This time of year

Well the Christmas season is over and I've taken my holidays( to Mexico but that is another whole post) and it's time to get back at it. Like many hospitality operators I spend the months of January and February getting ready for the Summer season. Spend days getting my accounting all caught up and filing taxes, making marketing plans and updating websites, flyers and menus. Then there is the multitude of calls from prospective clients looking for information for there weddings and other parties. Not to be forgotten, development, rewrites and new budgets for programs and tours. I haven't even mentioned the upkeep, renovations and maintenance on the buildings. Jeez I thought this was suppose to be our quite time.

A number of months ago we got involved with Chinook Country Tourism Association and their Tourism Cluster Project. Yesterday we went for our final training on the new online booking engine and how to put the final touches on our micro site. Things look good but I have several hours of editing and uploading ahead of me before the site goes live on February 13. Aaugg I better get at it.  

Culinary Tourism

In early February Mark and I attended a workshop hosted at the Gualt Museum. It was one of those things that set us to work. It was the spur for our new sourced local menu, really got us going. The following is a short video all about the movement and the workshop.

Pass promo video

A promotional video of the Crowsnest Pass I found interesting. Hats off to the folks over at Community Futures

The Walking Trail System in The Crowsnest Pass

I spent awhile this morning reading the information available on the new walking trail system that a group of dedicated people have been working on for sometime now. You can find the overall plan here. Now I have heard of this trail and seen portions of it but I never really realized what an asset it is and is going to be in the future. As the master plan continues to be implemented  we are going to have a recreational device for residents and visitors that is second to none. Just the sign and kiosk plans alone will be worth a fortune to those of us in the tourism business let a lone the value to the people that live here. Now is the time to start thinking of ways to incorporate this new "attraction" into our marketing plans. It truly is a step in the right direction to making the Crowsnest pass a destination.   

What a Summer

Well after all the racing around getting things ready, reorganizing, renovating etc. etc.etc, summer showed up ( at least the months that are supposed to be summer)  We hosted 4 Exploritas programs and a large number of our friends from the Niagara fly fishing club. We had weddings and reunions and guests from all over the world.( hi ladies from Australia)  We got several reviews on Trip Advised ( that's really good) and had our guest book filed.

Was the summer a success? Yup I think so. Was it different that past years ? You bet it was. But thats ok change is good, isn't it?

Trade Type Shows

In the past year I have participated in two trade show type gatherings: The Crowsnest Pass Trade Show  in April

 and the tourism trade show in the Pass in May  ( now I probably have the names wrong on these but you get the idea)

 Now I have an opportunity to go to the tourism trade show in Fort MacLoud  on Thursday. The great thing about these tourism shows put on by Southwest Regional Alliance and Community Futures is they are free. You get to meet and network with other operators and those in a position to help you market your company ( aka Travel Alberta, Southwest Regional Alliance, etc). They are open to the public for part of the time so you get exposure there too.   All around they are well worth the time.

Prairie N' Peaks Quilt Festival 2011

In conjunction with the folks in Pincher Creek  a group of us here in the Pass are involved in organizing this event. And what an event it will be. 10 days full of workshops, lectures, markets, dinners etc,etc, etc,  Check here Prairie N' Peaks Quilt Festival  for more information and updates as they are released.

Our newest flyer

New ways to post

You can tell that Sunday and holidays are the days I spend cruisin' around looking at stuff on the net. I came across this article at Hospitality Trends http://www.htrends.com/trends-detail-sid-42081.html and immediately thought of the nice comment Sue @ Turtleback cottage left me and a chat I had with Dianne from the Bellevue underground mine( ya we are all talking about blogging and twitter etc. and how it can be used in our respective jobs.) Now this type of post could work for me as a quick post during those times when I'm really busy. So I think soon we will be seeing more photos and things from the kitchen and B&B but not too many. I've never been a fan of all pictures.

B&B forums

On occasion I check out forums dedicated to B&B owners. I do it just to see what’s happening, get ideas and generally be nosy with what everyone else is doing. Sometimes you can get good ideas from them.
Unfortunatly most that I have found are US based but they still are worth the occasional peek. The best one I have found is Innspiring

Tourism Showcase Event

Another of the South West Regional Alliance initiatives to help market our tourism operations took place a little while ago in Pincher Creek. Unfortunately I could not attend but Sue Moser (our best holiday home rep) managed to get there with her display. From all reports, including an article in the Pincher Creek Echo, the evening was a great success with approximately 30 operators attending.


This begs a question: do marketing consortia and co-op affairs work or are we just kidding ourselves thinking that collective efforts are a waste of time?

My thoughts on the matter go as follows:

1. There is no way I have time to attend all the workshops meetings and get togethers I should so I'm just glad that someone ( read Sue) has put in the effort to get there for us and I don't care if she promotes her own places first ( she should) I'm just pleased that I got included at all.

