Resources > Tourism Functional Assessment Regional Tourism Functional Assessment Project ** June 1, 2013: The draft consultant's report (posted on May 3rd - see below) is closed for comment as of May 31st. To view comments received to date click here. As advised all comments submitted prior to May 31, 2013 will be documented in the final report. Once the report is finalized (June) it will be posted to this page. We thank all stakeholders who took the time to submit comment, questions, thoughts and criticisms. Your input is important and will be reflected in the final report. ** Purpose The project will review how tourism (in all its component parts including planning, marketing and promotion, servicing visitors, training, etc.) is delivered in BruceGreySimcoe, and then recommend ways to improve the efficiency of delivery. Along the way, we will look for unmet needs, overlapping roles, and other improvements to be made in tourism design, development and marketing. The project is very similar to tourism "role and function" exercises that have been conducted in many areas over the years, and with which many organizations are familiar. The project seeks to answer questions such as: What needs (stakeholder, industry, consumer/visitor) are currently not being met? How should these gaps be addressed? Is there duplication of effort and if so, how could resources (human, organizational, capital) be realigned to increase synergies and improve performance? How could stakeholders collaborate to optimize efficiencies, increase competitiveness, and drive growth? The goal is to create a shared vision to assist organizations at all levels with strategic planning, and to identify ways to better and collaboratively manage tourism development. It will, however, be up to each organization to determine how best to apply and use the information that comes out of this project. Project Consultant The steering committee has retained PLACES Consulting to execute this study follow a competitive procurement process. PLACES, as many across the region are aware, was part of the consulting team that conducted strategic destination development planning for RTO7 in 2010. PLACES’ approach is to look for opportunities to align tourism delivery at all levels. Alignment puts more energy into how things operate and creates more output with less input (more efficiency). The project calls for extensive research into what organizations are charged to do, how that fits into tourism or the development of place, what resources are employed, and what metrics are used to measure activities and outcomes. The project will look closely at both what is being done and what needs to be done, and will feature lots of conversations about what kinds of change might be effected to improve alignment. Finally, the consultant will map out recommended alternative approaches. PLACES attended the Town Hall Meetings held in June 2012 and delivered a brief presentation on the purpose of the project. Timeline The project commences in June 2012, with information gathering taking place over a five-month period through surveys, interviews and meetings. This phase has now concluded. See below for presentations of preliminary findings and plans for seeking stakeholder input to the draft report. Findings At a December 12th, 2012 session in Collingwood, the project consultant presented preliminary findings and observations. Findings were presented to tourism stakeholders at an industry session on February 22, 2013 and to elected officials/CAOs and economic development officials on March 28, 2013. Draft Report The consultant's draft report was presented on May 3, 2013 at Meaford Hall, and is posted below. The draft report is closed for comment as of June 1, 2013. All comments submitted prior to this date will be documented in the final report. Comments submitted by the May 31st input deadline can be viewed here. Once the report is finalized (June) it will be posted to this page. Presentations, Background Information & Other Documents: Region 7 Tourism Functional Assessment Project Scope 2012_13 Town-Hall-Meetings-Presentation-June-2012 Preliminary Findings & Observations Dec 12 2012 PLACES PLACES Feb 22 2013 Presentation PLACES Mar 28 Elected Officials PLACES Mar 28 Economic Development IDO Presentation Mar 28 2013 Ec Dev Session RTO7 Signage Mar 28 2013 RTO7-FA_-Roles-Report-DRAFT-Apr-2013