AdventureEDU Delivered Across North America

10 January 2017
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AdventureEDU courses and content were delivered across North America in 2016. Below are the latest updates from workshops in New York and Colorado to a two-day AdventureEDU event in New Brunswick, Canada.

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October 18-19, 2016: Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada

Over 75 people from the world of New Brunswick tourism - operators, DMOs, ground suppliers, and other industry professionals - gathered in Saint John on October 18 and 19 to learn, grow, and deepen their regional relationships.

With a goal of developing and increasing relationships with trade partners, participants spent two full days learning about marketing, product development, and safety and risk management. A Community Builder session focused on forging new industry partnerships. Led by AdventureEDU facilitators Russell Walters and Mike Brcic, the event drew participants from all five tourism regions of New Brunswick and was presented in English and French, the official languages of the province.

Organized by New Brunswick Tourism, the two-day session focused first on marketing, with a mix of learning and exercises facilitated by the two instructors. Brcic led the morning session, showing participants how to develop and prepare their marketing content so that DMOs can market their services effectively to industry buyers. Walters followed up in the afternoon with additional sessions on how to apply new ideas and skills to marketing plans for presentation to the international market.

Kayaking with Red Rock Adventure beneath old covered bridges in St. Martins, New Brunswick in the Bay of Fundy
Kayaking with Red Rock Adventure beneath old covered bridges in St. Martins, New Brunswick in the Bay of Fundy

The second day of the event focused on product development, as participants learned how to improve the quality of their experiences through the lens of the four (4) Critical Elements and the four (4) Critical Moments; in the afternoon participants learned how best to create regional partnerships to develop world-class tourism products.

Engagement was extremely high, with frequent lineups at both microphones during the exercises, as participants shared stories, ideas and best practices triggered by the assignments. Lynn Meehan of New Brunswick’s USA Market Development team commented, “Amazing day! Great collaboration from the regions!” The excitement was palpable at the conclusion of the event; participants shared their newfound enthusiasm for the potential of the region, and shared stories of the new relationships they had formed. In fact, eighty-nine percent of participants reported in the satisfaction survey that they were able to form new partnerships during the event.

New Brunswick will be making its mark on the global tourism map for years to come (as will the Saint John Ale House, host to a lively dinner one evening)!

November 29th: North Creek, Upstate New York

Approximately 25 community leaders, business owners, and local outfitters attended a one-day workshop, titled “Attract Adventure Tourists to Your Business” in the Adirondack Region. Organized by the Gore Mountain Region Chamber the workshop was a discussion starter and a way to jump start increased collaboration between the private, public and non-profit sectors in the local community as the region starts to work together to attract adventure travelers.

The ATTA delivered an Adventure Travel Trends presentation, which was followed by a deep dive into a recent study titled, Marketing Your Business to Millennials, delivered Hillarie Logan-Dechene, of The WILD Center and Amanda Magee of Trampoline Design. The workshop wrapped up with examples of collaborative projects undertaken by other similar communities and finished with a series of short presentations by a handful of local operators and business that are currently involved in the Adventure Travel sector.

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December 7th – 8th: Rio Blanco County, Colorado

In 2015 the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) launched Blueprint 2.0 as a way to examine how best to serve rural communities around the state and identify opportunities to leverage the state's resources.

Historically a region that has prospered on oil and gas exploration, the County of Rio Blanco wanted to explore options to diversify its economy beyond the boom-and-bust cycle of the extractive sector. Rio Blanco’s Blueprint 2.0 project was awarded to investigate tourism promotion opportunities and specifically how the towns of Meeker and Rangely might work together on county-wide initiatives that would complement the rural nature and cultural values of this rich landscape.

Over twenty business owners, land managers, representatives from BLM, the US Forest Service and community leaders met over two days in a series of facilitated workshop sessions led by the ATTA and Kevin Wright of the Colorado Tourism Office. The group discussed regional issues and developed a strategy for the local Chamber of Commerce to attract more Adventure Tourism to the region.

Join the ATTA at upcoming events in North America:

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