The Okanagan Cultural Corridor Project: Public Launch


The following is the text of a speech given by Steven Thorne on the occasion of the public launch of the Cultural Corridor Project.



Kelowna Chamber of Commerce Luncheon
Ramada Inn, Kelowna, BC
July 12, 2000

Steven Thorne
Executive Director
The Okanagan Cultural Corridor Project


Good afternoon,

I'm delighted to be here today to launch the Okanagan Cultural Corridor Project.

This Project has grown from an idea I first had when I was Kelowna's Arts Development Officer. Why not take all the cultural attractions of the Okanagan Valley -- arts attractions, heritage attractions, our wine, cuisine, orchards and other agri-tourism attractions -- and package and market these attractions, together, as a "corridor of cultural experiences" stretching from Enderby to Osoyoos to Princeton.

The idea behind the Corridor is simple: by linking individual attractions to form a larger, regional entity, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

It's not a new idea. There are many cultural tourism corridors across North America. Sometimes, like the Oregon Trail, the focus is on history. Sometimes, like the Louisiana Music Trail, or the Art Museum Trail in Maine, the focus is on the arts. Sometimes, like the Illinois and Michigan Heritage Canal Corridor, the focus is on heritage.

The strength of the Okanagan Cultural Corridor is that it will be a tapestry woven from the entire cultural fabric of the Okanagan. The Okanagan Cultural Corridor will offer our visitors a rich, multi-faceted experience of what it is, culturally, that makes this Valley unique.

The Okanagan Wine Route will be the backbone of the Cultural Corridor. I've always considered wineries to be cultural institutions. Not only is wine making an art in and of itself, the appreciation of wine -- and cuisine -- is also an art. It's called gastronomy -- defined by the Oxford Dictionary as the "art of eating and drinking well." And of course, the marriage of wine, music, dance and art is an ancient one, reaching back to the bacchanalias of Rome.

If the Okanagan Wine Route is the backbone of the Cultural Corridor, then the emerging Kelowna Cultural District -- the area surrounding the Grand Hotel -- will be the Corridor's artistic heart. The City of Kelowna is BC's leader in linking the arts to economic development through cultural tourism, focused around the development of the Kelowna Cultural District. During the past three years, no other city in Canada -- small or large -- has increased its per-capita investments in the arts more substantially than Kelowna.

Through its new investments in the Festivals Fund, the Public Art Fund, and increased support for our professional arts groups, through its capital commitment to the planned Community Arts Centre, through its ongoing investments in the Kelowna Art Gallery, the Kelowna Museum, Parks Alive!, and the Kelowna Community Theatre, the City of Kelowna is putting this community on Canada's cultural map.

With the Wine Route as its backbone, and the Kelowna Cultural District as its heart, the body of the Okanagan Cultural Corridor will be comprised of the many other cultural attractions found throughout this Valley.

From the Grist Mill in Keremeos, to the Desert Centre in Osoyoos, to the O'Keefe Ranch in Vernon; from the Historic 1912 Restaurant in Kaleden, to K.L.O. Orchard Tours here in Kelowna, to Gatzke's Farm Market in Oyama; from the Caravan Farm Theatre in Armstrong, to the Ornamental Gardens in Summerland, to the S.S. Sicamous in Penticton; this Valley has a cornucopia of arts, heritage, and agri-tourism attractions around which we can build the new tourism of the Okanagan -- cultural tourism.


And why is cultural tourism important? Why is this Project important?

Historically, the Okanagan has been primarily a family vacation destination for Western Canadian travellers. This is where mom and dad brought the kids to enjoy the lake, to swim, to sun, and to visit theme parks, water slides, and other family attractions. The aging of the baby boom, however, is eroding the market for family vacations. Increasingly, mom and dad have become empty nesters, and they're now seeking the travel destinations that appeal to them.

Now, baby boomers represent almost a third of North America's population. They wield most of its purchasing power. And all the research shows that a sizeable percentage of boomers consume culture in their own communities, and consume culture when they travel. Small wonder then, that communities that have developed and marketed their culture are enjoying significant economic dividends.

Three years ago, the City of Bilbao, in the Basque region of Spain, opened the new Guggenheim Museum, designed by Canadian-born architect Frank Gehry. In its first year of operation, the Museum counted 1.3 million admissions, transforming Bilbao from a sleepy port off the main route of European tourism, into a cultural tourism mecca. Overall tourism in Bilbao increased by 40 percent, with tens of million of new dollars injected into the economy.

Closer to home, the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit at the Royal BC Museum drew 200,000 out-of-town visitors who came expressly to see the exhibit. Together, these visitors injected $32 million into Victoria's economy. I was there, I saw the exhibit, and, day after day, I saw the line-ups -- in the rain -- that stretched around the block.

In the American Okanagan, the town of Leavenworth, Washington -- with a population of 2,200 people -- attracts 1.2 million visitors each year. The attraction? The town's Bavarian architecture, its arts and cultural festivals, and its Bavarian-themed restaurants and retail shops.

