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VTTA Accord
Community-Based Tourism Development
The Viking Trail Tourism Accord was a groundbreaking document in community-based tourism development in Atlantic Canada. It was the culmination of months of community consultation and resulted in the investment of some $50 million, $10 million of it from the private sector, in tourism infrastructure on the Viking Trail.
The Viking Trail covers the area from Deer Lake, north along the Great Northern Peninsula to St. Anthony, and in Southern Labrador from L’Anse au Clair to Battle Harbour. The area includes Gros Morne National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and additional national historic sites at Port au Choix, Red Bay, and Battle Harbour. Additional National Historic Sites monuments include a Maritime Archaic Indian Burial Site at L’Anse Amour, the Grenfell Historic Properties in St. Anthony, and the Deep Cove Winter Housing Site near Anchor Point.
In addition, the region contains many sites of great importance to the history of Newfoundland and Labrador, including the Grenfell House Museum at St. Anthony, the Nurse Myra Bennett House Museum in Daniel’s Harbour and the Point Amour Lighthouse and Museum in Southern Labrador. Other sites have regional historic and culturally important resources. The Viking Trail is known throughout Canada for its scenic beauty and natural wonders, which include whales, icebergs and a large variety of wildlife with numerous ecological reserves protecting the natural habitat.
Development of the accord was spearheaded by the Viking Trail Tourism Association and it benefitted from the vision of many key provincial and federal government departments and agencies. When the accord was signed on Sept. 15, 1994 at Rocky Harbour, Port au Choix, Red Bay and St. Anthony by 54 representatives of federal, provincial, and municipal governments, as well as development organizations, and the tourism industry. The signing marked a significant achievement in community partnership and acted as a visible sign that the Great Northern Peninsula and Labrador Straits is a tourism destination of international stature.
The accord had its genesis in the acknowledgment that despite having a large variety of historical and scenic attractions, the Viking Trail region was not reaping the benefits it should have from tourism. In short, there was a dearth of development, particularly as it related to tourism infrastructure. With this recognition, local leaders in the region decided, with the assistance of government departments and agencies, to develop the support structures and community awareness activities needed to allow strategic planning and development to occur. This led to the development of a five-stage approach.
The first stage was community-led planning, connected to industry involvement and appropriate government support. After a series of informal consultations at the community and industry level, a public session was held in which the vision held by the partners was shared with the wider public. The Vision Statement provided a picture of the potential which existed for the enhancement of the region, and was a concrete checklist of improvements which acted as the guide for development. This vision outlined infrastructure development, product development, an activity list, and human resource development components which would be required to bring the Viking Trail to a world class standard.
From the public session emerged the plan for development. In order for local people to have a say in the priorities and projects they wanted to see happen in their community, a series of working groups were formed which invited the participation of the community at large. Five of these were formed initially, one for each of the major national sites and one for the east side of the Northern Peninsula. Later, an education and training group was added to give general direction in human resource development. The role of the working groups was to identify the major potential development opportunities for the region and then to prioritize them. This meant that groups were forced to look beyond community boundaries to identify what was of greatest benefit to the region as a whole. This exercise was difficult but over time became less so as the realization developed that choosing best options would result in a better outcome for all communities.
With the vision agreed upon, the communities having an active and visible role, and priorities being set on a regional level, it then became clearer that other groups would have to become part of the process and other supports would be needed in order to make the vision a reality. The community groups were already being supported and facilitated by the Community Futures staff who worked at various points around the area.
They spearheaded the development at a local level and enabled the decision making to take on a local form. As the plan emerged and priorities were agreed upon, the roles of other departments and local groups became evident. The Department of Tourism, Human Resources Development Canada, municipalities, development associations, educational institutes and funding agencies were all necessary partners if the outcomes were to be realized. The collaboration among all these groups and the streamlining of policy decisions were critical factors in determining a successful completion. The Viking Trail Tourism Accord laid down the principles under which the partnership was to work and it was these principles which were followed in the day to day progress.
As the planning occurred, certain needs became evident which were not identified as part of the development process, or at least they were needs which were not able to be met under normal program design. The strength of co-ordinated, long-term planing based on a regional strategy is that the headlong rush of development is minimized and the overall perspective has an opportunity to materialize so that issues of training and support structures can be examined and appropriately delivered. The Viking Trail plan identified a number of these issues, which were naturally inserted where they could be of most benefit and have the most impact.
In the early stages, infrastructure development was a priority and the result was a series of hotels and motels in which we are proud to host our visitors. But a building is of little value if staff are not trained to be welcoming, the food is not inviting, and there is little to entertain the guests. As a result, training plans were developed for staff, utilizing SuperHost, which was delivered through Hospitality Newfoundland and Labrador. Additionally, service quality training was developed which encouraged staff to be cognizant of the needs of guests and to provide a level of service equal to that of any four-star hotel. Attention to these details ensured that the traveling public wanted to return to the area.
The activity development began to occur at a greater pace and began taking advantage of year-round tourism potential. Plans emerged to take advantage of winter activities, such as snowmobiling, cross country skiing, ice climbing, and other activities so that entrepreneurs could realize greater potential for their investments.
Another piece of the plan was the support for a marketing director for the Viking Trail Tourism Association. That person used his position to develop a long term marketing plan for the region. And, the emphasis has been on human resource development from the beginning of the strategy. This has resulted in the development of some innovative programs which have been targeted towards young people and teachers.
The long-term vision of the Viking Trail Tourism Accord was aimed at achieving improvements in time for the Viking Millennium celebrations planned for the year 2000. This has largely been accomplished and the fact the region now has many new infrastructure initiatives completed has left the region in a position where it is ready to be heavily marketed. This realization provided an added impetus for both the federal and provincial governments to commit themselves to supporting, financially and otherwise, to the development of a major series of events.
The first indication of this commitment came with the agreement to fund VTTA efforts to hire a Communications Officer to begin planning events at the community level. This was followed by a greater commitment to fund additional positions to put these events into place. The result was that an organization that in 1998 had two employees had grown to a total staff complement of 18 employees dedicated largely to Vikings! 1000 Years, nine full and part-time seasonal employees with the Viking Encampment program, and another two employees hired to handle specific duties relating to other VTTA programs.
This complement of 29 employees does not include the 20 construction workers and 45 re-enactors in training who are employed as a result of the Vikings! 1000 Years program Norstead: A Grand Encampment. This program is an creative approach to dealing with an area in which many people were displaced by the downturn in the fishery; a Viking port of trade has been created that will interpret the Viking era and serve as a complement to the nearby L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site. More important than the role this village will play as an attraction for Vikings! 1000 Years, it is a project with a legacy, as the village will be operated into the future, continuing to employ many former fishery workers..
These commitments have demonstrated that in an economically challenged area such as the Viking Trail, innovative approaches to tourism development can and do work. Planning for industry development is a comprehensive process which must utilize many aspects. The Viking Trail Tourism Accord model is one which gradually built a community-owned and operated development in a large geographical area.