The 4th Binational Tourism Summit was held April 30 – May 1 in St. Catherines, Ontario. A non-profit, membership-based tourism trade organization incorporated in the United States and Canada, the Binational Tourism Alliance capitalizes on US / Canada connections. Its mission is to eliminate the barriers to cross-border tourism development. This year’s Summit Theme was “Embracing Our Borders – the competitive advantages of cross-border tourism destination”. This year’s co-hosts were Canadian Consul General Steve Brereton and U.S. Consul General John Nay.
Featured as a plenary session, this year’s Summit presented updates from three cross-border regions. Panelists shared information and techniques that challenged 200+ Summit delegates to think in terms of how other cross-border regions can take advantage of the examples presented by the three-member panel.
From the West Coast was the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER) represented by Ian Burkheimer, Program Manager, for the 2010 Olympics and Tourism of the PNWER. This organization is a bi-national public / private partnership which focuses on coordinating tourism policy in a region that extends from Oregon in the south to Alaska and the Yukon in the north and as far east as Montana and Saskatchewan. Present e endeavors include a regional promotional program for the 2010 Olympics and better border management and education.
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From the East Coast was the International Appalachian Trail represented by 14-year Board Member Will Richard. With a Power Point presentation and a five-page handout, Will discussed the history and geography of the bilingual IAT / SIA, its trail corridor and the geopolitical units through which the trail passes. Key to trail success – now connecting all four Atlantic Provinces, Québec, and the State of Maine – is the fact that we share the same mountains and forests, waterways and sea, flora and fauna, and associated resource-dependent economies – including tourism.
The essence of the IAT / SIA is that we market not just a 10 foot wide trail but a landscape and its people, a region which shares both a mountain range and a deep history, and that this region traces its origins to a common settlement history through which a border now happens to pass.
The trail and its hikers constitute a valuable tourism asset. While hikers are not big spenders, they do cross the border. As they trek, they become intimately acquainted with the land and the people of five Canadian provinces. Conversely, hikers who enter the United States from Canada can hook-up at Mt. Katahdin in Maine with the Appalachian Trail (AT) to continue their trek to Georgia – or even further to Key West, Florida.
In Newfoundland “thru-hikers”, that is, long-distance hikers are known as “rock stars”. These intrepid few who discover the wonders of New Brunswick’s Mount Carleton, Québec’s Gaspé, Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton, and Newfoundland’s L’Anse aux Meadows are de facto explorers. They record what they see and hear on digital cameras and other recording devices. Successful IAT / SIA thru-hikers for which we have records are from the following states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Washington. At home, they are asked by travel, educational, and civic organizations to give slide / power point presentations on what they have experienced in Canada. As modern-day explorers, they create the
desire and the course for families, retirees, recreationists, and others to follow.
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From the Canadian Consulate in Buffalo situated on the Great Lakes Region of Canada and the United States, the 100th anniversary of the Boundary Waters Treaty was represented by Kerry Mitchell, Program Manager for Political / Economic Relations & Public Affairs.
[The] Treaty continues to guide the governments of the United States and Canada in their joint stewardship of transboundary natural resources. The legacy of progressive cooperation and the priceless shared resources for which the Treaty was negotiated will be the focus of the Centennial Celebration of the Boundary Waters Treaty to be held in Niagara in early June 2009.
The Treaty also created the International Joint Commission (IJC) which resolves disputes. Through this Treaty and the IJC, the highly successful St. Croix International Waterway Commission was created
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Through these three models, the Summit has helped to raise the profile of cross-border regions.
Among Binational awards presented at the 2009 Summit was the 2008 “Women in Tourism” Award to Vintner Deborah Pratt of Inniskillin Wines.
Other plenary sessions focused on economic and global trends with implications for travel and tourism. “Medical Tourism” and “Wine & Culinary Tourism” were subjects of concurrent sessions.
A social treat was presented on the evening of the 30th with a Binational Cornucopia Food and Wine Evening. The food was prepared by culinary institutes and great wines served by wineries from both sides of the border.
Program
Counsel Generals
Will Richard & Arlene White
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