Travelsmart
SHiFT, Travel Alberta’s annual experiential travel training program, has been the genesis of more than 24 new tourism experiences since its inception in 2015.
Experience development gives the tourism industry a competitive advantage as we work to increase tourism revenues to $10 billion by 2020. Travel Alberta, together with partners Alberta Culture and Tourism, Banff & Lake Louise Tourism (BLLT) and Community Futures Centre West, are planning the next SHiFT event, set for March 5-8, 2018, as a way to evolve experiences within the province.
“Visitors are looking for a wide variety of high quality, authentic tourism experiences. The SHiFT program, through expert training and opportunities for industry collaboration, helps support tourism operators to expand their offerings and ensure unique, memorable year-round Alberta adventures.”
– Ricardo Miranda, Minister of Culture and Tourism
“Partnering with Banff & Lake Louise Tourism to support and foster the development of new experiences for winter, spring and fall, periods representing the most opportunity for growth, exemplifies the things we can accomplish when working together. Banff & Lake Louise Tourism is putting a particular emphasis on growing and evolving winter experiences, and the latest installment of SHiFT provides others in our industry with an opportunity to do the same.”
– Shelley Grollmuss, Vice President, Industry Development, Travel Alberta
SHiFT is held annually in a different community, with program development beginning well in advance of the event. Programming incorporates up to five new experiences for participants to learn about, representing essential ingredients of experiential travel.
All new experiences piloted during SHiFT supplement the experiential travel training delivered in the classroom. For business owners from across the province, the SHiFT course is a chance to learn new concepts, see them in action, and consider how to apply them to their own enterprise.
“We are thrilled to welcome Travel Alberta’s SHiFT in 2018. This collaborative program affords us a unique opportunity to showcase the talent and creativity of our members here, in one of the most beautiful places in the world. We also look forward to learning, being inspired and collaborating with our colleagues from across our great province.”
– Leslie Bruce, CEO of Banff & Lake Louise Tourism.
Tourism Café and Earth Rhythms, companies that have been developing and delivering experiential travel training for more than 15 years, lead the SHiFT curriculum and experience development. Course attendees also get the benefit of post-SHiFT coaching to help get their newly-inspired experiences off the ground.
Tourism operators who bring a new or enhanced experience to market are eligible to have their registration fee reimbursed.
Stay tuned, registration for Travel Alberta’s Banff and Lake Louise SHiFT opens October 2, 2017.
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