SHUSWAP TOURISM ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

Note: The following minutes are subject to correction when endorsed by the Committee at its next meeting.

Meeting #:
Date:	Thursday, May 03, 2018
Time:	1:00 P.m. - 4:00 P.m.
Location:	Salmon Arm Golf Club 97B SE 3641, Salmon Arm, BC

Committee Members Present

• D. Lepsoe (Chair), Councillor, Village of Chase
• P. Demenok, Director, Electoral Area C
• R. Talbot, Director, Electoral Area D
• R. Martin, Director, Electoral Area E
• R. Misseghers, Alternate Director, Electoral Area F
• K. Flynn, Councillor, City of Salmon Arm
• T. Rysz, Mayor, District of Sicamous
• K. Brown , Arts Council for the South Shuswap
• G. Bushell, The Eagle Valley Snowmobile Club
• S. Hofstetter, Prestige Hotels
• A. Maki, Chase & District Chamber of Commerce
• P. McIntyre-Paul, Shuswap Trail Alliance
• J. Ziercke, Quaaout Lodge Resort & Spa/Talking Rock Golf

Committee Members Absent

• L. Morgan, Director, Electoral Area F
• M. Lane, Dreamcycle Motorcycle Museum

Staff Present

• R. Cyr, Economic Development Officer
• E. Johnson, Electronic Records Management Facilitator

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1.

Call to Order

The Chair called the meeting to order at 1:00 PM. The Chair took a moment to recognize that the meeting is taking place in Secwépemc'ulecw territory.

1.1

Guest(s) in Attendance

The Chair acknowledged the guests in attendance:

• David Barrett - Columbia Shuswap Film Commissioner
• Terri Hadwin - Intrinsic Destinations, Tourism Marketing Coordinator
• Mark Greenhalgh - Misty Mountain Initiatives
• Jay Simpson - North Shuswap Chamber of Commerce

1.2

Approval of Agenda

• Motion
  Moved By P. Demenok
  Seconded By R. Talbot

  THAT: the agenda of the May 3, 2018 Shuswap Tourism Advisory Committee meeting be approved with the following additions:

  • 4.7 Shuswap Tourism Networking Evening
  • 4.8 Community Presentations
  
  CARRIED

1.3

Adoption of Minutes

• Motion
  Moved By R. Martin
  Seconded By A. Maki

  THAT: the minutes of the February 8, 2018 Shuswap Tourism Advisory Committee meeting be adopted as circulated.

  
  CARRIED

2.

1:15 PM Presentation: Shuswap Culture

Mark Greenhalgh and Karen Brown to present to the committee.

R. Cyr introduced the presenters and thanked them for coming to present this item to the committee. The Shuswap Culture project was initiated by the Arts Council for the South Shuswap. R. Cyr turned the meeting over to the presenters.

The Arts Council for the South Shuswap was looking to create a community calendar to help prevent overlap with other events when they were looking to plan a new event. The South Shuswap Chamber of Commerce was responsible for printing 15,000 calendars.

The Shuswap Culture idea was brought forward at the granting workshops that the South Shuswap Electoral Area Director and Community Futures have been hosting, which was helpful to talk about it as a community, and the organizations and non-profit organizations wanted a way to collaborate, have a central hub, and help put the calendar online.

The result has been a website for the calendar which actually has more functionality. The website is a hub for community events which not only hosts a calendar but will allow for ticket sales and registration for events. The registrations will provide patrons with an e-ticket for the event.

The website is still under construction but is about 70% complete. M. Greenhalgh walked the committee through the website. The content is generated by community halls and will be one hub for everything. The view is that this can expand to the wider Shuswap region, rather than just a place for events in the South Shuswap. The website can be a resource that can link to other community pages.

The initial fees for the development of the website have been funded by a Rural Dividend grant. The committee had questions about the funding model going forward. There are options to have a revenue model with the ticket sales, potential to have a banner sponsor for revenue by advertising, service to purchase model, etc. Looking to get initial value and determine the cost structure after, that way there can be more information before making a decision, i.e. determine the number of impressions, etc. Looking to get it going first and look at adding the monetization value issues a little later.

This is a potential hub for registrations. Showcases events like Music in the Bay, Wednesdays on the Wharf, Music in Chase, etc. Helpful to allow event organizers to know what they might be competing with and reschedule events accordingly. Helpful tool to market the Shuswap.

3.

Mountain Bike Tourism Association (MBTA) Video 2018

Sustainable Mountain Biking Tourism - https://vimeo.com/238499036

R. Cyr gave an introduction to this topic for the committee and then showed the video. Also showed a two-minute video of the Shuswap.

Videos showcase sustainable tourism and look at bio-diversity. The Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association has done it but lots of places haven’t had the conversation yet. Need to look at tourism sustainably so that our communities can continue to benefit from tourism without losing the natural resources and environmental assets in the area.

4.

Discussion Items

4.1

Update on 2017 Statistics for Shuswap Tourism

Item tabled for the next meeting.

