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This post is dedicated to celebrating a company that I have been watching during the entire pandemic shutdown. 40 Knots Winery is a family-owned and operated business located in the Comox Valley, on Vancouver Island, BC. I will also confess writer bias in that I'm a wine club and book club member here and love their wine! But it's also the reason why I've had the opportunity to experience their journey as a community member and a tourism educator. Every business is learning how to adapt but what I have appreciated immensely with Brenda and Layne and their team are a few things: 1. Open and steady conversations with their customers. 2. Focusing on their existing customers and staging their re-engagement with the company first, a strong place to begin! 3. Retail, curbside activities kicked into gear straight away, with professional signage, and a trained team ready to make your purchase experience positive. I know there are lots of casual signs, but 40 Knots invested in a professional look aligned with the quality/brand of their company. 4. Bookclub went virtual, then blended - some at home, some at the vineyard as the government regulations allowed. This provided flexibility and choice for members and a foundation for building consumer trust to physically reconnect - at your pace! 5. Their first wine-club members' night demonstrated all the health practices and protocols of social distancing with the tables and how the wine tasting occurred. This included two shifts, to allow them to clean in between, a welcome area to explain 'how the evening would proceed, and as always, terrific music. 6. And they never lost their great sense of humour and hospitality! I love the kilted, cleaning vintner! We all know small businesses do what it takes to make things happen! Thanks for being a positive inspiration to the industry !

As we reflect back on the three months of Covid-19 permanently altering the tourism industry, it remains a mix of emotions, challenges and opportunities for the number of businesses I've spoken with recently. I'm struck by the resilience, passion and commitment of so many as we collectively strive to bring our contribution to local, provincial, and national economies. Today's morning reach however really struck a chord. While we all knew we were facing an HR challenge pre-Covid, post-Covid could be worse! SKiFT today published an article titled Hospitality's Devastating Loss of Talent Should be Your Gain It cites five reasons why businesses should be looking to hiring unemployed tourism professionals. 1. Attention to detail 2. Ability to improvise and adapt 3. Empathy and anticipation 4. Pride and professionalism 5. Experience with diversity This is all true and I really hope that businesses can retain and rehire as many staff/contractors as possible for travel will return and we need to be ready. What can we learn from this current situation, even if you are uncertain about your business's future? Stay in touch with your staff, even if they are laid off or furloughed. Let them know where you are and your plans for recovery. Reassess your budget to determine when you could bring people back - full-time or part-time and share that with them; it may be enough to secure their return following the government wage subsidies. Consider temporary adjustments to wage and work options, with a set time limit, to get through these toughest times. Host a staff gathering, keep it low cost, informal - even a potluck as social restrictions allow. Engage your team in helping find solutions and plan for the future. Provide a good letter of reference, if they leave, so parting is on good terms, relationships are key in our industry. Photo Source: Travel Alberta's SHiFT Tourism Training Program, March 2020.

Today we are highlighting our second post on the Adventure Travel Trade Association’s recommendations from their recently published article “3 Tips to Emerge Stronger” from the COVID crisis, reducing costs. Costing and pricing visitor experiences is both a science and an art. A time of financial crisis is a good opportunity to revisit your costing and pricing to consider adjustments that may be needed in response to changing market dynamics such an increased focus on hyper-local and regional travellers. The saying goes, ‘the farther away, the more willing to pay’. Couple this together with the financial hardships many people are experiencing as a result of COVID, and a hyper-local focus for restarting tourism, guests are likely to be more price-sensitive and seeking greater value from their travel choices. This increases the urgency for tourism operators to evaluate their costs and potential price adjustments in 2020. But do you know where you could reduce costs and the impact it might have on your visitor experience and profitability? Tourism Cafe has spent years developing and refining a costing tool, designed specifically for tourism operators to cost and price their visitor experiences. This tool, available in English and French, has been tested with thousands of operators over 20 years and used in our training courses to help businesses understand their input costs for visitor experiences to inform pricing decisions. The tool allows users to input different costing scenarios with various visitor volumes, deliveries and amortization periods. It incorporates cost categories for initial experience/program development costs, fixed and variable delivery costs, selling costs, overhead, exchange rates and commission rates so businesses can evaluate and compare their break-even delivery costs and set their pricing accordingly. If you are looking to evaluate your costing and pricing in response to the changing market conditions due to COVID, this is a great tool, modestly priced and available on our website at https://www.tourismcafe.org/costing-templates. (Image credit: growthforce.com)

