Learning from Vacation

As I flew home from nine days on Vancouver Island, I reflected on our experiences, highlights, and what we sought out during our time. Obviously, being an island with an abundance of water, so much of what we did centered around exploring the bays and inlets of the ocean, finding local art, and learning more about the landscape and local wildlife. I reflected that much of this was done at a very local and community scale, something I'm not certain we do a good job at in Calgary - or perhaps I've missed not touristing our own city.

I made the following remarks on twitter as we waited to get off the plane:

"Coming home from vacation with a few insights that seem to be universal truths re: tourism that Calgary could leverage:

• First - Water attracts people, could we do more with our rivers & reservoir with enhanced opportunities to explore the water? (ie. rentals)
• ​Second - Local anything is a big draw, from food to handmade goods. Can we support/encourage more markets near our major parks and walkable streets on a more regular basis (especially in the summer)? What about street entertainment as an add on? Food trucks too!
• Third - Telling the story of our landscape, our local plants and the food and drinks we can create from it. Our local wildlife and the importance they play in our ecosystem. Why don’t we have more info boards around the reservoir or along our river paths?

None of this has to be done in big ways by big organizations. Rather, the collective of independent organizations working together to tell our unique story, supported by the City, as enablers of our opportunities to inspire and educate."
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Specifically, here's what I loved that I think Calgary could do:

Victoria had local vendors around the harbour on Saturday, a farmer's market a few blocks off the main street, and a small food centred area at one of the harbours. Calgary could do this more frequently at Eau Claire, Stephen Avenue, East Village, and North Glenmore Park. 

We need to emphasize or provide more water rentals and tours. Canoes, kayaks, floating. Moving on the water is a great way to explore our city. Why is the SS Moyer the only boat to give tours on the reservoir? And because we have less water, more bike rentals too, especially at parks not along the river, North Glenmore, South Glenmore, Carburn Park, Fish Creek, Bowness, Nose Hill, the list goes on. And let's not forget the winter with skate rentals, toboggans, snowshoes, cross country skis.

How does our local flora and fauna attract tourists? Beaver sighting tours? Birding? Fishing? Local foraging (omg, the blackberries were everywhere on the island!) Maybe none of those are real things, but surely we can talk more about our species and unique geographical position in a better way - our glacier shaped and fed rivers, the variety of species who migrate in and out, and how the mountains affect our climate.

Think about families. Murals on the ground or walls, labyrinths, sculptures and art all kept our girls interested, occupied, silly, and made for some funny photos. Well placed playgrounds gave us a place to eat a snack and burn some extra energy. Calgary has a few well situated playgrounds, and you will notice they are often at capacity. How we create space for kids, teens, and young adults also matters as we plan for both tourism and building out local neighbourhoods to promote healthy and active communities.

Part of a large mural in Victoria.

I believe a big part of Calgary's success is going to be innovating on what exists here to create new opportunities. It is likely we are going to need to review bylaws and policies which prevent some of these practices from happening. I know Calgary can support local businesses in providing both local and tourist opportunities, I'm ready to be that leadership who will ask the questions to get us towards solutions.