C-J Harel to Deliver Tourism Sessions at Travel Alberta Industry Conference

September 17, 2009

Manager and Founder of Great Excursions Claude-Jean Harel will visit his Albertan colleagues on October 25-27 to deliver sessions at the Travel Alberta Industry Conference in Banff.

"It will be a great opportunity to share with members of the industry in Alberta some of the latest trends and developments on aspects like authenticity in local travel and food production, rural and agritourism, as well as the importance of preserving local community heritage," noted Harel.

The two sessions will be:

Harnessing the Competitive Advantage of Authenticity in Product Experiences

What is authentic about a town where every street corner features the statue of a dinosaur? Lots, if the initiative is driven by a collective effort to create an attractive place that tourists want to visit. A dinosaur theme might confer a competitive advantage to the Drumheller shopping experience, just as an Amazing Race or a CSI team-building exercise might for a hotel seeking to take advantage of the MC&IT market. But, what elements make up the authentic character of places and product experiences? How do we move beyond the “off-the-shelf” solutions to harness authenticity and turn it into a competitive advantage that will make our product experiences more engaging for clients? Participants in this session will come out better equipped to make best of the resources at their disposal.

How to Produce Irresistable Agri/Rural Tourism Experiences

If you are an agricultural producer seeking a new path to prosperity; if you are a rural tourism stakeholder hoping to hone in on some of the latest consumer aspirations, this session might just be your ticket to what makes a difference. Whether you are running a farm-based small business, a community campground, or a luxury resort, the experience your guests are paying for is a full-fledged value-added tourism production. By following a simple step-by-step approach, involving your value-chain partners, you can make your experience irresistible! We’ll show you how, and will share some best practices from Canada and abroad in the process.

Bio

Claude-Jean Harel is the Founder and Manager of Great Excursions, a Regina-based inbound tour operator and destination management company which crafts "behind the scenes" tourism experiences using a variety of techniques. He brings to tourism 25 years of broadcast media experience in the fields of culture, heritage and science, generating national and international attention for the distinctive qualities of the North American Plains region.

Claude-Jean not only presents tourism products as “reportages” intended to be lived by guests, he is also a regular contributor to CBC Radio and Television programs. He has delivered tourism workshops for private and public sector tourism organizations across Canada, as well as in Colorado, North Dakota, Nebraska and Alaska.

Claude-Jean's work has won numerous awards including: the Canadian Ethnic Journalists' and Writers' Club award. He is a former Commonwealth Relations Trust bursar. His work was nominated for a UNESCO Award; and in 2004, he was admitted to the degree of Master of Arts in Archaeology and Heritage with Distinction at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom. Claude-Jean's company recently joined the CAA Saskatchewan group of companies, and Great Excursions’ future has never looked brighter since.