Manic Monday - April 4, 2016

What is it to be Remarkable?  The dictionary has a fairly simple definition – “to be worthy of being or likely to be noticed especially as being uncommon or extraordinary”.  Over time the concept of remarkable has become synonymous with words such as exceptional, brilliant, amazing, astounding, sensational, unbelievable and other similar words characterizing something that is almost larger than life and seemingly quite unattainable.

But what if we challenged these definitions to suggest that “remarkable” happens, or could happen, every day and that all of us that work in tourism have the ability to create experiences that are remarkable, often by making only small changes to things we are already doing.

Over the past several months Destination BC, together with TOTA and the four other regional DMO’s, have piloted a program aptly named “Remarkable Experiences”.  Ten tourism stakeholders in each region had the opportunity through workshops and one on one coaching sessions to challenge themselves in exactly this way. Each were encouraged to rethink the way they looked at their own tourism product and analyzed the various ways in which their customers interacted with them. They looked at everything from how guests access and research their business prior to booking; initial contact through to and including the booking process; the actual experience from arrival to departure; and any post communications. They also went on to analyze and evaluate their businesses’ social media and web presence and found ways to make it easier for their guests to be part of their social media marketing initiatives.

What became clear as we went through the process is that remarkable is attainable to anyone who wants to put in the effort and it not only makes the experience better for our guests but it makes the delivery of the experience much more rewarding to the operator.

So now the challenge is over to you. There will be another Remarkable Experiences program offered in the fall of 2016 which we encourage you to watch for and participate in however with the busiest season about to arrive, what can you do NOW to be remarkable?

Remember, remarkable does not have to be costly, it can range from the unexpected delivery of Ridel wine glasses to the door of your Yurt, the unlikely installation of a Tesla charging station in one of the region’s oldest gas pumps, a banjo player that can sing you a song in your language of choice or the possibility of an old Rail Car Caboose transformed into overnight accommodation (still under discussion).

And don’t keep your remarkable initiatives quiet….post your experiences on our TOTA news centre and send them to us at info@totabc.com so we help potential visitors hear about them through our social media channels and those of Destination BC.

Glenn Mandziuk, TOTA President & CEO