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Our 2007 August vacation
in Newfoundland included a three-day stay in a little outport fishing
village called Elliston. A small rugged island within a stone,s throw of a steep cliff edge becomes home for puffin nesting season. You can see this small rugged island in the photo below. We only had a small camera so I added a small photo of a wood puffin as an illustration. That little blue dot at the edge of the cliff is my wife taking pictures of puffins with our small digital camera. Unfortunately, we did not bring our telephoto camera with us. It was just too heavy but we recently replaced it with a light weight digital telephoto camera. We have designed most
of the photos that follow below into official- looking postcards as
examples of promotional material that could be used by the local Tourist
Commission if they so desired. This was part of my promise to the
mayor and will be discussed below under "Our Visitors Comments". |
Sample Post Card
by Keith O'Connor Oct 2007
We have included below another view of the picturesque coastline of Bird Island Cove. Our small pocket-sized digital camera works well for general landscapes thus providing some interesting memories. |
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Sample
Post Card by Keith O'Connor Oct 2007
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| In the distance on the other side of this scenic formation, the village has developed a public beach with modern facilities as part of their visitor infrastructure. But the marketing plan for the greater region as a whole appears fragmented, lacking an integrated structure that would include all villages and sites in the area. |
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For
example,
cultures
have,
for
centuries,
struggled
to
explain
to
children
where
babies
came
from.
The
people
of
Bird
Island
Cove
had
no
mythical
stork
to
call
upon
so
they
used
their
root
cellar
as
a
means
of
explaining
to
children
the
source
of
babies.
Children
with
active
imaginations
would
listen
quietly
at
the
root
cellar
door
and
claim
to
hear
baby
noises
from
deep
within. |
Sample
Post
Card
by
Keith
O'Connor
Oct
2007
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| Eventually,
it
was
time
to
eat
so
we
made
our
way
to
the
old
Village
Hall
turned
restaurant.
The
food
was
excellent,
plentiful
and
very
reasonably
priced.
Many
of
the
local
villagers
eat
in
the
old
Hall
turned
restaurant.
We
enjoyed
overhearing
stories
of
the
good
times
they
had
in
that
building. The proprietors - a very energetic husband and wife team - are planning a dinner theatre. It was their first year of restaurant operation. They also run the bed and breakfast at which we stayed. The village desperately needs energetic people willing to face the difficulties of developing a tourist infrastructure. |
Sample
Post
Card
by
Keith
O'Connor
Oct
2007
The following graphic shows the location of our Bed and Breakfast within the village context. The villagers that we encountered during our morning and evening walks were very friendly. Most dwellings except a few abandoned buildings were simple but clean and well- maintained. We used the village as a home-base from which we could explore the surrounding coastal attractions.
In the late 90s, the villagers found themselves unable to pay for the hydro to power their street lights and, when darkness descended, the village found itself fragmented into little spots of light glowing in the darkness then descended into deeper darkness as each little light was turned off for the night . The
village
is
slowly
recovering
from
what
they
refer
to
as
the
"dark
times".
During one of my morning walks, I met and talked with the mayor. He mentioned that he and his council were requesting the village name be changed back to "Bird Island Cove" which is more descriptive of their primary tourist resource. I mentioned to the mayor that I would send my trip comments and photos that, in my opinion, would be interesting. And as it is a small village trying to develop an economy, he could use any material that I sent as he wished at no charge. Everyone
we
have
spoken
with
finds
the
name
Bird
Island
Cove
attractive
and
brings
to
mind
picturesque
images
as
opposed
to
its
current
name
'Elliston'
which
does
nothing
for
the
adventurous
imagination.
Yes
based
on
name
alone
those
we
have
spoken
with
would
consider
putting
Bird
Island
Cove
on
their
places
to
go
list.
Root cellars could be a secondary tourist draw that becomes active after tourists arrive. As a secondary draw, it requires onsite education to engage the tourist and may keep some tourists in the village longer than they would have if they had just come to see Puffins. The planned tourist centre currently under construction could be used to provide the onsite education. It may be an advantage to conduct simple tourist surveys to improve target marketing. When I say "simple" I mean simple and quick to complete . The ideal approach would be to have a service clerk covertly and randomly incorporate simple survey questions into normal conversation during a transaction. I personally dislike answering survey interrogatives . I even dislike being asked "is the food ok" especially when my mouth is full or I am in the middle of a sentence. You can ask every fifth or tenth customer over a period of time and the survey would be valid. Currently the village appears to market "Root Cellars" as a primary tourist attraction. Our best advice to the village is to market the concept of "Bird Island" in a variety of ways eg: "Bird Island Cove Puffins" , "Puffins of Bird Island Cove" , "Where the Puffins Nest", and use root cellars. as a secondary tourist attraction. There are more bird watchers than Root Cellar watchers. It is |
