BUILDING UP SASK. REPUTATION
PARKER BELIEVES IN HER ADOPTED PROVINCE
We are big enough that we have all the infrastructure needed to have a very, very strong and beautiful and vibrant tourism industry. — Claire Belanger-Parker
It took Claire Bélanger-Parker two years to convince a tour group from France to travel to Regina.
But travel they did. And not long into the visit, the group was met by a local who demanded, “Why would you come to Regina?”
Bélanger-Parker singsongs the question, mustering an alien negativity.
“It was disappointing, it was heartbreaking, but at the same time we worked very, very hard to change this trend,” said Bélanger-Parker, whose optimism and belief in her adopted province of Saskatchewan led to creating her company, CNT Management Group.
Encounters like that one, almost two decades ago, became fewer and farther between. Bélanger-Parker believes it’s because locals rallied around the “I Love Regina” campaign.
Todd Brandt remembers similar reactions prior to 1998, when he began his tenure as president and CEO of Tourism Saskatoon.
“Back then, it was like, ‘The last person to leave, turn out the lights,’ and (people) just didn’t understand the opportunity,” said Brandt.
The province’s reputation improved as the economy began to boom, although Bélanger-Parker is seeing a downward trend these days.
“In the last year or two, I’m encountering more people who say, ‘There’s nothing to do here,’ or, ‘Why would people want to come here?’ or, ‘Why did you choose to live here?’” she said.
Having immigrated to Saskatchewan 36 years ago from a La Pocatiere, Que., Bélanger-Parker says those attitudes do a disservice to newcomers to the province.
“If local people are … giving them this sort of attitude as they arrive, we’re starting a whole new population of people who are here because they (believe they) have no choice to be here.”
“When you talk to people about how a place is frustrating to you and how you don’t connect with it and you’d like not to be there anymore, you pretty much immediately put up this wall that people respond to,” Andrew Konoff agreed.
As the inaugural Saskatchewanderer, Konoff spent the summer of 2011 as a government-sponsored tourist, travelling and telling Saskatchewan stories.
“I think the whole message and story of the Saskatchewanderer program, it’s literally any place you put your feet down in Saskatchewan, there is a ton of stuff to do,” said Konoff, who now lives in Vancouver.
It’s just a matter of getting the word out.
--On a recent Thursday afternoon in Regina, about 85 tourism-industry stakeholders met at the Queensbury Convention Centre for Let’s Talk Tourism.
The gathering, an opportunity to discuss how to improve tourism in the city, was spearheaded by Bélanger-Parker.
“We are big enough that we have all the infrastructure needed to have a very, very strong and beautiful and vibrant tourism industry,” she said.
“And my dream would be that we have a collective endorsement of our city in terms of being an attractive, beautiful city that people want to come and see.”
There are a couple of issues standing in the way, though.
Transportation is one. Taxi drivers don’t always provide a positive first encounter for tourists, said Bélanger-Parker.
Local restaurants, breweries, wineries and distilleries don’t always have the highest profile.
And, for all that’s going on in the city, the information isn’t always easy to find.
The biggest hurdle to overcome, in her view, is a lack of “local champions” to draw people to the city through organized conferences and events.
In late January, Bélanger-Parker’s colleague Karine Juteau was in Ottawa, promoting Regina alongside other Canadian cities at Destination Direct and Tête-à-Tête, two conferences for networking and showcasing convention destinations.
Competing against other cities is a feat, said Bélanger-Parker: The Regina marketing team had seven people, compared with Edmonton’s 19 and other cities’ 20-plus.
“It’s really a tough industry to break through as a city,” said Bélanger-Parker.
To attract a national or international conference, or a big event like the Juno Awards or Grey Cup, you need a “large group of people willing to step up and shout out and say … ‘I want to bring it here,’” she said.
Local ambassadors are important on a more casual basis, too, said Brandt — they act as unofficial tour guides.
“Travellers today really want to connect with locals,” he said.
“It’s a truer, more authentic experience if they have a conversation with people on the street and families doing this. If they’re from away, they learn and they experience so much because of that.
“So just having a general ambassadorship feeling in the community of people willing to reach out like that is important.”