What will world travel look and feel like, after we have a vaccine for Covid-19? I hope our industry returns with a refreshed focus that moves beyond 'sustainability' - retaining what we had. We need to focus on regenerative tourism, building a better tourism future than the one that was paused by the world pandemic. I remember the 1998 Montreal ice-storm; it was nothing of a comparable scale but it triggered a memory. The province of Quebec stopped to deal with the ice-storm until the city of Montreal was restored. Once this happened the activity slowed dramatically yet, the hardships and challenges of communities in the black triangle communities, outside Montreal continued for months. I'm delighted we are phasing in COVID-19 recovery plans; but I do wonder, once community-based activities are restored, will the urgency or support exist to assist the long-term return of tourism's contribution to GDP and the visitor economy. We have a long climb to move to confident regional, provincial, national and international tourism. We will need to pull together, every stage of the recovery to get through this. Every tourism business, every initiative helps. And for those who have been/will be forced to close their business, hopefully, others can hire their staff, support future entrepreneurial activities.

In a recent industry survey completed by the Tourism Cafe and the Gros Morne Institute for Sustainable Tourism, the top topic of interest by Canadian tourism operators was the psychology of tomorrow's travellers. Building trust with guests as we emerge from Covid-19 in a phased approach will be critical to the future of tourism, especially when inspiring international travel. Palace Resorts in Mexico recently forward us this video illustrating all the precautions they are taking to make their guest feel secure. It also came with a December invitation to visit, far enough out to give hope we could travel internationally ... maybe. At first blush, the 5-minute video length seemed long. But after watching it, and considering what it will take for my first international vacation, I thought 5-minutes is nothing relative to the investment in time, money, and most importantly taking that first step forward to travelling abroad again. A few questions to ponder: 1. What is your business doing to build the trust of future travellers? 2. How are you communicating this to your past travellers and looking for new guests? 3. Will the staff training and guest experience align with the promise? We all need to take a few bold steps forward, carefully and strategically. Travel will return if we get it right.

The Adventure Travel Trade Association recently published an article "3 Tips to Emerge Stronger", highlighting market diversification, building relationships and loyalty amongst customers and reducing costs as three strategies for tourism businesses as they move through and beyond the COVID crisis. Over the past 4 weeks, I’ve been observing the practices employed by the Bike Hotel Belvedere in Riccione, Italy to reconnect with their past guests, strengthen relationships and grow the desire to visit again in the future. For those looking for best practices in cultivating community and fostering loyalty amongst guests that translates into repeat visitors year after year, Marina Pasquini (photo right) - the hotel’s owner - and her staff, truly demonstrate leadership in the tourism industry. Here are three ways that they have been connecting with and engaging past and potential visitors to stay top of mind as a destination for future travel plans. 1) Private Facebook group for past guests: I had the good fortune of spending a week at the Hotel Belvedere in May 2019. Shortly after departure, I received an email inviting me to be part of the private Facebook group where Marina, her staff, her guides and other former guests are able to connect, share photos and stay apprised of upcoming events and specials. As Italy shifted into lockdown, and the hotel closed, the hundreds of posts, photos and messages shared by guests within this 2,800+ member group, expressing concern for Marina, her family and the Hotel’s staff, is a testament to the strength and authenticity of the community that has been created. 2) Live-streamed Zoom and Facebook chats between guests and staff: Annually, the hotel hosts a Bella in Sella week where like-minded women can find their tribe and join together for some great cycling and activities. During COVID-19, while the hotel is closed, Marina and her staff have been hosting live-stream events online. The online Bella in Sella event drew a crowd of 30-40 women, all wearing their Hotel Belvedere cycling jerseys, some riding their trainers, and joining together to enjoy each other’s company to feel the Belvedere spirit virtually! 3) Ride with the guides on Zwift: With the hotel closed and guests missing out on their cycling vacations, a weekly ride with the hotel’s bike guides is being offered on Zwift, a popular online platform for social rides and races from indoor cycling trainers. These events give the former guests and guides a chance to train, race, socialize and celebrate together in a virtual environment - last week's ride attracted 47 participants! We know that the cost of acquiring a new visitor greatly exceeds the cost of re-inviting an existing one. And once the COVID travel restrictions lift, we know that the competition to attract visitors to our destinations and businesses is going to be stiff. In just 4 weeks in April, Hotel Belvedere’s online engagement from their 17 posts, 3 events and invitation for guests to share their memories, resulted in over 2,400 likes, 270 photos uploaded and 1,030 comments, all exuding enthusiasm to return to the Hotel Belvedere as soon as possible. Are you engaging your past visitors meaningfully to drive future demand for your business and destination? If not, what can you do now to cultivate interest amongst your community to visit later? #cycletourism #cultivatingonlinecommunity #covidrecovery #experientialtravel

