What is Medicine Hat – Question One
Members of Medicine Hat’s Tourism Industry Group (TIG) are leading a project to identify a tourism brand which will attract more visitors to South East Alberta. Part of the plan is public engagement through the creation of a website designed to facilitate discussion about the finer points of Medicine Hat.
The idea behind the project is that tourism is an industry which has traditionally underperformed but has high growth potential. To get at what our brand is, it’s important to have a public forum and get a sense of what Hatters like about their city as well as opportunities that could be capitalized on.
To facilitate discussion, the website (www.whatismedicinehat.com) will ask one question each week for four weeks. The first question is “When you have visitors from out-of-town, where do you take them to have the definitive Medicine Hat experience (and why there)?”
So if there’s something you always do with visitors, please let us know by posting it on the website. Aside from the weekly questions, we’re leaving the conversation pretty wide open. These discussions will provide some direction for the survey (which will come out in February) and ensure that we’re not doing this work in a vacuum. The discussion policies are pretty straight forward – basically, just practice the Golden Rule.
If you want more information on the project, we have posted a lot on the site including the Project Charter, Request for Proposals, Workplan and contacts.
And finally, as an added incentive, we have a prize draw for comments which will take place every Friday. This week’s prize is 10 golf passes to Paradise Valley Par 3. Not bad, hey?
So go, comment and have your voice heard.
January 17th, 2011 at 12:18 PM
Vaughn says:
Great article and initiative on the new project/site!
January 17th, 2011 at 12:34 PM
Beth Hobson (Theriaka) says:
A place I wouldn’t mind taking visitors for a unique experience would be The Monarch Theatre. The atmosphere is fabulous!
For the relaxing cup of delicious coffee (or a London Fog) there is the Mad Hatter of course. If they were in town on a Friday night I would take them down to the Buckle for some Mahoney Time. They are definitely a band that we should be proud to have around here!
First time visitors nearly always want to go to the Tee-pee, but that is a given.
We do have some wonderful parks within the city which I would say greatly contribute to my personal enjoyment. In the summer it is things like the Stampede and Farmers Market that stand out.
In all honesty I wish there were more places in the Hat that you would want to show off to visitors! If only we supported unique local businesses better than we currently do.
January 17th, 2011 at 5:15 PM
Quentin says:
Nice Beth! You should go post it on the whatismedicinehat.com website.