TDA Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Tourism Destination Area (TDA)?
A Tourism Destination Area delivers unique, high quality services and experiences to build upon existing tourism infrastructure to create a critical mass. Tourism Destination Areas can demonstrate their ability to meet 10 critical elements such as: Competitive Advantage, Leadership, Tourism Infrastructure, Marketability, Strategic Plans, Seasonal Capacity, Work with Travel Trade, Sustainable Tourism Practices, Support Services Infrastructure and Visitor Support Services. As a first step in moving this Vision recommendation forward, the Tourism Destination Area resource kit has been developed.
Is there funding available for the Tourism Destination Area process?
The Tourism Destination Area initiative is not a funding program but rather a planning process to be led by leaders in the community. While there is no new funding in place, completing this process may provide essential information necessary to access funding from existing programs to grow tourism in your area. The resource kit provides contact information of key agencies that may provide resources, expertise, funding and counselling.
What does a Tourism Destination Area mean to the customer?
For visitors, a Tourism Destination Area means having a variety of quality, unique and appealing experiences in a central location. This critical mass of product combined with the appropriate tourism services and infrastructure leads to an anchor destination in which numerous activities/experiences can occur. Remember visitors do not see geographic or political boundaries; they see memorable locales and welcoming residents.
Why would your community(s) want to work towards becoming a Tourism Destination Area?
There are many reasons that a community(s) would want to become a Tourism Destination Area, some are as follows:- to increase tourism revenues in the community by attracting new visitation
- to maximize the visitor’s experience and enjoyment of the destination
- to build upon existing infrastructure and be the destination that you can be
- to enhance the benefits of tourism for residents
- to increase quality of products and services offered in the area
What does the Tourism Destination Area process consist of?
While there may be different approaches, we have outlined 8 steps to consider. These steps start with organizing key partners, assessing your destination, identifying gaps, opportunities and competitive strengths, establishing common goals, building partnerships, consulting with others, measuring and communicating successes.
Why should our community(s) complete the Self-Guided Workbook?
At first glance, you may question the benefits of completing the detailed Self-Guided Workbook, however we hope you will fine it a useful exercise. The questions will provide a clear picture of your current destination and hopefully identify areas for attention. Completion of the workbook will be a solid foundation to developing a consensus on goals, objectives, and priorities that will be required to support your community in becoming a potential Tourism Destination Area.
Who needs to be involved?
The success of this initiative is dependant on the commitment and participation from many partners in the community. This would include: tourism businesses, municipalities, business organizations (e.g. Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade), regional tourism industry associations, regional development authorities, communities leaders, and residents.
What are the geographic boundaries for a Tourism Destination Area?
There is no right or wrong answer and it is up to your area to decide. Think of the customer, what infrastructure, services, amenities and experiences would they want to be available in close proximity. It could be one community, it could be 3 communities, the boundaries should depend on how the visitor would perceive your area.
Where do I get information to complete the workbook?
As outlined in Research Resources, there are several sources of tourism research many of which are available through websites. In addition many partners in your community also collect statistics on visitation, talk to local attractions, visitor information centres, accommodations, municipalities, business and tourism organizations.