Today the UNWTO's news update led off with this statement: "100% OF GLOBAL DESTINATIONS NOW HAVE COVID-19 TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS, UNWTO REPORTS The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted all destinations worldwide to introduce restrictions on travel, research by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has found. This represents the most severe restriction on international travel in history and no country has so far lifted restrictions introduced in response to the crisis." While it's no surprise to any of us in the tourism industry, it's the parallel impacts that will begin to reveal itself in the next few months. I received a 'heads up' from a colleague today that their insurance no longer covers COVID-19. Olympia Benefits sent a client email dated 25 April, announcing that: "The provider of our travel medical insurance, SSQ Insurance, will no longer consider COVID-19 to be a sudden and unexpected illness. As a result, COVID-19 is not covered by the policy. This decision is effective April 6, 2020." Thankfully most people are home now as the airlines are grounded to an unprecedented halt but it's time for every one of us in the tourism industry who travels (likely all of us or our guests) to: 1. Check with your insurance company (personally and professionally) to see if there are changes announced or coming. 2. Connect with your insurance broker to advise him/her to keep an eye out for your potential need to change policyholders to one that will respond to your evolving insurance needs with the recovery of Covid, so you are only paying for what you currently need. 3. Review are you paying for anything right now, that you could eliminate while you are close to home (like many are doing with car insurance, trying to switch from work to leisure purposes). Every penny matters with an industry made up of small and medium businesses. 4. Examine your guest communications to see if there are any modifications or notifications you can be proactive in addressing. And as Dr. Bonnie Henry's famous quote from British Columbia reminds us daily:

We are looking for tactical/practical best practices for small businesses, who want to be proactive in preparing to invite guests back to their business when they open. If you hear of any in your professional circles or can share links to documents from any country or sector of the tourism industry, please share forward as we are starting to get asked this question by our small business network. As our work crosses sectors of the tourism industry, we'd love to aggregate these insights and share forward! A sample of some of the basics we have heard include: 1) Reducing seating - ensuring your guests know what changes you are making in restaurants/bars/cafes after you have done a careful assessment of your break-even point (yes paying yourself!) and ideally making some profit. 2) Increased sanitation techniques such as hand sanitizers on each table, masks and gloves with serving staff, increasing washroom cleaning and posting a schedule (as we see in airports, some fast foods) on the cleaning schedule for informing patrons. 3) Use of technology - menus online so guests can use their own phone to order and not touch menus, inviting people to pre-order with reservations for sit-down meals, then pay online to manage visitor flow. 4) Food - promoting items that go straight from the oven to the guest, so minimizing touching post cooking (as pizza shops are advertising). 5) Communication - Post a response plan that describes what you will do in the event you open, and then a staff member becomes ill, and/or contact tracing leads to your business. 6) Revisit your refund policies to ensure they are proactive to secure future business but respectful to allow for cancellations to build consumer confidence. Please add to the list for any sector in the tourism industry - food and beverage, attractions, outdoor adventure operators, transportation, etc.

