Tourism Council Appointments

The Nova Scotia Tourism Partnership Council has appointed its executive.

Doug Fawthrop, managing director, White Point Beach Resort, White Point, is the new chair, while Paul Stackhouse, general manager of the Lord Nelson Hotel, Halifax, will serve as vice-chair. An executive committee has also been named and a task force has been established to deal with the province's 1999 tourism marketing campaign.

The new council gives industry a direct voice in planning and delivering the province's tourism marketing and product development programs. It was appointed by Economic Development and Tourism Minister Manning MacDonald in May 1998 based on recommendations from an industry-led selection committee.

The council includes 14 tourism industry owners or operators and two representatives from government, who are now responsible for developing a five-year tourism marketing strategy and approving overall provincial tourism marketing and product development plans.

"We recognize the extent of the task at hand and all of us will be discussing how best to get the work done in the weeks and months ahead," said Mr. Fawthrop. To help meet the challenges, an executive committee will work more closely with the Nova Scotia Marketing Agency and Tourism Nova Scotia on issues that arise.

In addition to the chair and vice-chair, Executive Committee members include Bill Hay, owner of Mastodon Ridge and Showcase Nova Scotia, Stewiacke; Susan Bartlett, owner of Inn on the Lake, Waverley; Karl Webb, owner of Havenside Bed and Breakfast, Hackett's Cove; and Michele McKenzie, executive director of the Nova Scotia Marketing Agency.

They will bring recommendations to the council for approval. Peggy Anderson, owner of Kidston Landing, Baddeck, and Eric Mullen, managing director of Canadvac Travel Services, Caledonia, will oversee council communications. Nominations to all committees will be reviewed every six months.

The council has set a goal to increase tourism receipts by at least five percent in 1999. Other goals and objectives will be set for 2000 and beyond.

"The industry is holding us accountable so we need to identify ways to measure that accountability. We have to look at things like the return on investment to the industry, which is a true measurement of the industry's health," said Mr. Fawthrop.

A 1999 marketing task force was also struck to move next year's marketing campaign forward. The task force includes Ella McQuinn, McQuinn and Co. Marketing and Victor Ferreira, regional vice president and general manager of Hotel Halifax. Ms. Bartlett and Ms. McKenzie are also members of the task force.

"The whole process for developing the annual marketing campaign takes about 18 months to work through," said Ms.Bartlett, who worked with industry and government to develop the 1998 campaign.

"That strategic process has time lines built in and includes looking at recent research, identifying issues and exploring our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats," she said.

As part of the marketing program, Economic Development and Tourism will spend more than $550,000 on research studies that focus on product development, market intelligence, creative development, industry performance, program evaluation and issue specific studies. The 1999 plan will also consider a range of issues, including the choice of images used in advertising, addressing product readiness in terms of bilingual products, policies relating to partnership arrangements and measuring effectiveness.

"We also face lots of challenges," said Mr. Fawthrop. "When you look at Nova Scotia's overall tourism performance, the numbers can be sobering."

For example, he said there's been no net growth in United States market visitation since 1990, with visitors from New England and the mid-Atlantic below 1990 levels. Overall, road visitation was up 12 per cent in 1997 since 1990, but air visitation remains volatile.

"Given Nova Scotia's roller-coaster air visitation history, the challenge will be to maintain numbers at the 1997 level," he said.

Fawthrop is confident that industry's involvement will help Nova Scotia meet the challenges ahead. "We have a great opportunity for the private sector to develop and drive the growth of the industry in this province. Collecting industry input and reporting on progress will remain a major focus of the council."

EDITORS NOTE: Photographs of each council member are available by calling Communications Nova Scotia collect at 902-424-2876.