Geotourism Challenge 2010

Trout Point Lodge has entered the Geotourism Challenge 2010: Places on the Edge, Saving Coastal & Freshwater Destinations. You can see the entry here. The Challenge is sponsored by the National Geographic Society, Ashoka’s Changemakers, and the InterAmerican Development Bank.

Trout Point was among 10 worldwide finalist in the 2009 Geotourism Challenge and a delegate to the 2010 Geotourism Summit.

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Check out a Trout Point video

Take a look at selected clips from the series Fenetre sur la monde, broadcast on the French Escales travel network in late 2009. The narration is in French.

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Lessons in nature tourism

Following Trout Point Lodge’s participation in the International Congress of the Relais & Chateaux Association, Cape Town, South Africa, proprietors Vaughn Perret and Charles Leary joined the owner of Hotel St. Germain for a 10-day exploration of South African hotels & lodges.

Though Nova Scotia and South Africa have remarkably distinct climates and ecosystems, the importance of nature tourism–what the National Geographic Society might call Geotourism–is vitally important in both places. Visits to Gorah Elephant Camp, Tsala Treetop Lodge, Le Quartier Francais, and Bushmans Kloof Wilderness Reserve rounded out a trip that started with stays at the Mount Nelson Hotel and One & Only Cape Town.

Overall, this diverse collection of  hotels expressed the best that South Africa has to offer: a sophisticated combination of refined elegance and meaningful contact with local nature & culture. Lions, zebras, buffalo, and elephants at Gorah became central to a larger understanding of humankind’s attempts to live with and within this larger–often not so kind–natural world over the past 2 centuries. Guides at Gorah and Bushmans Kloof proved indispensable to an enriching stay. Both Garret at Gorah and Zenovia at Bushmans served not only as interpreters of the local flora and fauna on twice-daily “game drives,” they also acted like the ultimate in concierges, offering friendly and highly personalized service throughout the day.

The exoticism of the South African “safari” experience clearly outweighed comparatively minor inconveniences that many guests in North American or Continental hotels might find objectionable if found in their local Hilton or Marriott. But, like Trout Point, these are small hotels, often not exceeding 20 guests at a time. Each provides for unique travel experiences. Predictably, the largest and most recent hotel–Cape Town’s One & Only–was also the least distinctive and enriching.

While Nova Scotia lacks “the Big 5,” and our moose and black bear hide rather than displaying themselves,  the South African lodges provided excellent examples of how to make the most out of the natural surroundings for guests. Gorah, in particular, but also Tsala and Bushmans, also demonstrated the value of providing authentic “lodge” and “safari” experiences, including references to local heritage and all the elements that feed the romantic imagination. Vacations in places like South Africa–and Nova Scotia–should transport you to another world, a place without cares, a true enriching diversion.

More to come . . .

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King Stropharia in abundance!

The first fruit from the Lodge’s 2009 efforts at edible mushroom cultivation has been born! Trout Point’s straw and sawdust mushroom patch, seeded with King Stropharia spawn last summer, is now yielding a great abundance of huge, meaty, & delicious mushrooms! Watch for these delicacies in upcoming dishes on Trout Point’s ever-changing fixed menus.

The nearby inoculated Shiitake logs are also being watched closely for signs of the first flush of mushrooms.

The mushroom cultivation effort compliment’s Trout Point’s longstanding vegetable, herb, and flower gardens, which are going strong after initial plantings done in late April.

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Nature Air for Yarmouth – Bar Harbor

Since early February, Trout Point Lodge has focused efforts on bringing Nature Air to the area, engaging local, regional, provincial, and federal players to confront the current crisis caused by the absence of ferry service to the region.

Nature Air flies Twin Otter Vistaliners

At the February 3-5, 2010 Geotourism Summit at the National Geographic Society Headquarters in Washington, D.C., Trout Point Lodge owners Vaughn Perret and Charles Leary got to know fellow honouree Alex Khajavi, CEO & Chairman of Costa Rican airline Nature Air. Perret, Leary, and Khavjavi were all there as delegates and finalists in the 2009 Geotourism Challenge, “Power of Place: Sustaining the Future of Destinations.” Nature Air was one of three winners in the worldwide competition, and when Perret & Leary mentioned the collapse of the ferry service and possibility for implementing a new air tour & link between Maine and Nova Scotia, Khajavi jumped on the idea.

Costa Rica has a tourism season opposite that of Atlantic Canada, and the airline has slack demand for its Canadian-built Twin Otter Vistaliner aircraft during the summer months. Nature Air operates more than 70 flights a day in Costa Rica and Panama, and is the world’s first carbon-neutral airline.  Leary & Perret had personal experience with Nature Air, having flown between Costa Rica and Panama while operating former Trout Point sister property, the Inn at Coyote Mountain.

