Skiing and regional tourism development in British Columbia
Date
1985
Authors
McKay, George
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Abstract
This study is based upon the problem of evaluating the impacts of tourism development in a regional setting. Using criteria developed through a review of the literature, it examines the impacts of British Columbia's destination ski area developments from 1978 to 1985. The planning process used in developing a tourism strategy for this activity under the Travel Industry Development Subsidiary Agreement (TIDSA) is also evaluated on the assumption that planning is an integral and positive aspect of the tourism development process. TIDSA was a joint federal/provincial agreement to sponsor the planning and development of the B.C. tourism sector. The TIDSA budget was $50 million, of which nearly $31 million was approved for expenditure on skiing and related facilities. This incentive program, in conjunction with other government programs, was the catalyst for the development of B.C. 's destination ski area developments, which is the case study of this thesis.
Tourism projects share known physical, social, spatial, economic and touristic impacts which have served as the criteria in evaluating these developments. The tourism planning process is well recognized and often utilized in tourism projects, but in British Columbia, the tourism planning and development procedure stopped short of analyzing the impacts of tourism development based on alpine skiing, nor did it generate an overall development strategy for this major subgroup of tourism activity. The ski areas that were assisted by TIDSA are proceeding with multiple-phase development programs that will not be completed until after 1989. What now exists is a group of alpine ski resorts that continue to expand without reference to an overall provincial development plan.
The TIDSA program had regional economic objectives as a priority and the study has shown that many of these are well on the way towards achievement. However, the geographer must look at the overall objective and its relation to the physical, social, spatial and touristic considerations, as well as the economic aspects. At this point, the ski areas are large enough to show positive economic results but are still small enough that major physical and social impacts (which are usually viewed from the negative perspective) have yet to appear. These areas are planned villages, for the most part, and the emphasis on physical site analyses, with concentrated building sites, limited many of the common physical and social impacts. The degree and type of new construction, combined with the labour intensiveness of operations associated with a full service resort community, explain the economic benefits.
Spatially, the areas are forming a pattern that relates successful locations to physical terrain, local populations and road or air access to the major western population centers of B.C., Alberta and Washington. It is likely, as the major areas expand, that there will be some rationalization resulting in closures of the smaller community ski areas which do not have competitive facilities and those larger areas which are poorly located in relation to the preceding pattern.
The tourism trends are positive, but the short development history, continuing market access problems, limited market research and marketing in the destination markets have reduced the success in this area. It is expected that additional investment in on-mountain accommodation and recreation facilities other than skiing, coupled with growing efforts in industry-wide research and marketing, will provide access to more distant markets, longer stays, greater volumes and increasing expenditures.
These study results demonstrate that the choice of supporting tourism development based on B.C.'s alpine skiing resources was an appropriate decision and somewhat fortuitous given the lack of an overall plan. However, the need for an industry and regional development strategy continues and this need will become more evident as the expansion continues. The planning process and the criteria outlined in this research are sufficient in providing the framework for this plan.