FRIDAY JAN 24 2014 VOL. 41, NO. 04
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The critters among us
Tribute to a Master
Big picture
Bowen rats look for cozy homes in the winter months
A concert to celebrate jazz legend Jim Hall
The Mayor’s message for 2014
Funds critical to implement tourism strategy Taking action on tourism priorities requires more than volunteers alone can provide, says EDC MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
On Bowen Island, tourism is one of three industries that has been singled-out by the municipality’s Economic Development Committee (EDC) offering potential for growth on the Island. As Shawna Leung, Community Manager of the Vancouver Coast & Mountains Tourism Region told a full audience at the municipal hall this week, this is a belief that hasn’t changed since the first Bowen Island Tourism Strategy was created in 2006. That plan was never implemented, and attendees at this week’s Bowen These Girls Gym Stars aren’t just hanging around, they’re working hard! Weekly recreational and Tourism Initiative meeting as well preschool gymnastics for winter is underway with a few openings still available. as EDC hosts agreed, that without Meribeth Deen photo proper community support this new plan will never be implemented either. Leung offered up a number of strengths (spa and wellness opportunities, arts and culture, ecotourism) and challenges (the perceived MERIBETH DEEN “You obviously can’t just go and pull the arrow attitudes of locals towards tourism, out of the deer’s thigh, you have to sedate it. I shot it no local organization focused on EDITOR twice with my tranquilizer gun but the effect of that tourism, and a low awareness of takes seven to ten minutes, and you have to be care- Bowen in the tourist market) Bowen Last Wednesday, when veterinarian Alastair ful not to spook the deer or else you’ll just loose it in faces when it comes to building a its Westcott received a call reporting a deer with an tourism industry. She also offered the woods.” arrow through one of its hind quarters, he put his up a key goal that a tourism strategy Dr. Westcott and his assistant, Marla Brillinger, appointments on hold and headed to the deer’s should focus on: get people to stay followed the deer until it lay down and fell asleep. reported location on Cates Lane. here longer and spend more money. Unfortunately, this happened not just on a hillside “Usually in a situation like this, the deer is gone Leung also made suggestions to but in a sort of crater, and Dr. Westcott had to lift by the time you get there, but this time it wasn’t. It get there: create a web-presence the deer up onto a flat surface nearby. was just standing there eating at the end of somefor tourism on Bowen, create itinone’s driveway,” says Dr. Westcott, who adds, such continued, PAGE 3 eraries for tourists so that people reports are not actually all that unusual. know what to do if they spend a
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Vet removes arrow from deer on Cates Hill
day or three on-island, and get more media-relations savvy. Following her thorough presentation, Leung gave her audience a chance to ask questions, offer feedback, and brainstorm. Peter Vaisbord, proprietor of Artisan Guest Suite, said he was impressed by the depth of research in the updated strategic plan, but daunted by the number of priorities. “Looking at the detail of all the actions under all the categories, I almost fainted, because there’s so much. I’ve been involved in not-forprofit organizations trying to achieve sustainable funding, and, as volunteers, to do things, and every one of those actions is inter-related to other actions and its a circle of: you need funding to have the capacity to do what you need to do but, you need to have the capacity to get the funding,” said Vaisbord, bringing up the example of the Bowen Chamber of Commerce as an organization that did not have the necessary funding or people-power to get the job done. “We have a real challenge here in terms of capacity. We’re a small island with a small population, a lot of brilliant people, and passionate, but its really difficult.” Vaisbord suggested the model of Business Improvement Associations (BIA), which he is familiar with because of his work at Vancouver’s city hall. as a possible solution. continued, PAGE 6
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