“We knew it would be perfect for flights between Maine and Yarmouth,” commented Perret. “Flying in a Twin Otter is an experience in and of itself, and given the scenery of Maine, the Bay of Fundy, and around Yarmouth, this kind of service would draw lots of tourists in addition to those simply filling a transportation need.”

While still in Washington, Leary & Perret contacted David Rankin, Manager of the Yarmouth Airport for assistance. In the weeks since, the 2 owners of Trout Point Lodge have also pro-actively encouraged involvement from the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism Culture & Heritage, the Municipality of the District of Argyle, Minister Percy Paris’ office, the Southwest Shore Development Authority, and MP Greg Kerr’s office.

On Friday, they also contacted the Manager of the Hancock County – Bar Harbor Airport in Maine, and received an enthusiastic response. Bar Harbor receives 3 US Airways flights a day from Boston. Bar Harbor and Yarmouth have historic transportation links for decades. Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit the area, including Acadia National Park, each summer.

“Bob Book from the tourism department has been particularly helpful in pushing things forward,” said Leary. “However, in the wake of the loss of the Cat Ferry service, moving decisively on to new options to face the crisis seems to have fallen overboard.”

“We were glad to read the press release from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency Friday, promising a Team Southwest Nova approach to solving the issues facing us,” said Perret, “However, we have an award-winning entrepreneur in Alex Khajavi, someone willing to come up to Nova Scotia and start a new, sustainably-oriented service of benefit to everyone, and over the past few weeks it’s been very challenging trying to bring all the necessary players together.”

Perret & Leary’s idea is for an experiential air service, eco-friendly, that will showcase the geotourism potential of the region and bring new visitation to Nova Scotia.

Flights (ideally with some sort of on-board guide to what is being flown over) from Bar Harbor up the Maine Coast around the Bay of Fundy, concluding at Yarmouth would be a popular tourist experience. From the Twin Otter, passenger views are excellent because of the unusually large windows and relatively low-altitude flight of the aircraft.

The experience would be as much about the ride as the practical aspect of transportation. The added pluses for American visitors include an international experience in Canada. These air passengers will spend vacation time in the Yarmouth & Acadian Shores area as well. Opportunities for packaging abound, and at least one local tour business operator in Yarmouth has voiced support for the idea.

The Yarmouth area would experience a disproportionate amount of benefits because passengers will  fly in without cars. Although some would rent cars, this Bar Harbor service would create demand for local hotel rooms, tours and attractions lost with the Scotia Prince and Cat ferry services.

Short-term subsidies might be required, but ultimately this service would be a viable addition to the region’s tourist offerings and transportation infrastructure.

Perret, Leary, and others hope to have a conference call with Mr. Khajavi this coming week.

www.natureair.com

www.troutpoint.com

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Green practices on the way to Geotourism goals

Trout Point Lodge has embodied eco-friendliness since it first opened its doors, including the very design of the main lodge building. A few years ago, we redoubled efforts to reduce outside inputs and harmful outputs from operations. Trout Point expanded its on-site gardens, installed bulk amenities dispensers (with BVLGARI products in them), converted all paper resources to 100% recycled content, and started using 100% natural cleaning agents, among other practices.

Such commitment resulted in recognition from the Hotel Association of Canada ECOmmodation program with a rating of 5 Green Keys, and from organizations like Eco Hotels of the World with 5 stars.

However sustainable tourism practices just begin the process of really having a meaningful impact on the environment and the reality of climate change. One story that resonates with Trout Point is that of the Aspen ski resort in Colorado. Here’s an interview with Aspen’s Auden Schendler from Fast Company magazine:

AS: The old enviro movement would ask us to put solar panels on the roof of the Little Nell. And we just did that. But that five kilowatt array is meaningless. It is absolutely a tiny amount of the hotel’s energy use. However, what we did was we tied those panels to one room in the hotel. And that room is where the most powerful and influential people stay, including, among others, George Soros. We put the energy generated by the array onto the home page of the computer in the room, and also show the energy use in that room.

FC: Then what?

AS: Okay. Now you’ve taken the old-school enviro measure that is sexy but doesn’t do anything and tied it to this tremendous lever that only you have access to. If you get lucky and that person decides that this is a crucial issue that they want to take action on, you’ve done more with that one connection than you’ve done with 20 years of trying change light bulbs [to compact fluorescents] and retrofit boilers at the ski resort. That’s just one attempt we’re trying to make at pulling the biggest possible lever.

