Calgary’s got one. So does Gravenhurst and Brockville in Ontario. And Moncton too. Now the Niagara region is looking for one.

One what? One big idea - the big idea in fact - that will connect all the dots in a recreo-tourism strategy and make it work as a spur to economic development.

Recreo-tourism is the nifty buzzword being heard in city halls these days to describe one of the hottest trends in municipal and regional planning – tourism that’s based not on just seeing something but on doing something as well. In other words, after they’ve seen your natural, historical, cultural or whatever-adjective-applies attraction, what other reason do visitors have to stay? Or stay longer? That’s an important question to ask because it’s Article #1 of the tourism industry that the longer people stay, the more money they spend.

The Big Idea
The Big Idea is about getting more people to stay longer and spend more. It starts with planning: taking stock of what amenities you already have and what you’ll need to make your city or region more of a ‘destination’ but it’s also about packaging all of these amenities in one distinctive, attractive, easily communicated concept. Some examples include:

• Muskoka Wharf - a $62 million waterfront revitalization joint venture between private developers, the town of Gravenhurst [north of Toronto] and the Muskoka Navigation Company. Based on the already-popular restored steamship The Sequin, the plan envisions a steamship museum, upscale marina, public moorings, retail, and restaurant facilities as well as a new 100-room hotel, all visually linked by Edwardian-period architectural theming. When completed, Muskoka Wharf is expected to draw some 500,000 visitors annually, generating yearly income to the region in excess of $21 million.

• ‘The Hub’ - an 8 acre, mixed-use development in Moncton, New Brunswick will mix commercial, retail, leisure and residential uses in a ‘renovated warehouse’ architectural motif on the exterior buildings which enclose an open-air plaza. The tenant mix includes TV studios, an aquatic centre, brew pub, sports bar, family restaurant, specialty retail, a hi-tech games arcade and large screen ‘immersive’ cinema.

• Calgary Olympic Park – Winter Boardwalk - A multi-million dollar revitalization plan to make the Calgary Olympic site commercially viable as the premier international center for winter sports training and competition linked by a scenic boardwalk to other leisure entertainment amenities.

• Brockville 1000 Islands Fantasia – a proposed $230 million recreo-tourism project to develop a series of attractions consisting of a horse racing track and slot gaming club, hotel/conference centre and banquet facility, ‘railroad’ theme park and cinema complex as well as a 4-plex ice hockey arena.

• Soulanges Canal – a proposed $480 million four season resort village on the historic, 14-mile long Soulanges canal, west of Montreal integrating retail, residential, hotel, recreation and marina facilities.
At first glance, putting a $100+ million tourism development in a non-metropolitan area may not seem to make much sense. However, it’s the symbiosis between the various small amenities that make The Big Idea work. Let’s take two specific examples: the Winter Boardwalk at the Calgary Olympic Park and Brockville Ontario’s 1,000 Island Fantasia.

The 1988 Winter Olympics left Calgary with a spectacular sports facility – the Olympic Park. The challenge was to extend the investment in this facility by integrating its sporting capabilities with other amenities into one, year-round destination for both locals and tourists. The Big Idea here is a Boardwalk concept that, like a shopping mall, physically links the two anchor sports facilities – the ice arenas and the athlete’s village with a scenic boardwalk lined with smaller boutique attractions. So, while the kids are out on the ice or the ski slopes, Dad and Mum can enjoy a leisurely brunch and maybe shop for skis. Then, in the summer, when the tour buses roll in, there’s more for visitors to do than just take pictures.

In Brockville, proponents started with the notion of having their own racetrack, slot club and hotel. Then they began envisioning other complimentary ‘pieces’ to be part of the overall package. A 4-plex of ice arenas would make the town a major centre for hockey tournaments. And, while the kids were in town for a tournament, maybe they’d like to unwind at an indoor water park. Or, during summer months, they could play at the ‘railroad’ theme park while the adults played golf or visited the slot club.

Beyond Traditional Municipal Planning
Coming up with The Big Idea requires thinking beyond the horizon of traditional municipal planning. It takes a bold vision and, equally, a sharp eye for detail because as the expression goes, the devil is in the details. The devil in this case is getting the right mix of attractions at the right price needed to draw the right amount of people for the right amount of time. In my business this is known as The Programme, the DNA of virtually every leisure entertainment attraction in the world - especially theme parks. Designing a programme is not rocket science – its more complicated than that. Get it right and you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner; get it wrong and you’ll wonder why you did it at all. That’s why programming is not something most municipalities can or should be doing. What they should be doing is what they already do best:

• Identifying ‘areas of opportunity’ within their jurisdiction;
• Prospecting for private developers with the means and experience to turn these opportunities into actual attractions; and then
• Providing developers with all the support possible to make it happen.

The provincial government of Prince Edward Island for example, determined to make their province an international destination for golfing. Why? Because tourists stay longer if they can play golf and it gives executives who like to play golf a really good reason to book their corporate conferences at a PEI hotel. Accordingly, it actively supported development of a series of world-class golf courses running almost seamlessly from one end of the island to the other.

Across the St. Lawrence, the City of Montreal recently negotiated the sale of its financially-troubled La Ronde amusement park to the Six Flags corporation. As one of America’s leading theme park developer/operators, Six Flags brings to the table a mastery of the tricky mechanics of attractions management the city itself could never hope to possess.

Recreo-Tourism Strategy
On the other hand, coming up with the Big Idea can be remarkably simple. Once a municipality has done its homework - a land use study – all it has to do is invite the experts in to do their homework. This will include:

• Concept Programming - the mix of leisure amenities that will give the area a unique profile and the greatest potential to successfully compete as a destination tourist market. Typically, the mix includes sports and recreation facilities, commercial urban entertainment (family entertainment centres, amusement arcades, cinemas, destination or themed restaurants, specialty retail etc.), live entertainment and theatre, hotels, resorts and inns, perhaps a casino or better still, all of the above;

• Preliminary Master Planning - the physical requirements of the overall development vision in general and then more specifically, what each particular site will need to take advantage of its immediate location and to participate in the regional plan. [Keep in mind that some amenities within a plan - hockey arenas for instance - may not be profitable by themselves but will act as an important loss leader for neighbouring attractions such as a hotel or indoor water park];

• Top Level Pre-Feasibility Studies - the demographic and financial success factors, based on industry averages and certain informed assumptions about the market. [Here especially, further due diligence by the municipality is probably a waste of both time and taxpayers’ money because any reputable developer will want to do his own independent studies.]

An affordable, achievable recreo-tourism strategy can invigorate a municipality’s economy in more ways than simply generating jobs in its leisure and tourism sector. Just as infrastructure – roads, schools, housing, hospitals – are important factors in attracting new industry to an area, so too are a variety of quality recreation and entertainment facilities for the families of employees.

Leveraging your Assets
Communities that are seriously considering a recreo-tourism plan should give serious consideration to the following two suggestions:

First, have the Big Idea, yes, but not too big. The Disney Corporation is not going to build a half-billion dollar mining or logging theme park in a community six hours drive from the nearest city. However, a modest but well-done heritage centre, such as the city of North Bay, Ontario is planning for example, can draw thousands of otherwise drive-by tourists into your region at a reasonable cost.

Second, and perhaps most important, don’t tell the developers what to build. When the well-intentioned but inexperienced start practising the alchemy of programming, the result is more often lead than gold. Follow the example of the Calgary Olympic Park or the Metro Toronto Zoo and simply ask: ”What can we do to leverage our existing asset[s]?” Then let the experts do the work for you.