The Power of a Great Story

11 April 2011Travel Manitoba Conference

Keynote Address by:Dr. Nancy Arsenault

Everyone has a story to tell!

• People

• Business

• Destinations

• Regions

• Province

• Canada

Every town has a story and special characters that brings out the

magic for travellers

Stories create connections with people and places

Stories can be powerful, compelling, exciting, informative, educational,

personal, and memorable.

What stories are at the heart of your visitor

experience?

Are you using them to create a competitive advantage?

What’s your story?

Introduce yourself and tell your table-mate!

Think of a story that brings back a fond memory.

What just happened?

Why?

Stories, like a great visitor experience are:

• Personal• Meaningful

Your stories belong to you, they:

• Come from the heart• Are delivered with honesty and passion• Make connections

Building Manitoba’s Story: Think About ...

• What stories/episodes will resonate, for which ideal guests.

• Decide the emotional response you want to create.

• Write the script

✦ Where

✦ What ‘stuff’ do you need?

• Decide who is best to tell the story (e.g.: local gems)

• How to engage the visitor in the story

GRAB SOME ICE AND LETS SET SAIL

General Admission, gift shop

(Goods)

Tours, docents

(Visitor services)

Putting the guest INTO

the story(An experience)

GreaterDifferentiation

Higher Yield

Land, artefacts(Commodity)

Undifferentiated

Lower Yield

Value of Economic Progression

Royal BC Museum

Framework: Pine & Gilmore (1999) Tourism Context: Tourism Cafe (2011)

RESULTS: THE 2007 ROYAL BC TITANIC MUSEUM

• 451,120 visitors, 1/3 said this was the reason to visit Victoria

• $30M economic impact• Fabulous exhibit but the passenger manifest and the

‘ticket’ … were the ticket, to a terrific guest experience.• I received my boarding pass and entered …I saw, I

sampled, I tried on, I touched, then … Discovered my fate on April 15th, 1912.

Let’s look around the world

For destinations

For communities

For attractions

Where’s stories are working

Communities have stories!

That engage and celebrate.

That can transform a place & it’s people

Nami Island, South Korea

Destintions have Stories

63 kilometers, started $6.3M in debt

And the CEO insisted on being paid 10 cents a month until he

brought the island out of debt, then he would get half the profits

FEW PLACES TOUCH YOUR SOUL ...

A STORYLAND AND YOU GET AN IDENTITY!

Theme the Experience - at Nami it’s about books!

READING IS EVERYWHERE!

And a Harmonized, Artistic, Sustainable Environment

WITH NON-TRADITIONAL

PARTNERS

HE TURNS OFF THE LIGHTS THE ISLAND AT 10:00 PM SO GUESTS CAN SEE THE STARS

AN ARTIST, A DREAMER, INSPIRATIONAL LEADER

Investing in stories over infrastructure is:

... less expensive

... more engaging

... quicker to market

... attracts interest and new visitors

... builds HR capacity

... flexible/dynamic

Attractions have Stories

Laura Plantation, Louisiana

The stuffThe stories

Meet Norm the Owner

... and in 2004 when they burned down

Social Social

And now,if you like,

the posts can talk!

Et avoir un message français

或中國人

Why Stories Work

• Trigger emotion and intrigue

• Engage people, bring understanding

• Have a theme, plot, characters, action

• They can evolve, have chapters-episodes

• Storytelling is a natural human impulse

• When meaningful, they are memorable

The Keys to Building Tourism Experiences through Storytelling

• Audience: What stories do you want guest to be sharing? What memories?

• Product: Engage your visitor in the story!

• Promotions: Think like a publisher or media writer and communicate like a storyteller.

The Power of a Great Story

Tell stories to sell travel

• Ignite interests• Connect with visitors• Sell tourism• Learn from ... when you listen

Once you have a story ...

Social Social

Idea Source: Todd Lucier

Social (what)

Audience(who)

Media(how)

TheStory

Facebook, Trip Advisor, TwitterYouTube, Flickr, Blogs ...

PrintPhotosVideoAudio

TraditionalInternet

Handheld

Think About the Entire Customer Lifecycle

From moments to memories ™

Make Stories Work for You!

Stories are compelling and can be an excellent foundation for:

• Connecting with travellers

• Reaching new markets

• Crafting tourism experiences

• Conducting research

• Creating meaningful engagement.

Thank you!

nancy@arsenaultprojectsolutions.canancy@tourismcafe.ca

Twitter & Facebook: nancyarsenaultLinkedin: Nancy Arsenault

Tel: 250.391.6077