FC: Another one being the infamous tussle with Kleenex

AS: We get a call one day from Forest Ethics, and they say, will you ban Kleenex because their forestry practices are lame, there’s no post-consumer waste at all in Kleenex, and they’re not engaging with the environmental community. I say I’ll check into it. We use $25,000 worth of Kleenex a year. For me to switch it out is not difficult, and we do (for a somewhat less bad product from another company).

We get eviscerated in the papers. One: Who are you to criticize another company, you use tons of energy and move people up and down the hill for no reason–it’s totally wasteful. Two: This is flagrant greenwashing. It was so bad that I went to my boss and said I screwed up. Two weeks later we got a phone call from the CEO of [Kleenex parent] Kimberly-Clark, a $32 billion company. They’re bigger than most countries. If you can change them, then you can change entire industries, the whole way forests are managed—that’s a big lever. They sent a team down to meet with us and we started exerting disproportionate influence on a big corporation.

FC: What was the upshot?

AS: We sat down and expressed our interests, and we said, “You guys have to get in the room with the non-profits, including the Natural Resources Defense Council.” We brokered a meeting and got Greenpeace and NRDC in the room with Kimberly-Clark.

The point is that small businesses like Trout Point–which is a lot smaller than Aspen–can have more of an impact by making something out of its practices in a way that influences those who come into contact with us: guests, employees, vendors, the press, etc.

Finally, Trout Point is all about expressing the “power of place,” which can truly only be done if the business follows green practices. That’s the foundational level of being a geotourism enterprise, but a true expression of place goes well beyond just using recycled paper products, sustainably-caught seafood, or organic gardening. The impact the Lodge can have is much greater than a single household, but just as Mr. Schendler said, it’s like putting up that 5 kw solar panel–the real world impact is negligible. What’s not negligible is how a business like Aspen or Trout Point translates and magnifies its green efforts into wider, consciousness-changing impacts on stakeholders, large & small.

In a similar way, only by embracing the meaning of the place we’re in–Nova Scotia, Yarmouth County, the Tobeatic Wilderness–can green practices really gain meaning that will encourage people to pause, think, and experience the world anew. Mr. Schendler’s arguments are about scale and leverage–and he is correct–but the leverage itself depends on geotourism values.

Geotourism means practices that enhances a place’s geographical character in its widest sense–not just its environmental well-being–including such factors as culture, aesthetics, and the makeup of its inhabitants.

More about this later . . .

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Yarmouth Vanguard reports on Trout Point at the Geotourism Summit

The Yarmouth Vanguard newspaper has published a story on Trout Point Lodge being a delegate to the National Geographic Society’s 2010 Geotourism Summit.

“Unique experiences and educational components are important ingredients for the successful operation of an eco-wilderness resort,” reads the caption. The article also observations from former guests:

A couple from New Jersey described a highlight of their stay as soothing their muscles in the cedar hot tub by the river with a perfect glass of red wine after a demanding mountain bike ride in the wilderness with the staff naturalist.

A couple from Florence, Italy commented on the stunning beauty and “the extraordinarily warm and friendly atmosphere that the young staff–both European and local Nova Scotian–conveyed to the guests.

The article continued to note that the Lodge’s public presentation included mentioning the Nova Scotia government’s decision to stop subsidizing the Cat ferry service in the name of “sustainability.”

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Geotourism

Trout Point Lodge at the 2010 Geotourism Summit

According to the Center for Sustainable Destinations at the National Geographic Society:

Geotourism is defined as tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents.

Geotourism incorporates the concept of sustainable tourism—that destinations should remain unspoiled for future generations—while allowing for ways to protect a place’s character. Geotourism also takes a principle from its ecotourism cousin,—that tourism revenue should promote conservation—and extends it to culture and history as well, that is, all distinctive assets of a place.

On February 1-3, Vaughn Perret and Charles Leary attended the 2010 Geotourism Summit at the National Geographic Society headquarters in Washington, D.C. As delegates and guests of the Society and Ashoka’s Changemakers, Perret & Leary both attended a Geotourism Ambassador training, receiving certificates signed by Jonathan Tourtellot, Director of the Center for Sustainable Destinations. On February 2, Charles Leary made a brief presentation as 1 of the 10 Geotourism Challenge finalists chosen from over 600 entries from over 80 countries.

Perret & Leary hope to continue to work with the Center for Sustainable Destinations on a Geotourism Map project for southern Nova Scotia.

