Vaugeois, Nicole

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    Addressing the homogeneity dilemma by customizing tourism development supports for rural regions using the typology of tourism dependence
    (TTRA Canada, 2018-09-26) Vaugeois, Nicole
    Despite the general tendency to generalize about rural areas, they are not homogenous. Programs to support development in rural areas often tend to assume homogeneity and as such, they are often created in a “one-size fits all” approach for application by communities. This paper advocates for more customized program supports that take into account the specific needs of destinations at all stages of development. The paper presents a typology of tourism dependence that classifies rural communities into three types differentiated on their level of engagement in tourism including tourism desperate, tourism active and tourism saturated communities. The typology was based on a decade of field research within British Columbia and builds on Smith and Krannich’s (1998) hypothesis of tourism dependence and Hunt and Stronza’s (2014) addition of early stages to Butler’s (1989) Tourism Area Lifecycle model. This typology includes a description of each type and proposes a set of supports to enable sustainable tourism development.
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    Designing systems for community based visitor data: A collaborative case study on Vancouver Island
    (TTRA, 2015) Vaugeois, Nicole; Parker, Pete; Evernden, Nichola; Sliskovic, Laurel
    Vancouver Island, British Columbia relies heavily on tourism as a core contributor to the economy. The region provides visitors with adventure, culinary and agri-tourism experiences in both terrestrial and marine settings. Despite the fact that the last provincial visitor research was undertaken in British Columbia in 1995, the Vancouver Island region has been proactive in researching and profiling its visitors. In 2003 a region wide visitor research model provided tourism stakeholders with comprehensive data on visitors in all four seasons, and again in 2008, a region wide study provided updated information on visitors. While useful, these efforts have relied on significant funding from external sources and are difficult to maintain on an ongoing basis. Many of the communities in the region are small and at early stages of tourism development. Budgets to invest in tourism marketing are often limited and unstable, and capacity to undertake market research among any staff members is weak. These communities have limited access to models that enable them to understand their own visitors and therefore they rely on outdated information from prior regional visitor studies or macro level data sources from urban areas or provincial and national sources. This data is unlikely to represent the profile of visitors and if used to guide decisions, could result in risky and ineffective investments for the communities. In an effort to address these systemic issues and enhance the availability of marketing intelligence, researchers piloted a visitor experience study with the City of Nanaimo and the community of Tofino in 2013. After a successful pilot, the model was refined and expanded in 2014 to include the community of Ucluelet and the Cowichan Valley.
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    Uncovering and mapping place attachment in small cities
    (TTRA Canada, 2016-09-26) Vaugeois, Nicole; Williams, Alanna; Karsten, Sharon; Shaw, Pamela
    Understanding the connections that visitors and residents have to places is critically important for tourism development. Aided with this knowledge, authentic experiences can be developed, stories can be uncovered and told, and resident perspectives can be identified. This paper describes a case study to uncover and map place attachment in three small cities in Western Canada. The project was conducted in the cities of Courtenay, Port Alberni and Nanaimo, BC. A one day “walk about” in each community was used to record 1.5 minute videos (n=85) of residents speaking about a place in their downtown core where they felt connected to. These videos were then uploaded to Arc GIS resulting in the first layer of a dynamic map for each community. Findings were analyzed using content analysis and data visualization techniques. The findings suggest cultural mapping practices can aid in the design and promotion of tourism experiences.
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    The influence of tourism and amenities on place attachment and entrepreneurship in remote communities: A case study of Tofino, BC
    (TTRA Canada, 2018-09-26) Kumar, Sreya; Vaugeois, Nicole
    This study was undertaken to provide a better understanding of new migrant entrepreneurs and what attracts them to remote communities. The case study location that was chosen for the study was Tofino, BC which has emerged as a prominent rural tourism destination and which relies heavily on a diverse mix of entrepreneurs to support the visitor economy and the year round residents in the region.
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    Exposure-investment-return continuum in agritourism
    (TTRA Canada, 2019-09-20) Vaugeois, Nicole
    This paper introduces an exposure-investment-return continuum that will allow for future testing by researchers to determine the trade-offs in agri-tourism development. The aim is to support farmers to make more informed diversification decisions.