4.2

Change to the Terms of Reference for the Shuswap Tourism Committee to Include One Indigenous Representative

R. Cyr introduced this item. Shuswap Tourism and Community Futures are working with four bands (Adams Lake Indian Band, Little Shuswap Lake Indian Band, Neskonlith Indian Band, Splatsin First Nation) to develop an aboriginal tourism strategy. There are grants from the Rural Dividend Fund to hire an Indigenous Tourism Coordinator. The Coordinator will work with the four bands, Community Futures and Shuswap Tourism. R. Cyr is looking for direction from the committee on how to appoint an aboriginal tourism representative to this committee. Thinking of appointing a representative from the community; Shelly Whitsky is interested. R. Cyr would like to change the Terms of Reference for the Committee and bring it back to the next meeting. R. Cyr opened the topic up to the Committee.

• Potential to appoint someone from the Lakes Division.
• Shuswap Watershed Council has had this same issue, tried to appoint from Lakes Division but haven’t had consistency.
• Suggestion to appoint the Indigenous Tourism Coordinator.
• The Coordinator doesn’t have decision making authority.
• Suggestion to ask the First Nations Bands what they want. May mean adding four representatives.

R. Cyr will invite one representative from each band and ask how they see their role.

4.3

Shuswap Trails Update

Verbal report from Phil McIntyre-Paul.

• Shuswap Trail Alliance Annual General Meeting will be on May 15 at 7PM at Okanagan College, Salmon Arm Campus. Guest speakers, Ceren Caner and Geoff Stiles, from the Shuswap Outdoor Learning Foundation, will share a special presentation on the growing Outdoor Learning initiatives throughout the region. The AGM meeting package, including new Constitution & Bylaws, and the 2017 Year End Financial Statement are up on the Shuswap Trail Alliance website.
• The round table working group is moving forward. The four-year strategy is done and some funding is available; also going to local governments for funding – Fraser Basin Council will be facilitating. Shuswap Trail Alliance’s grant application to the Rural Dividend Fund was declined but the Trail Alliance has been asked to apply in the next round so there may still be options in the future. Some planning funding is available but project funding is lacking so some projects won’t happen this year.
• Rail Trail: The inter-jurisdictional committee is coming together in a couple of weeks.
• Shuswap Tourism has applied for $750,000 from Bike BC and set aside $300,000 to add to it for a Gardom Lake Parallel trail – looking at 8km of trails from Silver Creek Store to Salmon Arm.
• Trail Guides – Maps auto-populate, they are georeferenced. This information is the next big step for trail based tourism.

4.4

Shuswap Tourism Activities Update

Report from Robyn Cyr, Manager, Shuswap Tourism. Topics:

• Trail Guide Update
• Municipal and Regional District Tax (MRDT)
• Meeting Attendance
• Destination Think
• Creative Proposal
• Regional Chambers Meeting
• Tourism Sector Meetings
• Experience Guides
• Marketing Coordinator
• Consumer Show Attendance
• Crowdriff
• Indigenous Tourism Project
• Adam River Salmon Society
• Wild Salmon Caravan

Destination Think - R. Cyr provided an update to the committee about Shuswap Tourism's continued consulting contract with Destination Think. The relationship is going well. Destination Think is looking at a digital assessment and looking at the Shuswap Tourism, Shuswap Economic Development and Columbia Shuswap Film Commission website. Looking at re-doing the websites and can do it under budget. Destination Think is good at providing affordable solutions.

Crowdriff is the most cost effective solution to manage photo databases. Shuswap Tourism is working towards getting Crowdriff ready to use.

Creative Proposal - Shuswap Tourism has just finished a photo shoot. The photos are exclusively for the use of Shuswap Tourism and its partners.

Indigenous Tourism Project - Shuswap Tourism is looking forward to this opportunity.

For more details, R. Cyr’s report is attached to the HTML version of these minutes.

4.5

Update on Current Marketing Activities

Verbal report from Terri Hadwin (Intrinsic Destinations).

T. Hadwin gave a brief background on her experience. She has started to pick up some of the projects that the previous Tourism Marketing Coordinator had been working on. T. Hadwin is an instructor of the SuperHost program put on by Go2HR which is the standard for customer service excellence in the tourism industry in BC. T. Hadwin answered questions about the SuperHost program. The committee welcomed T. Hadwin to the team.

4.6

Columbia Shuswap Film Commission Update

Verbal report from David Barritt.

• Worked with a company looking to film avalanches in Revelstoke. Too difficult to meet requirements of the Province.
• Fox Features wanted to shoot some highways in Malakwa.
• Producer from Paramount in Sicamous and Revelstoke scouting for two days. He couldn’t share the script – Non-disclosure agreements.
• Filming took place in Malakwa, happened to film in R. Martin’s café. R. Martin spoke about the experience.
• Working with Revelstoke, Sicamous and Salmon Arm, they don’t currently have permitting applications, policies, etc. related to filming.
• Attended meeting with CreativeBC; opening up opportunities to market directly to producers, channels, etc.
• The Film Commission is now on social media: @filmcolumbiashuswap.
• Partnering up with Shuswap Tourism to help draw marketing crews, talent, producers, etc. to try and get them here for long weekend getaways. If they come to the region, they can see its assets and are more likely to want to film here.
• Working on creating program/courses to offer film industry education, having talent in the area makes it more attractive. Trying to also meet industry professionals (talent) in the area.