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Presentation by Charles Leary at the 2010 Geotourism Summit

Trout Point Lodge creates a destination tourism experience in a way that supports and promotes the under-appreciated natural, social, and cultural riches of the Tobeatic Wilderness Area and the Southern Nova Scotia Biosphere Reserve. By not promoting solely coastal tourism –which is the mantra of official tourism policies– and being a “eco-lodge” in a northern, developed country, Trout Point challenges some common preconceptions about what an eco-destination is or can be. Trout Point currently consists of an 8-room Great Lodge including restaurant, 8 stone fireplaces, teaching/working kitchen, and public areas, 3-room villa, 2 cottages, & 100 acres of Acadian Forest  with extensive river frontage, the nearest human habitation being at least 15 km away to the south and hundreds of km to the north; facilities include: nature guides, canoes, kayaks, wood-fired hot tub, boardwalks, on-site trails, adjacent hiking trails, mountain bikes, small spa, fire pit, GPS units for self-guided excursions, cooking classes & culinary vacations, as well as  on-site organic vegetable, herb, and flower gardens fed by gray water system.

Visiting the Yarmouth area of Nova Scotia, ourselves as tourists from Louisiana in 1996, we found a land rich with natural beauty, diverse cultures, a wealth of local food possibilities, and an intriguing history.  We ourselves had come to the province following the Acadian French cultural connection with our home state.

As we investigated Yarmouth County’s history, we discovered that a well-developed tradition of nature camps, lodges, and guides had existed starting in the 19th century, which had all but petered out by the 1950s, when the wave of roadside motels and seaside cottages took over. Checking into accommodations in Yarmouth was like stepping into a time machine, taking you back to 1970. Our stays at the “El Rancho Motel” in 1996 & 97 were emblematic of this state of affairs.

But, scattered here and there physical remnants of the previous tourism tradition survived, which very much appealed to geotourism values. Most of the old camps and lodges had burned or literally deteriorated, one—tellingly– became a retirement home, others were in private hands.

After 2 years of searching for a forest parcel that would not be affected by neighbouring timber holdings and the threat of clear cuts–a goal not so easily attainable in southern Nova Scotia, we happened upon acreage at the confluence of 2 rivers, perfect for a wilderness lodge. Just 3 days after the purchase, the provincial legislature declared the Tobeatic as a protected area, ensuring that the lands across the river and to our north would never be open to commercial development or cutting.

Facing early scepticism that a destination property in the woods of economically-challenged Yarmouth County could survive, Trout Point now enters its 11th season of operation. Despite its earlier heritage, recently the Yarmouth area was not known as a destination, but rather as the southern “gateway” for foreign tourists arriving via ferry. Nova Scotians themselves viewed the area as remote, undeveloped, and uninteresting, and in our experience, few had heard of the Tobeatic, despite the fact that it’s the largest protected area in all of Atlantic Canada.

Now, the Lodge serves as a springboard for guests to learn about the Acadian Forest ecosystem and always has naturalists on staff to provide meaningful interpretive experiences that emphasize place.

Trout Point has: (1) implemented energy monitoring, recycling, composting, and on-site gardening programs that expand each season; (2) more than tripled revenues since first opening, allowing us to improve our impact on the local economy, create new employment, invest in new practices such as converting 90% of lighting to energy-efficient bulbs, all paper to 100% recycled, all cleaning products to natural, new employee apprenticeship & training programs, and the expansion of marketing reach; (3) gone from hiring 2 locals per season in 2000 to hiring over 15 (mostly local) in 2009; (4) increased its primary season from early July  to early October in 2000  to 1^st of May to the end of October in 2010, with some facilities now open year round; (5) and has successfully diversified its visitation from 90% U.S.-origin in 2000-2004 to the current state where local guests represent the single most important geographic category & overall Canadian/international numbers are up.

Over the past 10 years, Trout Point has innovated by re-vitalizing backwoods & nature tourism, culinary tourism, and Acadian French cultural tourism in Nova Scotia. While a regional tourism crisis developed for local accommodations in the mid to late 2000s, Trout Point has advanced based on geotourism principles. These include: low-cost marketing using the Internet as a primary vehicle and restricting the use of print/paper resources; encouraging local memory of the area’s “great camp” and Acadian-cultural heritage; constantly striving to enhance & expand eco-friendly practices, and publicizing & formalizing these extensively; making Trout Point one with the local place, promoting the concept of destination rather than gateway; fully engaging with local tourism partners and encouraging guest use of tourism infrastructure located within .1 to 50 km range from the Lodge; pioneering a perspective on the Tobeatic Wilderness Area and the Southern Nova Biosphere as having geotourism potential.

