A new database for Haliburton County is in the works to give local businesses access to Experience Leaders. Barrie Martin is the Co-Chair of the Tourism Stakeholder Committee and he says tourism is changing and people want a more memorable experience when they visit the Highlands.
The committee has partnered with the County Tourism department, HCDC, Adventure Haliburton, OHTO, and the Chamber of Commerce on the Experience Leader Development Project. They’re goal is to put together a database of qualified Experience Leaders who are knowledgeable, outgoing and passionate about the Haliburton Highlands. The database, Martin explains, will be available to all of the businesses in the tourism industry to access when they need someone to lead one of their hikes, programs, workshops, or if they’re looking to hire someone.
In the first stage of the project, they’re asking local businesses in the tourism industry to take a survey. They’re looking for more information from businesses on what they think about the people who deliver tourism experiences.
Martin says it’s all about working toward offering a better tourism experience. He tells us how the idea started…
They’re looking to cover all areas of tourism in the Highlands including all of the arts, geology, adventure, heritage and history. Martin says having people knowledgeable in these areas will give the visitor an engaging and memorable experience, and he explains why that’s so important…
The second stage of the project will have the partners reaching out to people in the community who already are, or would like to become an Experience Leader. Martin says over time they plan to offer training to people as well.
For a link to the survey, click here.
To find out more about the project and what the partners are working on, you can contact Barrie Martin at Yours Outdoors: 705-754-3436, [email protected]
(Photo taken during Hike Haliburton 2014)