Guests enjoy night candle snowshoe in Riding Mountain National Park
From the perspective of those who have not yet experienced the incredible beauty of winter, I thought that I would share a few things that inspire me. I believe that we are not adequately helping potential “ideal guests” to see themselves in “the story of Canada’s winter” because there may be too many perceived barriers – cold, lack of adequate clothing, fear of darkness, lack of physical conditioning, or other reasons – so, we need to help them get through those barriers easily.
While many outdoor enthusiasts are quite independent and happy to ski or snowshoe, the vast majority of Canadians do not. How do we help them? Here is my short list:
- Inspire and educate potential customers with high quality images about places they can see, wildlife they can view, and things that they can do that are unique, only in winter. See my photo gallery of the amazing landscape and wildlife and things we experience in Manitoba to have fun outdoors (Cattail sword fights- fluff and laughter all over the place).
- Stop repeating the oft quoted phrase, “Geez, it’s cold today, eh!” Rather, substitute it with..”Geez, I am safe, warm and comfortable”. Our job is to find ways for our guests to be safe, warm and comfortable. Think fires, hot toddies, the correct clothing, snowshoeing (you heat up real fast!) in the woods out of the wind, and companionship.
- Like Nike says…”Just do it.” Get out there and breathe in the night air, see the stars, try snowshoeing. It is so easy. The new snowshoes today are light, easy to use (incredibly easy to use), and with a pair of ski poles in your hands, you’ll be out doing it all the time.
- Create guided winter experiences that help novices to the magical things that we do in winter….Guided winter packages…day trips, spa and day trips, yoga and snowshoeing, snowshoeing and a meal by the fire, the possibilities are endless.
- Communicate “the things that we do that excite us about winter” constantly in all of our communications by using pictures, video and great blogs.
Happy New Year – see the beauty of winter as experience!
Celes Davar
