Northern BC Tourism Destination Risk Assessment Research

Northern BC Tourism (NBCT) and Tourism Prince George (TPG) are committed to improving the sustainability of the Northern BC region, and are seeking assistance to conduct research about tourism-related risk assessments across the destination. The research associated with this project will help to inform future sustainability efforts and actions across the Northern BC region. There may be opportunities to network and communicate with a diverse group of individuals, including regional districts, local government, indigenous groups and other organizations and stakeholders who are responsible for tourism activities across the entire Northern BC region. Project Outcomes The practicum student will help both organizations achieve their goal of understanding tourism-related risks across the region. The research conducted will help identify risks including, but not limited to: Environmental risks and mitigation strategies, including climate change risks, to visitors and the tourism economy Ecosystem risks of tourism and capacity management strategies, related to visitor flow and site capacity (wildlife corridors/populations, etc.) Impacts of tourism on residents related to both demands and improvements to infrastructure and services as a result of tourism Impacts of tourism on indigenous and non-indigenous living cultures (language, traditions, heritage sites, artifacts, etc.) Student responsibilities include (but are not limited to): Identify what risk assessment work (social, economic, environmental, cultural etc.) has already been done within the Northern BC region at the local, regional, provincial and/or national levels Create a system for tracking and monitoring existing sustainability efforts across the region, including: Completed, in progress, and future planned risk-related assessments or studies, including timelines Institutions, organizations or individuals responsible for various aspects of sustainability across the region The student will need to liaise and communicate with a broad spectrum of stakeholders to understand the current realities and gather data to assist this research project If time permits, begin research on the risks associated with tourism activities in the Northern BC region where none exists, working with Northern BC Tourism to prioritize what risks should be assessed first Upon completion of this research, Northern BC Tourism will be in a strong position to make decisions about how to advance the sustainability of the region, including whether or not a more comprehensive risk assessment will need to be undertaken based on existing data identified through this research project.

Itinerary Planning for Consumer Groups

Create itinerary templates for specific lengths of time in Prince George for Specific EQ Groups. Develop one day, one weekend, and one-week itineraries for each of the follow EQ Segments: - Free Spirits - Cultural Explorers - Authentic Experiencers Please consider all aspects of the trip (accommodation, food and beverage, attractions, activities, etc.)

Net Promoter Score

Conduct research on the Net Promoter Score as a tool for Destination Marketing Organizations Utilize Destination BC's Net Promoter Score Resources to develop a survey for Tourism PG use. If time permits, Tourism PG will send out the survey and the students will be asked to analyze the results.

EQ Experiences Prince George

Using Explorer Quotient research match existing Prince George tourism experiences with other products that will resonate with specific E.Q. audiences identified by Northern B.C. leading research. Prepare two experiences per E.Q. segment identified for each season in a package with recommended suppliers based on motivations and trip behavior. E.Q. research for Northern B.C. will be supplied as will Prince George's key website stakeholder list.

Market- Readiness Audit

Analysis of visitor-ready, market-ready, and export-ready tourism businesses for Prince George. In a grid-format go through Destination B.C. and Destination Canada's market-readiness criteria and evaluate and rank accordingly into three categories based on a supplied list of tourism businesses in Prince George. From the analysis then export a report on % of visitor, market, and export-ready businesses for Tourism Prince George.

Digital Platform Audit

Digital Platform Analysis for our tourism business directory from www.tourismpg.com (we will supply a spreadsheet) 1) Identify what digital platforms our tourism partners are engaged in such as: Google-my business, Google maps, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, website, TripAdvisor, TikTok,2) and others. 2) Identify what is the engagement level ( updating, posting, and replying) and their ratings. 3) Develop a survey tool so a report can be generated ( we will supply the survey license and log-in) evaluating % of use, most popular platform, # of followers, # of posts, and frequency of replies.