News
Great Excursions to Join Alaska Tourism Development Mission
May 21, 2009
source: Wikipedia
Alaska’s rainforest communities of Prince of Wales Island, Wrangell, and Petersburg; and the Alaska Office of Economic Development have invited Great Excursions and seven other US and overseas tour operators to take part in a tourism development mission to the region in early June.
According to Founder and Manager of Great Excursions, Claude-Jean Harel, “this important exercise will provide useful guidance to communities and local tourism operators seeking to grow the kind of tourism offering which will help define the industry of tomorrow.”
A product and market-readiness assessment of tourism offerings will be conducted, and results will be shared in the form of a dialogue with local tourism businesses which are currently positioning their region as “Alaska’s Rainforest Islands.” This evaluation will cover heritage resources like local totems, caves, and wildlife on Prince of Wales. The potential of tidewater glaciers, the Stikine River, the Inside Passage, and historic Wrangell and Petersburg will be assessed.
Odin Brudie, a Tourism Planner with the Alaska Office of Economic Development, notes that: “Great Excursions’ expertise and C-J’s insight into packaging and marketing, along with those of his colleagues, will prove invaluable for participating local operators.”
For Harel, this mission also builds on a relationship with Alaska established in 2005, when the Southwest Alaska Municipal Conference (SWAMC), which serves the Aleutian Islands, Bristol Bay, and Kodiak invited Great Excursions to conduct a tourism product development workshop at its annual meeting in Anchorage.
Great Excursions is Canada’s leading provider of authentic Canadian tourism experiences. The Regina-based destination management company was established in 1998. Great Excursions recently joined the CAA Saskatchewan group of companies.
For more information, contact:
Claude-Jean Harel, MA MAHI
Phone : (306) 791-4335
Email : cj@greatexcursions.travel
Odin Brudie
Phone : (907) 465-5466
Email : odin.brudie@alaska.gov
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