There's growing tension between the expectations of some in the outdoor rec community and the municipality. This conflict erupted a couple of weeks ago and ground zero was the visitor information centre (VIC) at the Adventure Centre.
The VIC, run by the Chamber of Commerce, provides information to the tourists who show up at their door. The Chamber's role is to represent its member-businesses; it's also funded by the municipality to run the VIC. The information tourists receive when they walk into the Adventure Centre varies: there's some provincial park information, a general map of Squamish, accommodation information, and some brochures from some rafting and guiding businesses, the usual kind of stuff.
What there's not a lot of is outdoor rec stuff. Go into the Adventure Centre and ask for information on mountain biking, windsurfing or rock climbing, and you'll walk away with little.
This isn't a new problem; the VIC has never produced information that would really guide people to any outdoor rec pursuits, but with the opening of the Adventure Centre there's been a heightened sense of expectation. After all, what's the role of an "adventure centre" if not to promote adventure?
Everyone seems to agree that there is a dearth of information, but just what that information should look like and who should produce it is a bone of some contention.
Murray Sovereign for Valhalla Pure attributes it to passivity on the part of the municipality, the Chamber and community as a whole. Yet he sees it being the responsibility of the business community -- specifically those businesses that benefit directly from adventure tourism - to provide the necessary information to the VIC.
Others viewthings somewhat differently. There are many who feel that since embracing the slogan "Outdoor Recreation Capital of Canada" several years ago, the municipality has done little or nothing to build the necessary infrastructure to earn the title. It wasn't that long ago, after all, that a past Economic Development Officer quipped that she hoped never to hear the phrase again.
The argument these people make is that the municipality has ridden on the coattails of a few key volunteer organizations and has sacrificed investment in the trail system in favour of traditional "ball and stick" activities.As a result, our valley trail system, which should be a jewel, is really just a bunch of random paths that lead nowhere. And our mountain bike trail network, which is almost exclusively volunteer-built, has little official protection and is virtually inaccessible to the uninitiated.
If there's value in the "Outdoor Rec" brand, and if "trails are to 樱桃视频as ski runs are to Whistler" as one municipal leader has said, then the district needs to step up its participation, develop a coherent plan, and follow through.
That action needs to begin, quite literally, on the ground with the development of the resource, and then continue through the VIC and on to a larger marketing strategy.
If we don't do it soon, then 樱桃视频should relinquish the "Outdoor Rec" title and find a new slogan.I think "The town that let it all get away" is still available.
