Requests for Proposals. South Shore Winter Tourism 3 Year Business Action Plan

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1 Requests for Proposals South Shore Winter Tourism 3 Year Business Action Plan Issued Wednesday November 7, 2018 Deadline for submissions November 28, Project Title South Shore Winter Tourism 3 Year Business Action Plan The South Shore Tourism Cooperative (SSTC) is seeking to engage the services of a consultant to create a 3-year winter tourism strategic business and action plan, deliver an Accelerated Market Readiness program, and provide leadership and mentorship related to the development and implementation of experiential tourism product and multi-season marketing activities. Emphasis will be on increasing demand for and supply of winter tourism experiences building on the foundational work already achieved by the SSTC. 2.0 Background South Shore Tourism Cooperative Limited works collaboratively with partners to position the South Shore as a year-round destination for the travelers. In doing so, efforts will positively impact the economic and social benefits of tourism on the South Shore by building on our collective strengths, investments and resources. The South Shore continues to enjoy strong summer and healthy spring/fall seasons. There is a significant year-round tourism infrastructure in place within the region offering a variety of products, services and experiences. With iconic tourism lures such as the Lobster Capital of Canada (Barrington), Lunenburg UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Bluenose II, the mysterious Oak Island, and one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world, Peggy s Cove, the South Shore has worked to position its offerings strategically in the overall tourism promotion landscape. Operators, Organizations and Municipalities on the South Shore from Peggy s Cove to Barrington want to work cooperatively and intentionally to market and grow demand for their businesses in the months of November May. This focus aligns with the goal of Tourism Nova Scotia to achieve the $4 billion revenue goal by With winter season as the focus of its efforts, the South Shore is seeking to unifying its message in market, identify opportunities for growth and establish of unique experiences that resonates with today s travelers.

2 Rising to the challenge, the South Shore Tourism Cooperative is strategically aligned with Tourism Nova Scotia s (TNS) bold What If? Strategy: to develop shoulder and off-season business. SSTC has made preliminary inroads on this front with our rebranded Christmas event, South Shore Christmas Crawl (Mid-November January 6) and South Shore Lobster Crawl (February). Pockets of winter tourism product are presently available on the South Shore. A key outcome of this plan is to undertake an inventory of the products, assess the market-readiness of the existing products among businesses and operators, while identifying inventory gaps that will cultivate higher business standards, revenues and implementation of experiential tourism product and multi-season marketing activities. This past year SSTC created and hosted two very successful pilot projects, a multi-week Christmas Fest and the South Shore Lobster Craw. Implemented by the Cooperative, both generated incremental revenues across all sectors in winter. These events have mobilized a cooperative and collaborative approach to leveraging the opportunity throughout the South Shore and have resulted in incremental demand, and revenues. A key differentiator that has not been fully leveraged for the South Shore is its Lobster Season. Lobster has been and continues to be one of the key elements cited by travelers to Nova Scotia, surveyed by Tourism Nova Scotia during summer months. The recent Visitor Exit Survey result indicated that 59% of guests to the South Shore ate lobster during their stay, well above the provincial average of 39%. Along the South Shore, Lobster is a winter season resource, from the last Monday in November Dumping Day until on May 31. Rather than apologizing to summer travelers that we don t have an abundance of fresh lobster on our menus in summer, there is an opportunity to use the appetite for this resource to the regions advantage in the winter months. As home to the Lobster Capital of Canada, global demand for lobster landed here in the region, and the success of the Lobster Crawl pilot project, the SSTC believes there is an opportunity for lobster-based experiences, leveraging the crustacean as an asset to drive innovation, collaboration and demand in winter is a natural and viable opportunity for the South Shore. While the consumption of lobster is key, the history, heritage, culture and all expressions of this tradition has been tested in our inaugural South Shore Lobster Crawl in February 2018 proving there is an appetite, not only from regional markets but from out of province first time visitors, and the media. Strengthening the Economy & Business Sustainability Undertaking this Winter Tourism Strategy will support the SSTC to build a year-round, 365-day opportunity will enhance the viability and strengthen the sustainability of businesses directly and indirectly associated with the tourism sector. This approach will positively impact several challenges identified repeatedly by the sector, including: Lack of human resources to maintain existing operations and support year-round operation. Increased demand results in increased hours and demand for year-round employment. In rural communities, this will attract population that will fuel the economy and infrastructure.

