1. Tourism in Nova Scotia
June 4, 2013

2. Agenda
• Nova Scotia
Tourism Agency
• A Tourism Strategy
for Nova Scotia

3. Nova Scotia Tourism Agency

4. The Problem – Barriers to Growth
• Industry concerns about focus and direction
• Declining visitation (down 9% since 2000)
• Lack of role clarity
• Aging product
• Outdated technology
• Uncoordinated approach to major events
• Fewer first-time visitors

5. Background
• Nova Scotia Tourism Agency (NSTA)
- Increase collaboration between industry and government
- Leverage industry expertise to develop long-term tourism
strategy for next five years
- More flexible and market driven
- True partnership between industry and government
• Toward a Long Term Tourism Strategy for Nova Scotia
- How is this different or how could it be?
- Joint government/industry process
- Shared commitment to development of NSTA and strategy for
tourism
- Increased level of engagement

6. A Tourism Strategy
for Nova Scotia

7. The Strategy Process
• NSTA announced September 2011
• Input sought from industry, stakeholders and
partner agencies
• Jurisdictional review (Canada and
international)
• Strategic framework developed April 2012
• Public consultations

8. The Strategy

9. Focus on new visitors – attract more of them, and
encourage them to spend more and stay longer – to
build overall industry profitability.
Strategic Goal

10. • Leadership and collaboration
• Inspirational, strategic
marketing
• Evidence-based decision-
making
• Higher-quality product
and experiences
• Improved access to Nova
Scotia and throughout the
province
Five Pillars for Growth:

11. Outcome: Build leadership and pride in tourism so that
every Nova Scotian understands the value of the visitor
economy
•Actions
o Clarify roles and responsibilities
o Promote “One Nova Scotia”
o Provide easy access to NSTA and all relevant
programs and information
o Adopt a sales-focused approach to visitor service
Leadership and Collaboration

12. • Tactics
o Work with partner organizations to ensure
awareness and alignment with new direction and
their role with tourism
o Partners equipped with brand
o Evaluate customer satisfaction in VICs
o Conduct Mystery Shops
o Sales and service training
o Develop strategic partnership opportunities for VICs
o Use TEIM to tell compelling story of the role and
significance of tourism in provincial economy
Leadership and Collaboration

13. Outcome: Develop a compelling Nova Scotia tourism
brand that creates an emotional connection with potential
visitors and aligns with provincial brand
•Actions
o Introduce a compelling tourism brand and
campaign that creates an emotional connection
o Develop a digital strategy that enables Nova Scotia
to be an industry leader
o Invest strategically in key target markets
o Create efficiency in partner funding programs
Inspirational, Strategic Marketing

14. Target Audience
• Stay longer
• Spend more
• More likely to be
first-timers
Outdoor
enthusiast
Cultural
enthusiast
Culinary
enthusiast

15. • Tactics
o Introduce Brand Health Index
o Develop three tiered master content strategy
(Market ready products, develop assets and Match
product to target)
o Deliver new booking engine
o Delineate between psychographic markets (outdoor
enthusiast) and geographic markets with highest
yield potential
o Create One Nova Scotia co-operative advertising
program for literature, digital and campaign
participation
o Visitor Servicing strategic review
Inspirational, Strategic Marketing

16. Outcome: Capture and interpret marketing intelligence
to support evidence-based decision-making that focuses
investment on the best opportunities for profitable growth
and economic impact
•Actions
o Evaluate effectiveness of tourism campaigns
o Consult visitors to gain insights
o Employ research to guide product and experience
development
Evidence-Based Decision Making

17. • Tactics
o Novascotia.com conversion survey
o More comprehensive and innovative way to assess
ROI
o Leverage technology for more accurate and cost
effective measurements
o Market allocation model to support investment
decisions
o NSTA online visitor panel to support decision
making
o Evidence-based icon assessment model
Evidence-Based Decision Making

18. Outcome: Through strategic and focused investments by
industry and government, develop Nova Scotia’s most
competitive, differentiating tourism assets to provide high
quality visitor experiences appealing to our highest yield
market segments
Higher-Quality Product and
Experiences

19. • Actions
o Focus resources on enhancement of Nova Scotia’s
tourism icons that motivate visitation to the
province
o Improve quality of iconic products and experiences
o Cultural Heritage Tourism
o Culinary Tourism
o Experiential Development 2.0
o Training and innovation for sustainable workforce
o Strategic, government-wide approach to attracting
and funding major events
Higher-Quality Product and
Experiences

20. • Tactics
o Multi-year investment development plans to
upgrade quality and market appeal of tourism icons
o Enhancement of 10 premier, coastal hiking
experiences
o Development of 5 coastal cycling experiences
o Expand Nova Scotia Approved program
o NSA Quality First Program
o Improve quality and market-readiness of select
cultural heritage tourism assets
o Completion of culinary strategy for Kings County
Higher-Quality Product and
Experiences

21. • Tactics (continued)
o Nova Scotia Experience Program
o Alignment of experiences with CTC Signature
Experiences Collection
o Work with Nova Scotia Tourism Human Resource
Council to support workforce development
o Tourism industry development funding program
o Work with Events Nova Scotia to develop decision-
making model to attract and fund major events in a
coordinated way
Higher-Quality Product and
Experiences

22. Outcome: Support initiatives to build access to the
province that will bring new visitors to Nova Scotia and
ensure they can experience the entire province effectively
and efficiently
•Actions
o Support an approach to improve provincial signage
o Work with partners to maximize visitors through all
modes of transportation
Improved Access to Nova Scotia and
Throughout the Province

23. • Tactics
o Partner in the review of provincial signage
o Work with strategic stakeholders on joint
marketing initiatives to support increased
transportation capacity to Nova Scotia
Improved Access to Nova Scotia
and Throughout the Province

24. • Grow overnight visitors by 1% per year from
current levels (2M per year) to 2.1M
• Increase non-resident visitor revenue by 4%
annually
• Maintain room nights outside HRM at 2012
levels
• Recognition of tourism as contributor to
economy, community development and social
well-being (baseline in 2013)
Proposed Targets

25. Questions