Talk about confusing.
All these recent council presentations from the various "tourism/economic development" organizations makes me question who does what for tourism and why?
It also reminds me of an experience this summer when I decided to play tourist with a friend from Vancouver.
We wanted to hike Black Tusk, which, as many of you know, is usually a day-long trip. Unless of course you're Jen Segger training for your next adventure race or you could just be another ultra-athletic Squamish mom.
Nonetheless, my friend and I headed out at what we considered the reasonable hour of 8 a.m. Being early in the season, we wanted to make sure we didn't need to bring snowshoes or other equipment of that nature, so we naturally stopped at what we considered the best information spot - the Adventure Centre.
Now, walking into the Adventure Centre you don't know the shades of grey behind your tourism info quest.
The Visitor Information Centre (VIC) is run by the Chamber of Commerce and they'll likely greet you at the counter. Tourism Squamish (likely the organization who organized the article you read in a magazine about Black Tusk) has an office tucked off to the side, but its only public employee works in the Squamish Store. The nice person working at the café might know where you can pick up hiking boots, but he/she wasn't hired for her/his tourism knowledge.
Also, the interesting displays lining the walls with appealing venues to visit and new development are actually organized by the Adventure Centre's landlord, the Squamish Sustainability Corporation.
Naturally we headed to the counter lined with maps, expecting to be greeted with a helpful "Welcome to Squamish, how can I help you?"
Turns out VIC staff don't start until 9 a.m., so after idling awkwardly for a few minutes, the lady from the store came out to help us (which was very nice considering she works for Tourism Squamish and that is NOT part of the VIC mandate).
She gave us a vague idea of where to find the turn-off but couldn't sell us a map and said that to verify the weather, we should check BCParks.com
So basically, to start a hike that takes almost a day, you can't visit the VIC until 9 a.m.
Not surprisingly, these hours were changed this past spring to adhere to budget cut requests from District of Squamish council. It was ironic because I had watched the Committee of the Whole meeting where councillors praised the Chamber of Commerce for reducing costs, and now I was frustrated by it.
My question is, Why are three separate bodies, all subsidized by the district, running the one tourism outlet we have?
The SSC runs the Adventure Centre and receives lease money from the Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Squamish. But all three organizations are subsidized by the District of Squamish so it's really robbing Peter to pay Paul, but the district pays it all?
Historically the Chamber of Commerce has always run the VIC, even before the lovely Adventure Centre became tourism's hub, and everyone in Squamish knows how upset people can get about breaking tradition
But really, isn't there some way to streamline the system (as Kevin Ramsay would say), or create an umbrella group like the Squamish Arts Council? Having three different organizations all vying for district tourism and marketing cash seems to create an unnecessary competitive vibe in a town where tourism makes everyone win.
