagnation. However, after speaking with representatives in the tourism centre, we know it isn't able to stay open all year round because they simply do not have the funding. My curiosity to see their MRDT agreement and compare it to that of Tofino grows...

In addition, it was interesting that the class was unable to buy adequate souvenirs of Chemainus dollars because the visitor centre didn’t have enough on hand. What a shame...I’m interested to know which other destinations/communities around the world have a monetary fund and use the concept of unique destination dollars to market/position themselves. This was the first time I've heard of a destination using their own currency to keep foreign dollars inside the community and to support community stakeholders.

Ultimately, as the world globalizes at a rapid rate, in tourism we are extremely interconnected. My experience on this day heightened the importance for me as a Millennial to speak my mind. After mentioning to the class that the little town has their own currency, a good portion of the class went to purchase a few dollars- we as tourism students have a responsibility to encourage responsible tourism.

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On day 1 of the field study, Cathy Thicke mentioned that we are the future. She sounded hopeful that one day we will help solve the problems of tourism today; and finally on day 7, I know we can and that we have the ability to shape destinations around the world for the better- we can all be influencers.