Northern Forest Tourism Network
Collaborating to Create a World Class Destination – Join Us!Nov 2010 Priority Action Update
At our network meeting in St. Johnsbury, VT in March 2010, we identified four areas that we collectively agreed were the top priority areas for our collective action: Training or Workforce Development; Northern Forest Research; Tourism Product Development; and Network Coordination. We have made progress in each area…but also have work to do! Summarized below are accomplishments to date and suggestions for the path ahead. One task that weaves across the areas is a survey to gather better information about what, who, and where in all areas. Stay tuned for that. And stay in touch in the meantime! We really and truly want you to weigh in with your thoughts as to how best to coordinate progress in the priority areas (e.g. if we are doing a survey for one area, are there questions of interest about another area that we should include?), and generally how to move us most effectively toward success. You can contact Kate Williams with your thoughts, or go directly to the point people, listed below, for each of the action areas.
Training or Workforce Development (Gloria Bruce): The overall focus for this priority area is to develop regional synergies that serve to inventory training successes, to facilitate sharing of effective strategies, and to promote innovative ways of creating and delivering needed training. The key accomplishments to date include 1) a higher level of cross boundary sharing of training practices (e.g. network participants talking directly to each other and learning from each other about effective approaches to and examples of workforce training), and 2) the emergence of a cross-sector effort with a group of Higher Ed practitioners to more intentionally co-develop training initiatives using the expertise and resources of both the tourism and higher ed communities. These are significant and robust accomplishments that are having direct results on the ground. The key work that remains to be done is to 1) formalize the sharing into a map or inventory of training sessions, initiatives, and plans across the region in order to make this sharing more visible and accessible to more people (see web survey in Research, below); and 2) using this map as a guide, identify key gaps and develop strategies to fill them.
Research (Lisa Chase): The focus for this priority area is to create a shared body of Northern Forest research that can inform tourism practitioners to enable them to better position themselves in the context of the region, in addition to their local and state positioning. The key accomplishment to date consists of the creation of a Northern Forest Research Page housed at the UVM Tourism Data Center. The page includes links to both Northern Forest studies as well as relevant state-level studies. This page is an ongoing effort, so please send ideas and links to Lisa Chase to continue its creation. The key work immediately ahead includes 1) running a web survey to solicit more specific information for both the research page and for our overall map of the regional tourism landscape; and 2) present the findings of the survey at the May 2011 Summit as a way to move beyond simply gathering regional research toward using it to guide our strategy.
Product Development (Roger Merchant and Mary Jeanne Packer): What’s out there in terms of tourism products across the Northern Forest? What makes one vacation package successful and another not? Are itineraries more sought after? How do you measure the value of a package beyond direct sales? What is the complete roster of tourism products and which ones hold the most promise for the Northern Forest? This priority area is tasked to tackle these daunting questions, and has an action plan that is both specific and big. There has been a lot of activity in this area in terms of network participants developing products and determining best practices. The work of the next six months includes 1) developing a robust inventory of this activity (see web survey in Research, above); and 2) framing a Summit conversation about the marketing of tourism products, including discussion of integration with state offices of tourism and consideration of a regional brand.
Network Coordination (Kate Williams, Chris Thayer, Samantha Kenney Maltais): We were fortunate to receive a technical assistance grant for support of our work in this area (and with the intent of boosting outcomes in the other priority areas as a result) through the Maine Association of Nonprofits. Thanks! The focus of the technical assistance is to create a better map and inventory of the network and its constituent parts, and to assist in the creation of a clear and effective plan for positioning the network to achieve lasting outcomes for the long term. Consultant Carole Martin, who facilitated our March 2010 meeting, is our technical assistance consultant, and she will be working with us through the Summit. In the intro to this newsletter, the question of what success looks like leads to a two-part answer involving both network capacity and outcomes. Carole will be working with us in a focused way to help us attain this dual (and inseparable) kind of success.
