Review of Aboriginal Tourism Team Canada

Prepared for
Aboriginal Business Canada
Industry Canada

Prepared by
Hussein Rostum

Ottawa

November 8, 2002

Executive Summary

This report presents the results of a review of Aboriginal Tourism Team Canada (ATTC). The review was done by KPMG Consulting on behalf of Aboriginal Business Canada.

Purpose

A review of the ATTC was requested by Aboriginal Business Canada (ABC) to determine to what extent ATTC has been successful in influencing and developing tourism policy and programs for the benefit of Aboriginal people.

The review was intended to address key performance issues related to rationale of the ATTC initiative and impacts of the initiative. Specific questions related to these issues are addressed by the review report.

Approach

The approach for the study included the following tasks:

• a review of relevant documents and databases
• a survey of Aboriginal tourism sector organizations
• interviews with ATTC Board members
• interviews with Regional Aboriginal Tourism Associations (RATAs)
• interviews with Government partners
• a literature review.

The findings and recommendations from the study are summarized below.

Findings

Rationale and Need for ATTC

• The review confirms the need for an ATTC-like organization.



• There is sufficient evidence from market studies that Aboriginal tourism in Canada holds strong potential for growth, and is a source of employment and economic development for Aboriginal communities throughout Canada.



• Aboriginal tourism organizations from all tourism sectors suggest that an Ottawa-presence, and a national organization to represent Aboriginal Tourism in Canada is required on a continuing basis, to promote and help develop the Aboriginal tourism product and to provide a voice representing the interests of this industry in Ottawa.



• It is also suggested that a coordinated, cohesive federal (interdepartmental) policy for Aboriginal tourism be introduced. In addition to Industry Canada, several departments have an interest and are partners in the work of ATTC, including Canadian Tourism Commission, Canadian Heritage, Indian and Northern Affairs, and Parks Canada. However, there is not a clear consensus on the roles and contributions required from different departments, and how these should be coordinated under one strategic framework that consolidates requirements of the initiative.



• Recommendation [1] to conduct a strategic review — There is a need for a strategic review that consolidates the rationale for an ATTC-like organization, defines more clearly the roles and commitments of different participants and partners in the initiative (including federal government departments and RATAs), provides for more consistent and diversified funding sources, and scopes out the program in a manner consistent with the opportunities and challenges of developing the Aboriginal tourist industry in Canada.

Role of RATAs

• The role of Regional Aboriginal Tourism Associations (RATAs), as a network of associations serving regional and local needs of the Aboriginal tourism industry across Canada, is confirmed by this review study. This is seen particularly in the context of a need to further develop RATAs in each province, to address grassroots issues of the industry. ATTC, on the other hand, is seen as more of an umbrella organization – i.e., the “glue” that supports and keeps the network of associations together.



• RATAs are at different stages of development in different regions of Canada. This partly depends on how long they have been in business, and partly on their relationships to local and regional government organizations and private sector participants. It also depends on their respective financial support base and range of activities.



• Recommendation [2] to continue to support the development and growth of RATAs — There is a need to continue to develop the RATA organizations, to help them grow and to strengthen their capacity to serve regional and local Aboriginal tourism interests.

Leadership

• Generally, partners of ATTC who were interviewed for this study have given high marks for the progress made by ATTC in establishing a national presence, and in promoting Aboriginal tourism in various networking venues, media and interest groups.



• There is also a general notion that the administrative requirement of setting up an ATTC organization in Ottawa has substantially succeeded, and that ATTC’s presence and profile has increased incrementally over the past three years.



• A strong base has been established to build on, but more effort is required to broaden the reach and effectiveness of the organization, and to address critical strategic issues related to promoting and developing Aboriginal tourism in Canada.

Funding

• There is a consensus that ATTC cannot realistically be expected to be a financially “self-sustaining” organization, at least in the foreseeable future (i.e., over the next three years).



• This does not preclude contemplating undertaking cost-recovery activities such as charging membership dues, conference fees, or payments for information services. Some corporate and private sponsorships and in-kind contributions are potentially sources of support, but at this point this represents a funding option that has not been fully assessed/explored by the organization.



• Recommendation [3] to develop an interdepartmental strategic framework — There is a consensus among ATTC Board members, ATTC staff, RATA organizations and government partners and participants in the ATTC-related initiatives, that core funding for ATTC needs to become more diversified and consistent with a broader strategic framework that encompasses several federal interdepartmental mandates.

Reach

• Survey results show that ATTC and the RATAs have achieved some success in reaching out to the Aboriginal tourism community (the industry sector operators).



• Of 118 Aboriginal tourism organizations interviewed, 16 percent said that they were “familiar” with ATTC, 25 percent said they were “somewhat familiar” and 59 percent said they were “not familiar”. While this appears to be a low percentage of familiarity, in fact it is a very good result when one considers that ATTC is a relatively new organization with limited resources and staff, and a national mandate working out of Ottawa (i.e., not at the regional or tourist operator’s jurisdiction).



• Similarly, RATAs have also been moderately successful in reaching out to Aboriginal tourism organizations. Out of 118 Aboriginal tourism organizations interviewed, 27 percent said they were “familiar” with their local (i.e., regional) RATA, 16 percent said they were “somewhat familiar”, and 57 percent said they were “not familiar”.



• Of those who were “familiar” or “somewhat familiar” with ATTC and/or RATA, 22 percent were able to identify directly with some specific ATTC and/or RATA project-related activity.



• Of those who could identify with some specific ATTC and/or RATA project-related activity, 40 percent said that they thought the project(s) had a definite impact on improving awareness of, and/or helping promote/market tourism in their respective regions.