Trout Point’s offerings include experiences that make guests one with the place: 1. The Lodge counts as the only accommodation/destination giving travelers immediate access to the wilderness via hiking trails, canoe, kayak, and guided excursions with staff naturalists. 2. We have offered the Nova Scotia Seafood Cooking School since 2000, teaching participants about local, sustainable seafood choices, food origins, and cooking techniques, including Acadian styles. 3. The accommodations blend seamlessly with the local Forest environment, built from Atlantic Canadian white spruce logs & Nova Scotia granite, with wildwood furniture handcrafted from branches and saplings cut from the property. 4. Trout Point is a true nature retreat, with no cell phone reception, no TVs in the rooms, and an emphasis on eco-friendly practices.

Staff naturalists provide guests with the natural history of the Tobeatic Wilderness and the Acadian Forest Ecosystem. Location, identification, & reporting of species at risk is encouraged. Reading materials in each guest room provide a description of the area, including not just the forest as a natural phenomenon but also the indigenous, Acadian French, and later English settlements impact on the use of the backwoods. Cooking classes provide an ingredients-based history of Acadian-Cajun culture and inculcate an understanding of local fisheries, sustainable seafoods, and current environmental questions. By emphasizing how Trout Point is re-invigorating a once-lost local tourism tradition of backwoods camps and guides, the Lodge also encourages local involvement and pride. We are happy to announce that in 2010 someone from the local village of Kemptville—center of the previous camp & guide tradition that had all but disappeared—will be the primary guide at Trout Point, but breaking with tradition, she is a woman.

Our hope is that Trout Point will develop practices and strategies of management translatable to other tourism enterprises in other situations. From a sheer effort at financial survival particularly with the loss transport links in the last 5 years, the Lodge has had to develop itself into a destination property, rather than one receiving guests for 1 night on their way elsewhere. The goals of Trout Point as a destination coincide wholeheartedly with the promotion and sustainable use of the Tobeatic Wilderness and the Southern Nova Scotia Biosphere, and only through stewardship of this destination and its local society will the Lodge prosper. Our geo-tourism management approach has been enhanced through experiences in Costa Rica and Spain, where we have developed very small-scale accommodations that also speak of place, and our future project is the creation of a destination property and agri-tourism enterprise in the historic urban quarter of Granada, Spain.

Before I end I just wanted to briefly mention that just before Christmas, 2009, Nova Scotia’s Tourism Minister announced the end of all subsidies for the ferry service that has for well over 110 years linked southern Nova Scotia to the north eastern United States in the name of “sustainability,” for us at Trout Point and for the local community, an ironic situation that will create hardship and that poses real questions about exactly what destination tourism means and requires.

Vaughn Perret & Charles Leary at the 2010 Geotourism Summit. Photo copyright Charles L. Leary; All Rights Reserved.

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Trout Point Lodge goes to Washington

Trout Point Lodge of Nova Scotia is pleased to announce its participation as a delegate to the 2010 Geotourism Summit hosted by the National Geographic Society in Washington, D.C. The Summit will take place February 2, 2010 at the Society’s headquarters.

This past July, Trout Point Lodge was among 10 finalists in the 2009 Geotourism Challenge selected from more than 600 entries from 81 countries. It was the sole accommodation chosen. A distinguished panel of judges — Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement; Keith Bellows, editor of National Geographic Traveler magazine; Erika Harms, executive director of Sustainable Development, United Nations Foundation; Tony Wheeler, founder of Lonely Planet; Ben Keene, founder of Tribewanted; and Dr. Yang Yuming, vice president of Southwest Forestry University, China —reviewed the entries and selected Trout Point Lodge for revitalizing backwoods area of Acadian Forest through place-based immersion experiences and the Nova Scotia Seafood Cooking School.

In a press release, the National Geographic Society called the finalists “ten of the most innovative, sustainable travel programs around the world.”

Geotourism is defined as tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents. Geotourism incorporates the concept of sustainable tourism—that destinations should remain unspoiled for future generations—while allowing for ways to protect a place’s character. Geotourism also takes a principle from its ecotourism cousin,—that tourism revenue should promote conservation—and extends it to culture and history as well, that is, all distinctive assets of a place.

Highlights of the summit include sessions on finding project funding and gaining government support as well as a presentation of the Geotourism Challenge Competition 2010. The keynote speaker is James H. Gilmore, co-author of The Experience Economy and Authenticity.

The Lodge’s Managing Directors Vaughn Perret and Charles Leary will be attending the summit as guests of the Society, and will also make a brief presentation about their innovations.

Trout Point Lodge of Nova Scotia is the only member of the Relais & Chateaux in the province. National Geographic Traveler put the Lodge on its inaugural Stay List, and Trout Point has also won the Parks Canada Sustainable Tourism Award and more recently the Green Restaurant Award.

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