Sustainable Tourism; February 15, 2011

A Workshop to develop a sustainable tourism strategy for the County of Frontenac

The County of Frontenac completed its Integrated Community Sustainability Plan in early 2010.  The Frontenac Arch Biosphere  was part of that planning team.  One of the key recommendations in the ICSP was to develop a sustainable tourism strategy for the County of Frontenac. Based on the experience in this region in sustainable tourism, the County contracted with the Biosphere to undertake the development of this strategy.

The following is excerpted from the County of Frontenac’s final ICSP document: Directions for Our Sustainable Future; Sustainable Actions; Community Priorities

County-Wide Sustainable Tourism Strategy
Pillars: Social/Cultural/Economic/Environmental

Focus Areas: Economic Development, Health & Social Services, Recreation & Leisure, Culture & Heritage, Capacity Building

The development of a sustainable tourism strategy for the County of Frontenac is recommended. A number of projects related to sustainable tourism were identified as a result of the BR+E survey of businesses completed in 2007.
Projects include the development of a tourism business plan and more accessible rural employment training.”

Lead: County of Frontenac; Frontenac Arch Biosphere

As in the previous work on community engagement in sustainable tourism, the approach by the Frontenac Arch Biosphere in the County of Frontenac was based on the definition of sustainable tourism, as developed by Parks Canada and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada:

“Sustainable tourism actively fosters appreciation and stewardship of the natural, cultural and historic resources and special places by local residents, the tourism industry, governments, and visitors.  It is tourism which is viable over the long term because it results in a net benefit for the social, economic, natural and cultural environments of the area in which it takes place.”

In establishing the parameters of this work, the Frontenac Arch Biosphere proposed to assist the County of Frontenac in the development of a Strategy for Sustainable Tourism. A key interest in the participation of FAB is to promote the stewardship and protection of the natural and cultural resources of the FAB region. The County of Frontenac would be in the position of assisting the region to develop new business models, but would integrate the stewardship of heritage as a fundamental reason for the pursuit of sustainable tourism. The Biosphere would organize workshops and presentations with county staff, all municipalities and business and stakeholder groups to first learn about the nature and state of sustainable tourism in Canada, to then determine needs and opportunities in the County in order to tailor the framework for sustainable tourism strategy to fit the County’s needs.
The Biosphere is well positioned to assist the County in this endeavour. We have successfully completed a “National Model for Sustainable Tourism” for the Tourism Industry Association of Canada and Parks Canada; participated as a member of the Sustainable Tourism Advisory Committee in drafting the Canadian Charter for Sustainable Tourism; and have been accepted as a signatory to the National Geographic Society’s “Geotourism Charter”, the ninth issue of these Charters worldwide.
In the course of work and community engagement, we have delivered programs and developments over a geography considerably larger than the Biosphere. In the development of this strategy, the Biosphere would ensure that the discussion is equitable to all municipalities and business partners of Frontenac County.
 
The County of Frontenac has a set of unique conditions and situation in regards to its tourism industry:

• Tourism in the county is fragmented, in that the County is not the tourism unit. but rather businesses relate to a number of ‘marketers’. These include the Land O’ Lakes, City of Kingston, Rideau Canal/Heritage Route, Quinte and Prince Edward County.
• The Ministry of Tourism has further divided the County, through the designations of Ontario Tourism Regions, where the County is split in half into Regions 9 and 11. Designations for responsibility and processes of development remained unsettled as to marketing and management at the time of this project.
• Sustainable tourism in Canada is as yet in a state of development, in terms of definitions, charters and accreditation; and there is no position or policy in place as guidance at any level of government. In this instance, sustainable tourism is at a concept stage, nourished by leadership as in Parks Canada, and the national and some provincial level tourism associations. Sustainable tourism is at a pioneering stage, where the leadership is from segments of the industry, and forward-thinking partnerships. This places the County of Frontenac in a pioneering position, but with the potential of being at a leading edge in terms of positioning. Sustainability is an asset and edge in this tourism industry today.
• The question arises: does the County wish to be a destination in itself; or does the County want to equip the businesses, sites of the County to be sustainable, and therefore potentially stronger contributors to the local economy?

These discussion points provided a framework for the design and content of a workshop for the exercise of developing a sustainable tourism strategy for the County of Frontenac.

The County of Frontenac is long, north-south, and narrow. There are four townships – North, Central and South Frontenac Townships; and the Township of Wolfe and Howe Islands. The latter is separated from the former by the City of Kingston.  Only South Frontenac Township, in its entirety, is inside the technical boundary of the Frontenac Arch Biosphere .

The Biosphere’s objective was to work to engage all of the municipalities and their tourism sector businesses and organizations in the workshop and planning exercise. A list of all businesses and organizations of the county was obtained from the Economic Development department, and this was reviewed and filtered to create a list of potential participants. All of those listed were contacted by email and phone. As well, all mayors and councillors of the townships were contacted to participate.

The workshop was held at the County of Frontenac offices at Glenburnie. The format of the workshop was designed to first provide background to the state and status of sustainable tourism globally, nationally and provincially, and then move to a facilitated discussion of needs and asset development at this municipal level.

The Biosphere engaged Dr. Ted Manning of Tourisk Inc. to assist Biosphere Board members Gary Clarke, acting as well as a Board member of the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario; and Louise Mantha, a professional facilitator. The appendix of the final report of this project will contain the powerpoint presentations of Manning and Clarke, and the strategy document which is currently in draft for the County of Frontenac.

Participation in the workshop was very good, with 65 in attendance.  Some 2/3 of municipal council elected officials, and their key staff attended. The session was well received, and with all mayors in attendance, the informal motion was made to receive the strategy document from the Frontenac Arch Biosphere , and move to implement the strategy. Of particular interest is the concept of protecting the heritage resources, both natural and cultural, and nurturing communities though the sustainable tourism strategy, as a way forward in sustainable community development.