Bélanger-Parker agreed, “It’s a matter of … creating that culture within the city that takes care of each other.”
With attractions like the new Remai Modern gallery, the Western Development Museum and Wanuskewin Heritage Park — which is a candidate to become a future UNESCO heritage site — Brandt believes there is a lot of good to tout about Saskatoon.
A demographically young city with a nightlife to match, there’s plenty of theatre and live music.
The New York Times named Saskatoon one of 52 places to visit in 2018, which Brandt said is “really no accident.”
“If the local people don’t see (these attractions) as of unique interest to travellers, then shame on them,” he added.
“Really it’s understanding that these are things that other people that aren’t from here do value and appreciate, and (local people) should speak highly of them.”
Whenever Konoff returns to Regina for a visit, he finds something new to appreciate.
In December, it was the FadaDance holiday party, an annual event that celebrates dance, art and community with a different theme each year. (This year’s party was themed 1980s office party.)
Also, surprisingly, the frigid winter weather stuck with Konoff — “outrageously cold, and bright, and I couldn’t get enough of it,” he said.
“It was hitting something deep inside me that I had I guess just never really taken stock of when I lived there. The magic of Saskatchewan winters, like who would have thought that was an important thing to me?”
In hosting tour groups from across Canada, the United States, Europe, Australia and Japan, Bélanger-Parker has seen the positives through the visitors’ eyes.
“If you only knew the people that I’ve hosted here and the people that have come here that have fallen in love with this city,” she said.
“In the city that you live, you become complacent to what’s around you,” she added. “We become what we believe.”
Brandt and his Tourism Saskatoon colleagues believe in something more, which is why they do more than market what exists. They also help in “developing the destination.”
By example, he pointed to Saskatoon’s food truck scene — which includes at least 15 trucks, per the Saskatoon Food Trucks Association — and the Saskatoon Children’s Museum, which in 2019 plans to relocate to the former Mendel Gallery space.
Bélanger-Parker would encourage similar initiative in Regina. “Take action,” she said. “If you see something that’s going on that you’re not happy about, then do something about it.” But maybe that’s not always the right advice.
During Konoff ’s three years living in Toronto, he met plenty of people who thought that city was the best place in the world.
“I think when somebody says that Saskatchewan is small or Saskatchewan doesn’t have big cities or interesting things to do, it’s a little bit more projection from them than it is really any statement of fact — other than there’s no multi-million-person cities in the province,” said Konoff.
“Everything you could hope to build in life is available in the province, and the question is, what do you care about?”
For Konoff, that’s a community with interesting people and treelined streets where he can walk his dog — characteristics of Queen Street West in Toronto, but also of Broadway Avenue in Saskatoon.
KONOFF’S REGINA RECOMMENDATIONS
For food: Ngoc Van or Viet-Thai for some of the best Vietnamese food in Canada (in his estimation), then some sandwiches at Italian Star Deli.
For drinks: Among his new favourite places in Regina is the shared headquarters of 33 1/3 Coffee Roasters and Malty National brewery.
Get outside: Take a walk around Wascana Lake, or get out to Regina Beach or into the Qu’Appelle Valley.
BRANDT’S SASKATOON STAPLES
For food: Restaurants like Little Grouse on the Prairie, Ayden and The Hollows.
For fun: Great local festivals like Winterruption and Winter Shines.
BELANGER-PARKER’S TOP SPOTS FOR TOURISTS (AND LOCALS)
There are a few places in Regina everyone should see. Among them…
Wascana Centre, to gaze at the largest provincial Legislature in Canada and to bask in the outdoors.
Established in Regina since the 1880s, the history of Canada’s national police force is celebrated at the RCMP Heritage Centre.
The Royal Saskatchewan Museum tells a uniquely Saskatchewan story, including First Nations history, the land, dinosaurs and mammals.
The First Nations University offers one-of-a-kind architecture and an opportunity to learn about and connect with Indigenous culture.
If the local people don’t see (these attractions) as of unique interest to travellers, then shame on
Really it’s understanding that these are things that other people that aren’t from here do value and appreciate, and (local people) should speak highly of them. — Todd Brandt