3 Need to expand season beyond July September for the region to sustain existing businesses and revenues resulting in more viable operations that contribute to the economy through purchases, jobs and service provision. Occupancy in the region within fixed roof accommodations peaks upwards of 80% in July and August, dipping dramatically to 30% in winter months. With room for growth in the winter months, it is a key opportunity yet to be fully realized with the most significant impact. Aging infrastructure requires reinvestment, a challenge when provincially the industry is based on 2 3 months of business. Year-round businesses repeatedly admit their success in summer pays for their ability to remain open in the winter months. Contrary to messages presented in market about Nova Scotia, the South Shore is open for business in the winter months, offering a variety of unique experiences and services. Restaurants, museums, festivals, accommodations, artisans and crafters and services are available year-round. While there is a solid foundation of year-round businesses associated with the tourism sector, strengthening winter season product offerings, experiences and messaging is required to generate incremental demand for year-round tourism, particularly. 3.0 Scope of Work 3-Year Strategic Winter Tourism Business Plan & Accelerated Market Readiness To effectively, and intentionally, increase demand for and supply of winter tourism experiences, and build on the success of the pilot projects undertaken in , the South Shore Tourism Cooperative Ltd aims to develop a 3-Year Strategic Business Action Plan that includes: Part I: A consultant will be engaged to develop a three-year strategic business action plan that increases demand for and supply of winter tourism experiences. This will build on the success of two off-season pilot projects in , the Christmas Crawl and South Shore Lobster Crawl. The resulting plan will: Identify key market opportunities rooted within the cultural, culinary and outdoor productmarket match; Inventory winter experiences and services with a lens to assess product market readiness and recommend opportunities that will significantly grow demand for non-resident market during the winter months, aka lobster season, November May; Develop a 3 year financially achievable product development, marketing and monitoring plan that results in incremental revenues and demand for winter-based travel to the region, and Nova Scotia; Establish developmental and revenue goals to support achievement of the plan; Leverage and integrate opportunities within Tourism Nova Scotia, Taste of Nova Scotia, Destination Canada and other strategic partners; Inventory and assesses market readiness of existing products and services while identifying opportunities that will significantly grow demand for out of province winter travel;

4 Identify and recommend research, marketing tools and resources that will guide implementation. Part II: The consultant will work one-on-one with up to five tourism related businesses and operators identified in Part I who will participate in the Accelerated Market Readiness Program (based the ACOA framework). These efforts will identify and offer implementable recommendations to improve their ability to increase their standards of excellence, be more responsive to emerging tourism trends and ultimately increase revenues. This will be a hands-on mentoring-type, training program that examines issues specific to each business and provides benchmarks in a time efficient and economical manner. 4.0 Deliverables The consultant will deliver reports and strategic documents of acceptable quality as follows: Clear, realistic, and thoughtful three-year SS Winter Tourism Business Action Plan Reports of mentoring work implemented with each selected business participating in the AMR program under this scope of work Quarterly reports detailing core product development mentoring work with SSTC leadership, including phases of inventory assessment and strategic initiatives put in place to foster longterm sustainability and self-sufficiency in this important business development area 5.0 Timeline The following shall serve as the guideline for the calendar to achieve the deliverables: November 28, 2018: Deadline for Proposals, 5pm AST December 3, 2018: Successful Proponent will be confirmed on or around Dec. 3, December 14, 2018: Project Start-up will on or before December 14, 2018 April 4, 2019: Draft Plan will be presented to the Board of Directors April June, 2019: Accelerated Market Readiness undertaken May 2019: Final Report due, readied for the SSTC AGM at a date to be confirmed 6.0 Level of Effort Costing proposals should be presented in two sections. Section one must contain all costs and expenses specific to the professional time and supplies required to deliver all components of this SSTC assignment. Section two must contain all costs specific to the travel and related expenses pertaining to this assignment, including estimates for ground/air travel, accommodations, meals, and other miscellaneous travel expenses. Estimates for air travel should be based on current economy class fares. Mileage and meals must not exceed current Government of Canada allowances and per diems. Total costs (excluding HST) must not exceed the following: Part 1: $32,250 Strategic Business and Action Plan Part II: $11,825 Accelerated Market Readiness Program Total: $44,075

5 The individuals or companies must demonstrate: Expertise in tourism consulting, domestic and international tourism marketing, tourism product development, and tourism industry training. Strong knowledge of Atlantic Canada regional tourism product and economy, with particular knowledge of Nova Scotia s year-round tourism landscape and ability to identify how South Shore s offerings can sit comfortably and collaboratively within the provincial profile. Demonstrated experience working with regional tourism organizations on similar projects. Demonstrated experience working with individuals at the operator level. Provide a workplan outline with timelines and deliverables Electronic submission in both Word and PDF format are acceptable. Reference documents: SSTC Annual Report SSTC Marketing & Operations Plan SSTC Semi Annual Meeting, October 2018 Submissions and inquiries for additional information should be addressed to: Donna Hatt, Chair, SSTC southshoretourism@gmail.com , ext