For more details, D. Barritt’s report is attached to the HTML version of these minutes.

4.7

Shuswap Tourism Networking Evening

Shuswap Tourism hosted a networking evening at The Prestige on May 1, 2018. Approximately 70 attendees. There was a speaker who presented about emergency preparedness for tourism operators. The workshop was well received. There were also topics on the importance of an online presence, the use of TripAdvisor, Google by Business, etc. Approximately three-quarters of the attendees were tourism businesses. D. Lepsoe had attended the event and spoke highly of the evening.

4.8

Community Presentations

R. Cyr presented on this topic. Shuswap Tourism is getting out to all of the municipalities and chambers in the area to present about what it does.

5.

Community Roundtable

J. Ziercke - Quaaout Lodge has an exciting summer planned. Solid June and July on the books. There’s the Squilax pow-wow August 10th, 11th and 12th. The golf course is open and it's getting busy.

P. Demenok - Son-in-law is doing an improv comedy pub night on June 9 at the Sunnybrae Community Hall. Everyone is welcome.

A. Maki - Events are all ramping up. There is a tradeshow on Saturday. Arena from 10am - 3pm. There is a historical tour of Chase at 4pm.

G. Bushell - There is a lot going on – Community clean up this weekend. May Long weekend: Trouper is playing on the lake.

R. Misseghers - North Shuswap is picking up speed for the summer. Restaurants are opening and provincial park upgrades are going on. The park store is changing ownership, should be open year round.

R. Talbot - May long weekend: Falkland Stampede. Everyone is welcome.

T. Rysz - New marina. Sled numbers have increased over the last several years. Looking forward to a great summer. Wrote a letter to the Premier as the houseboat bookings in Sicamous are down this year; concerns about Kinder Morgan Pipeline.

K. Brown - Music in the Bay - all artists have been solidified. K. Brown listed a number of the artists. Decided to get rid of opening acts as people were just coming for the headliners. Still providing more options for local entertainment: Community BBQ – Shuswap Showcase – open coffee house. Live date for Shuswap Culture website: May long weekend.

S. Hofstetter - Canada 150 was a great year, everything should go well this year and in future. Highways will improve access. Should be another good summer.

T. Hadwin - Calendar filling up quickly; looking to get out into the community.

R. Martin - KOA campground is under new ownership, open earlier than usual. Cedars RV Resort: sales keep on going. Three Valley Gap, anticipating another good season. R. Martin noted that Three Valley recently lost a long term employee. Condolences to their family and friends. She’ll be hard to replace.

R. Cyr - Extremely busy, not slowing up. Good things coming, new marketing campaigns coming out soon. Winter visitation marketing campaign coming out this year, hoping to keep up the four-season tourism. Snowmobiling is high on Shuswap Tourism’s radar.

K. Flynn - Roots and Blues looks like it’s going to have a great line up this year. Legalization of Cannabis is coming up. K. Flynn put out an invitation to come to The Prestige for an open house at 7pm, May 3rd, about an underpass in Salmon Arm. Salmon Arm Silverbacks are having a community appreciation night May 3rd at 5pm at Shuswap National Golf Course. K. Flynn noted appreciation for attending the Southern Interior Local Government Association’s annual conference in Revelstoke. He got to meet Fred Brusky who was a councillor for six years, sat as the president of the hotel association for Canada, has been in tourism for 50 years; K. Flynn suggested that F. Brusky present at a future committee meeting.

P. Demenok and R. Talbot left the meeting.

P. McIntyre-Paul - Trail based destination events: Salty Street Fest (May 12, 10AM-3PM) – Downtown Salmon Arm; Salty Dog Enduro (May 13, 9:30AM) – South Canoe; Provincial Highschool Mountain Bike Championships (May 26); National Indigenous Day (June 21) – Pierre’s Point, also Quaaout; BC Swing Camp Workshop (Aug 12-18); Lewiston Ultra Marathon (September 29) – Sold out, 500 participants; Salmon Symposium (September 30); Wild Salmon Caravan leading up to Salute to the Sockeye (September through October).

Guest: Jay Simpson - Canada Day celebrations in Scotch Creek.

D. Lepsoe - Indigenous events going on June 15th, 16th and 17th. KJ’s ball tournament in Squilax. 3 events in Chase on May 5th.

6.

Next Meeting

September 6, 2018 at 1:00 PM, location to be determined.

7.

Adjournment

• Motion
  Moved By T. Rysz
  Seconded By J. Ziercke

  THAT: the May 3, 2018 Shuswap Tourism Advisory Committee meeting be adjourned.

  
  CARRIED