The new year is here and Celes and I are gearing up for a brand new customized experiential travel training program in Alberta. As we prepare to Unravel the Mysteries and Stories in Cypress Hills (on the Alberta/Saskatchewan border) I have enjoyed ‘returning to the books’ and the scouring the latest materials by many of my favorite authors, but especially Joe Pine and James Gilmore, gurus of the experience economy and Colin Shaw, Mr. Customer Experience Management, to see what new gems are out there!
Reminiscing about the days in 1999 when the Canadian Tourism Commission hosted their first task-force on the topic and now reflecting on where we have come — wow! It’s looking good right across Canada but we can always so more. So for those of you that would like a mini briefing here are three things to remember (in case you forgot!)
1. The Progression of economic value involves 5 levels of opportunity. You can engage in one, two or all five! We ‘extract commodities’ (and can sell them); we ‘make goods’ (and sell lots of them)’ we ‘deliver services’ (and treat people), we ’stage experiences’ (and WOW people) and we can ‘guide transformation’ (and shape people). These are all available to you as a tourism and hospitality business — the question remains — are you doing enough about t?
2. There is nothing more precious than the relationship you have with past, present and future customers! Yes, you can be engaged with all of them right now – but for different reasons. If you only focus on your current business, there may not be enough in the pipeline to sustain your future. If you forget about the wonderful people who have already given you the gift of time and their hard earned after-tax money, you are missing a great chance to create another sale or referral.
3. Finally, the ‘ing thing’. Wondering where your next product development opportunity may be? All you need to do is scan your inventory of assets and attributes, and add ‘ing’ to the word and it could turn into an experience (if crafted well). Stretch beyond the easy ones such as ‘golf – golfing’, ‘read – reading’ and think of some fun ones ‘dunk – dunking’, ‘bump – bumping’, or challenging ones ‘leap – leaping’, ’sift-sifting’. Play with words and then think about how you can add ‘ing’ activities to your experiences and build in a little fun and some memorable moments for your guests.
Progression of Economic Value Value