• More than half of those organizations that said they were “familiar” or “somewhat familiar” with ATTC felt that more should be done by this organization to promote Aboriginal tourism in Canada.



• Generally, about 45 percent of those “familiar” or “somewhat familiar” felt that ATTC could do more market research to identify business opportunities; 40 percent felt that ATTC should do more trade shows/missions; 52 percent felt that ATTC should do more promotional activities and networking events; 56 percent felt that ATTC should provide more educational materials and opportunities.



• Several (about 55 percent) of those organizations that had not heard of ATTC, or the relevant local RATA, said they would like to hear more about them and agreed in principal that such organizations were needed.



• None of the organizations interviewed would attribute any of their personal successes in the industry to any ATTC or RATA related activities or services. However, encouragingly, about 20 percent suggested that at least “some success” of their organizations could be attributed to either an ATTC or RATA related activity or service.

Project Activities

• A large majority of ATTC Board members, RATAs, and government partners interviewed indicated that ATTC’s project activities have been adequate over the past three years. The projects undertaken have been relevant and contributed in varying ways to the challenge of understanding the industry and its needs, in promoting Aboriginal tourism, and in supporting the development of industry capacity and products.



• RATAs in particular strongly endorse the ATTC project activities and related information products, since RATAs (as well as ATTC itself) consistently receive requests for the type of information that ATTC has been producing over the past three years. This includes newsletters, guides to doing business and brochures, checklists, media articles, and other similar information products and referrals.



• Recommendation [4] to widen the dissemination of project results — Notwithstanding the adequacy of ATTC project activities, there is a consensus that the dissemination of results of projects could be more widespread, since there appears to be a strong appetite for this information among the industry partners and tourism organizations.

Scope of the ATTC Initiative

• The scope of ATTC, as it currently stands, may not be sufficiently broad enough to address the full range of potential challenges involved, to develop Aboriginal tourism in Canada to its full capacity.



• Recommendation [5] to consider situating ATTC within a broader federal context — The “strategic review” suggested above, should consider the issue of scoping out ATTC against a broader federal mandate, and interdepartmental strategic framework.

RATA Perspectives

• The issue of RATAs in the Atlantic provinces has not been sufficiently resolved. There is a need to develop separate RATAs within each province — since the different communities in the Atlantic represent distinct Aboriginal entities.¹



• In recognition that Industry Canada has a specific mandate within the federal government, RATAs are consistent in their view that the Aboriginal tourism issue is an interdepartmental matter, and that the Industry Canada mandate only partially addresses the full requirements of this industry.



• All RATAs suggested that ATTC funding sources should be more diversified, but all were appreciative that Industry Canada continues to contribute to the extent that it has over the past three years.



• Recommendation [6] to diversify funding sources for ATTC — All RATAs consider that there is a strong need for other government participants in ATTC to contribute to core funding requirements, as well as project-related funding.

The Perspective of Aboriginal Tourism Organizations

• While a majority of the tourism organizations interviewed for this study were not familiar with ATTC or respective regional associations for Aboriginal tourism, they nonetheless consider it to be essential that such organizations have the support of government and of the industry itself.



• They also suggested that they would like to see a stronger presence in providing information services about Aboriginal tourism, and that promotion of their products be provided a higher profile by ATTC in Ottawa — and of course in the various market areas where their tourists come from, particularly the U.S., certain parts of Europe and Asia-Pacific Rim, in addition to Canada.

Reporting and Accountability

• Due diligence requires appropriate reporting for accountability purposes in response to requirements of funding sources.



• ATTC quarterly reports provided to ABC are detailed and sufficient for accountability purposes, but evaluation indicators and performance measures that are tracked against strategic or operational goals of ATTC are required, in a handy way for ABC to monitor and assess progress on a routine basis.



• As the main provider of core funding to ATTC, this is a minimum requirement by ABC to address due diligence and evaluation requirements that are common to all government departments and agencies.



• There is a need for interaction between ABC and ATTC on this matter to discuss and agree on a set of relevant indicators for this purpose. Pertinent indicators and performance measures are suggested in the report, including qualitative and quantitative measurements related to the key strategic directions of ATTC.



• These requirements are intended to determine to what extent ATTC has achieved its objectives, at least on an annual basis, and has completed its prescribed statement of work with ABC while realizing appropriate value for resources contributed by ABC.



• Recommendation [7] to develop and track performance measurements — ATTC needs to develop and track performance measurements, in consultation with its government funding sources, to ensure a results-based accountability system is in place that is consistent with federal government guidelines and requirements.

Operational Effectiveness

• Operational effectiveness generally can only be assessed against expectations, stated goals in operational plans, and level of effort required and realized by the organization.



• In this respect, ATTC with only three full-time staff members is considered to be productive, especially over the past three years, by a majority of the ATTC Board members, government partners, and RATA representatives who were interviewed.



• However, the feedback is that ATTC’s role is clear, that it needs to do more of what it is currently doing to have a greater impact and be more effective. It is also recognized, however, that to achieve this requires additional resources at ATTC.



• Recommendation [8] to increase staffing support — Notwithstanding ATTC’s current level of effort and productivity, a broadening of the scope of activities with additional staffing support is needed.

ATTC Board of Directors

• Board members participate on a voluntary basis, and their pro-active contributions help broaden the reach and effectiveness of ATTC. However, Board members are expected to (and do) contribute to strategic directions and challenges in responding to Aboriginal tourism opportunities.



• Operational issues and long-term funding challenges need to be resolved so that Board members could turn more of their attention to fundamental challenges and requirements of developing the Aboriginal tourism industry throughout Canada.

¹ Since the completion of this review study, Prince Edward Island has begun a process to develop articles of association for a RATA in that province.

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Date Modified: 2005-08-17 Important Notices