While the world settles into working from home and/or tackling Covid19 on the front lines, researchers are busy as work tracking, examining, and helping us understand what is happening today, so that we may prepare for tomorrow. Like you, we are reading endless articles, reports and watching the news with increased frequency at the moment, but this particular graphic struck a chord with me. Published by the GlobalWebIndex, it shows changes in media consumption as a result of the Covid19 reality. In the last two months, I delivered trends sessions, to RDEE Canada, CDEA the Francophone Economic Development Council of Alberta conference delegates and Travel Alberta's SHiFT: Transforming products to experiences course participants. One of the key points of emphasis was the important differences between the generations and the importance of getting to know the attitudes, motivations and behaviours of Gen Z and the Millennials for companies with a high reliance on Baby Boomers. The message, they are different! This graphic brought home this point from a media consumption lens. Creating and uploading video is definitely led by Gen Z, Millennials are focused on streaming services and Boombers are staying with traditional media - broadcast TV. As we emerge from the Covid 19 crisis, the rebuilding of tourism will be long, short-term adjustments will need to be made, but the long-term opportunities can still be informed by demographics as one key variable to understanding your customers.

As you drive into Kenora you’ll discover a quaint town situated on the shores of the Lake of the Woods in Northern Ontario. It just takes moments watching the sun shimmer on the lake, the numerous boats cruising on the water and the warm colours of the evening sunset to fall in love with this destination. It typifies the raw beauty of Canada’s wilderness. There are many destinations that can claim beautiful landscapes, the availability of outdoor activities and the friendliness of the local people so … is there more to say about Kenora here? Experiential travel is an opportunity to provide visitors with ways to engage with and learn about the people, culture and place through meaningful interactions. Developing purchasable visitor experiences that provide unique, exclusive access to people, places and stories represents an opportunity for businesses in rural communities to layer on new sources of revenue while providing reasons for travellers to stay longer and spend more in the destination. A short three-day in-community visit to Kenora revealed a variety of engaging entrepreneurs who have interesting stories to tell and are innovating to create unique, local products. These entrepreneurs, their stories, partnerships and products form the foundation of what’s needed to develop new visitor experiences in the community. Lesley Anderson of the Tourism Cafe has delivered multiple experiential travel training courses in Northern Ontario and we are excited to see where their new strategic tourism directions will lead for product and visitor experience development.

At the Tourism Cafe, we have specialized in tourism instructional design since our company's inception. Prior to launching the company, Dr. Arsenault designed several graduate certificates and degrees for Royal Roads University and multi-year, long-standing tourism training programs. On January 31st, Marty Eberth, Travel Alberta's Director of Experience Development and Nancy Arsenault participated, with 10 other Canadian award winners, in the Institute 4 Performance and Learning first online national awards presentation. Travel Alberta’s SHiFT: Transforming Products to Experiences program received the Award Excellence for Designing Curricula for its program design and six years of continual evolution and enhancement. SHiFT is a truly unique tourism industry training curriculum in Canada’s tourism industry. It is Travel Alberta's most in-depth training program that exemplifies the power of collaboration in the development, delivery and post-course care of participants enrolled in the program. According to Eberth "SHiFT has become the most sought-after training program we offer at Travel Alberta – and that’s because of the course content and program design. A big thanks to Nancy and the Tourism Café – and to all of our SHiFT alumni who are champions and ambassadors and who so willingly allow us to showcase their great work." Individual and organizational support is realized via case studies, guest speaking engagements, hosting experiences, hosting the program, becoming program advocates but most importantly - implementing their learning. The benefits of this unique Canadian program touch five learner groups each year. And while the award was accepted by Eberth (Travel Alberta) and Arsenault (Tourism Cafe), the success of SHiFT has been the result of so many other individuals and organizations. While too many to mention, key ones with one or more years of commitment include Alberta's Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism, Earth Rhythms, Tourism Jasper, Edmonton, Calgary, Banff and Lake Louise, the towns of Drumheller and Sylvan Lake, and Community Futures.

An easy first step, become part of a global solution and contribute to the tourism industry and a healthy planet is reduce the amount of plastic waste produced by the tourism sector. Join the World Tourism Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation who officially announced the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative to eliminate problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging and item. What can you do? Your business do? Take action! - Take action to increase the amount of recycled content across all plastic packaging and items used; Engage the value chai n to move towards 100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable; - Commit to collaborate and invest to increase the recycling and composting rates for plastics; and - Report publicly and annually on progress made towards these targets.