Ashland, Oregon is another example. As many of you know, Ashland is home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The Festival now draws some 360,000 visitors each season -- and almost 90 percent of these are tourists.

Cultural tourism. It's tourism that focuses on museums and art galleries, arts events and cultural festivals, historic sites, heritage attractions, architecture, and local customs and cuisine. It's tourism that's motivated by an interest in other peoples, places and cultures.

There is a growing market demand for this kind of tourism. There is a growing interest among travellers for unique, authentic, culturally enriching experiences.

For example, among Canadians travelling in Canada in 1998, far more trips included an historic site, a museum or art gallery, or a performing arts event, than included downhill skiing, golfing, biking, or casino gambling. In total, spending by Canadian cultural tourists at home and abroad is now approaching $4 billion annually.

In the U.S., 46 percent of Americans travellers included culture on a domestic trip in 1998. Not surprisingly, scores of American cities have cultural tourism initiatives. On the West Coast alone, these include Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Portland, Tacoma and Vancouver. In fact, the growing market demand for cultural tourism products is so significant that the Canadian Tourism Commission describes cultural tourism as a "critical area of development" for the future of tourism in Canada, and an "enormous opportunity" for industry growth.

For its part, the Canadian Tourism Commission recently unveiled its 5-year business plan for cultural tourism in Canada, called Packaging the Potential. Here in BC, the Ministry of Small Business, Tourism & Culture, along with Tourism BC, unveiled its own framework strategy for cultural tourism just last year. Both these documents call for the development of cultural tourism corridors. BC's framework strategy specifically recognized the Okanagan as a region poised for a cultural tourism pilot project -- the very Project that we are launching here today.


And what will this Project achieve?

In year one, the Project will inventory all the cultural attractions in the Okanagan. In year two, we'll develop a product packaging and marketing plan to put all the pieces together. Then, in year three, working with TOTA and with Tourism BC, we'll begin marketing the Okanagan Cultural Corridor.

The objective of the Okanagan Cultural Corridor Project is to diversify the Valley's tourism industry, grow its long-haul markets, and increase our visitor volume and revenues.

When we succeed in this endeavour, we will break the "golden triangle" of tourism in BC -- Vancouver, Victoria, Whistler. If there is going to be any golden geometric form in the future of B.C's tourism industry, let it be a golden trapezoid, with an arm reaching into the Okanagan, delivering travellers from Asia, Europe, Eastern Canada and the U.S. to this remarkable Valley.

What is the tourism potential of this Valley? In my opinion, we haven't begun to realize the potential. Consider the following. By the year 2025, when the entire North American baby boom is retired, there will be 38 million more individuals in the 55 to 74 age category than there are today. Thirty-eight million more -- that's an increase of 80 percent. In total, there will be 85 million North Americans in the 55 to 74 age category by the year 2025. And this cohort, we are told, is expected to inherit an estimated $10 trillion from their parents. Possessing health, leisure time, and the financial resources to enjoy both, boomers are expected to travel widely.

Where are these older, well-educated, well-heeled boomers going to want to travel? And what are they going to want to do when they get there? I'll put my money on their wanting to visit destinations like the Okanagan Valley, where wine, art, music, festivals, cuisine, heritage and agri-tourism attractions have been woven together into tapestry of cultural experiences.

In closing, I'd like to acknowledge that this project would not be happening but for the support of Tourism BC, and Rod Harris. Rod, you'll recall that I approached you in your Victoria office last summer to propose this Project. If memory serves, it took you about 15 seconds to realize what this Project could mean for the Okanagan, and for tourism in our province. Before I left your office, you were already generating marketing ideas more quickly than I could write them down. Thank you, Rod, for the support of Tourism BC, and for your personal support.

I'd also like to acknowledge BC's Ministry of Community Development, which has partnered with Tourism BC in funding this Project. To my mind, this is an example of government investment at its best: seeding economic development initiatives that could not otherwise be launched.

Let me also acknowledge Okanagan University College, which, as an in-kind donation, is contributing office space for this Project on its north Kelowna campus. Thank you, O.U.C. Thank you, Katy Bindon.

My thanks as well to the former President of the Kelowna Hotel Motel Association for his support of this Project. Thank you, Graham Allan.

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the man whose political support for this Project -- and for cultural tourism generally -- has been there from the first time he heard me speak at a Rotary dinner in 1995: Mayor Walter Gray. Thank you Walter. The Kelowna Cultural District is coming on-line. Now it's time to focus on the Valley.

How good it is to be back in Kelowna. Back in a city that works, a city that has vision, a city that has political leadership. I look forward to working with my many friends in Kelowna -- and the many more I hope to make throughout the Valley -- as together we build the Okanagan Cultural Corridor.

Thank you.



Copyright © 2000, Steven Thorne. All rights reserved. Please contact Steven Thorne for permission to reproduce this speech in whole or in part.