2. The referral set up we have going in our little consortium works out great for all, particularly the customers. Places are filled and customers are happy. Win -win scenario

3. The bigger consortia, like SW do a vast amount of work for us that no one small operator could accomplish not to mention the grants and buying power they create. Again it's win - win

4. To many consortia mean competition. Let’s face it if there are not a bunch of operators in a specific area there is no one to populate the consortium so there has to be some competitors in the mix. So is competition bad - No way. It tends to produce a better product for the customer , prevent price gouging , and I really believe that a traveler may not stop for one shop ( read - shop or restaurant or attraction etc.) but they are likely to stop for 10 shops. And travelers that stop are good for everyone. Just my thought (and I plan to go into it more in a later post)

Back to the Showcase Event. It sounds like it was a great night and I wish I could have gone. Thanks to Sue for going as well as for keeping us updated with your emails



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Travel Alberta Workshops

Recently we catered a workshop lunch for Travel Alberta dealing with internet marketing and I was fortunate enough to be able to sit in on at least most of the afternoon seminar. Marty, the session leader was full of all sorts of tips and advice on how to tweak and get the most out of our websites. A number of interesting topic where touched on including adding your blog to your main site as a way of creating changing content on your site.

Thier next workshop is scheduled for Pincher Creek on Nov.2 and the topic is social media and how it can work for you.

Dine alberta, Source Local and Culinary Tourism

As relatively new travel trend (ok so the trend is not new just the name) Culinary Tourism sounds interesting and right up my alley. I mean that’s how we like to travel, go to a place, immerse ourselves in the culture, history, and food of the area and then head home. Our trip to Japan (2004) was like that. Our trip to England (2007) was definitely like that. Our trip to New Orleans (2008) was the most reflective of that style of travel. The true question is can it be a trend here in the Pass?

Let’s face it the Pass is not known for its fine restaurants or food outlets. When guests think of here(if they do) they think mountains, fishing, snowmobiling, relaxation, and maybe visiting family but fine restaurants are not on the list. What food outlets do we have to choose from? Popiel's, The Tin Roof, Vito's, The Rum Runner, Pure Country, Chris's, Ben Wong's, Rivers edge, Sidetrax, Stones Throw, Happy Mart, Red Crown, Cousin Vinnie’s, Crowsnest Mountain resort, Cinnamon Bear and the Fly Shop ( not mentioned are all the Bed and Breakfasts that serve guests meals) cover about all the restaurants and quazi restaurants. Some are good, some not so much but all suffer from their popularity or lack of in one way or another. And to my knowledge with the exception of one, none of these places source locally. Even I do very little of it (although I do buy local produce when it is available, as well as eggs and some meat products) By Local I do not mean bought in the local grocery store( no restaurant can afford to pay retail all the time and make a profit) but I refer to locally grown or produced product.

It is one of the tenets of the Dine Alberta program, Your menu must have a high percentage of Local ( Alberta ) grown product. Now most of us food preparers use Alberta beef, we would be crazy not to. It’s the best in the world but what about the rest of the raw food stuffs? Where can we get them from? That is one of the mandates of Dine Alberta - putting Chefs, and Buyers in touch with Alberta producers. check out the web site

The next step in joining the Culinary Tourism band wagon would be to identify a food history that is appealing to guests. Is there a possibility here for that? Sure there is. The Crowsnest Pass has a wealth of ethnic diversity that could easily transpose itself into unique eatery menus that could attract guests. Popeil's uses the tool a little , by playing on the owners polish heritage and serving cabbage rolls (on the menu) borscht and perogies( as specials) with great success, Pure Country plays on the western theme but that’s about it. Perhaps it's something for the rest to consider when next they remake their menus.

What do we do ourselves to promote this type of cooking? Not enough! I mean I buy local when every I can. I include dishes of ethnic origins that are very well received. I use as much Alberta produced product as I can. We have participated in the Dine Alberta program and done some really nice meals under that banner but it's still not enough. I think that to tap into this growing tourism trend we would have to band together and do it as a group and then maybe, just maybe we could make a name for ourselves in the market.

For further reading on Culinary Tourism, and Dine Alberta check these out: Alberta Food Road Trip, CHOMP , Culinary Tourism.

To get things rolling

There are a good number of accommodation operators here in the Pass. One section of these operators have chosen to ban together and work cooperatively to promote there facilities and the Pass in general. Of course I'm referring to Crowsnest Pass Holiday Homes. The group is headed up by the tireless Sue Moser and our website can be found at http://www.crowsnestpassholidayhomes.com/ We have 16(I think) members that promote their own as well as the groups accommodations by way of websites, referrals and joint marketing. We don't just promote our properties though, we include events, local attractions, other related operators, and just about anything a traveler could need to get here and have an enjoyable stay. We are always looking for new ways and means to promote. Check it out.