Robert Massey, Banff & Lake Louise Tourism
The Process
The project saw an unprecedented level of engagement throughout. The research process included:
One-on-one interviews: with almost 45 key tourism industry partners.
Three surveys: of Banff National Park residents, tourism employees in the destination, and tourism industry partners; with more than 2,000 responses in total.
Six Working Groups: each addressing one the following key themes: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Future Destination Brand & Values, Indigenous Tourism, Innovating Tourism, Live, Work & Community, and Sustainability. The Working Groups include members of the community and tourism industry stakeholders, tasked with collaborating to build shared understanding, identify collective priorities, and co-develop a number of meaningful joint recommendations.
Group NAO, an internationally recognized research and innovation company, supported the process and completed the research as an independent third party.
Independent Survey Findings
Group NAO conducted three surveys across businesses, residents, and other interested parties in Banff National Park. Below is the recording of the presentation of the findings at the November 2022 Open House.
Find Out More
A Steering Committee for the process comprised of more than 10 representatives, across several sectors of the tourism industry in Banff National Park. Parties involved in this committee were:
- Leslie Bruce, Banff & Lake Louise Tourism
- Shawn Birch, Banff Caribou Properties
- Jonathan Welsh, Discover Banff Tours
- Robin Locke, Lake Louise Ski Resort
- François Masse, Parks Canada
- Michaela Kent, Parks Canada
- Salman Rasheed, Parks Canada
- Corrie DiManno, Town of Banff
- Kelly Gibson, Town of Banff
The near-45 stakeholder interviews encompassed viewpoints from a range of participants across the tourism industry, public sector, hospitality industry, and not-for-profit organizations.
To develop specific recommendations for the 10-Year Vision for Tourism, six Working Groups were formed, each addressing one the following key themes: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Future Destination Brand & Values, Indigenous Tourism, Innovating Tourism, Live, Work & Community, and Sustainability.
The Working Groups included members of the community and tourism industry stakeholders, tasked with collaborating to build shared understanding, identify collective priorities, and co-develop a number of meaningful joint recommendations. These recommendations were an integral part of the process, and were presented at a “Future of Tourism” Forum in June 2022. The Indigenous Tourism Working Group was formed in May provided their findings and recommendations at the Tourism Together Community Open House in November 2022.
Robert Massey, Banff & Lake Louise Tourism
The first phase of the Tourism Together Working Groups’ efforts was ideation. Five of the Working Groups generated 567 ideas, before prioritizing two or three each to take forward as recommendations to the Future of Tourism Forum. These ‘Sun Charts’ visually represent the topics and themes addresses in those original 567 ideas. The charts are divided into key themes:
- Smart Tourism
- Sustainability
- Transport
- Indigenous Connections
- Education
- Work & Housing
- Community
- Accessibility
- Experience
All charts can be viewed here.
A stakeholder survey, open between March 8 and April 14, 2022, was designed to help us understand the future readiness, key areas of priority, and expectations for the shared future vision of tourism in Banff National Park. We asked a broad range of tourism industry stakeholders to participate, including our members, their employees, our partners and other destination management organizations.
A resident survey was released on May 26, 2022, to help us gather input from residents of Banff National Park. We are grateful to all those who call this place home for sharing their views.
A tourism employee survey, in partnership with the Banff & Lake Louise Hospitality Association, was open from July 27 to August 28, 2022. It was designed to help improve employees’ experiences and opportunities as part of our community and workforce; and to provide employers with insights to help improve recruitment, retention and the wider employee lifecycle.
Read the background reports from the survey findings here:
Robert Massey, Banff & Lake Louise Tourism
In June, 2022, the Future Forum brought together representatives from five Working Groups to present their recommendations. This first-of-its-kind event was hosted by Leslie Bruce, President & CEO of Banff & Lake Louise Tourism (BLLT), Corrie DiManno, Mayor of the Town of Banff, and Banff National Park Superintendent Sal Rasheed.
Working Groups were composed of members who were either invited or applied for positions, and had been working together since March 2022.
Robert Massey, Banff & Lake Louise Tourism
In November 2022, an ‘Open House’ event in Banff marked the end of the engagement phase to inform the 10-year Vision for Tourism in Banff National Park. Around 200 members of the community, Working Groups, and Steering Committee, heard the results of the independent surveys and the recommendations from the Indigenous Tourism Working Group.
Key areas of focus from the Indigenous Tourism Working Group included: enhancing cultural awareness and training within the tourism sector, addressing and reducing barriers for Indigenous Peoples to work and engage in tourism, and providing dedicated support and services to Indigenous communities and entrepreneurs to facilitate their engagement in the visitor ecosystem.