Executive Summary
The proposed environmental communication plan addresses current and future environmental initiatives in Whistler, BC. It is suggested that a range of communication tools can effectively inform Whistler destination stakeholders about current and upcoming efforts to promote growth and innovation for the environment. The visitors are local and non-local, and the tools address the needs of all as well as convey a positive image of Whistler to prospective visitors. The communication plan comprises the following tools and their implementation and dissemination: website for green visitors, video on past and future vision for sustainability, Facebook profile and group for participation by visitors, and mobile application that allows one to measure the climate footprint while vacationing at Whistler.
The website allows the visitors to become familiar with the place and its environmental efforts, and to persuade the visitor that this area cares about the environment. It is the place where first-time visitors can take a virtual tour of Whistler. The video makes information available in a fun and entertaining format, provide interviews with visitors and showcase what Whistler does for nature and climate. The Facebook pages are spaces for interaction and participation in contests, building a community around environmental efforts. The mobile application allows visitors to learn about values that matter and make them part of their vacation and investment in this destination.
Introduction: Whistler
Whistler is a small town near Vancouver, where most activities are associated with popular skiing resort. Because of its close distance to the city and exceptional location in the mountains, Whistler is popular with local visitors. Yet it is also an international resort and North America’s top destination. There are close to two million visitors to Whistler yearly. Whistler has experienced fast growth, hosted the winter Olympic games, and, in more recent years, it became known for innovation in environmental initiatives and community development (Gill & Williams, 2011).
In the recent past, Whistler changed from being solely investor-driven destination to leading growth in a democratic way, with participation of the community. It is now focused on stakeholder connections and building trust, while incorporating best knowledge (Gill & Williams, 2011, p. 631). The purpose of the environmental communication plan is to showcase to the visitors (key stakeholders) what Whistler does for environmental sustainability. The smaller goals of the plan are expand the connections with current stakeholders and raise visibility of successful environmental efforts among the area’s prospective visitors. It incorporates best knowledge about environmental initiatives and makes it part of the area’s information and communication practices. It is also based on past and current environmental efforts in Whistler. The plan consists in outlining the proposed communication tools as well as providing a timeframe for the implementation and distribution of communication materials.
The stakeholders for the plan include local visitors and destination visitors to Whistler, who are current skiers/ people on vacation and potential investors in the resorts as well as the area’s environmental projects. The local visitors are described as frequenting the area, skiing here during the season, having a commitment to the area, commuting by car, and taking part in recreational activities (Perdue, 2003, p. 325). The destination visitors are a more diverse population, who can be based in other places in the world, who visit the area during a deserved vacation and are well-paid, although with less commitment to vacationing here (Perdue, 2003, p. 325).
Overview of environmental initiatives at Whistler
Whistler made sustainable operations into its priority, which is proven by adopting new stakeholder and community relations model with frequent interactions with the community, some of which are showcased online on the Whistler Blackcomb webpage. The environmental initiatives included the release of the 50th anniversary movie on sustainability, described as “revealing a whole new way to play in our mountains; year-round, regardless of the weather” (“Whistler Blackcomb Renaissance,” 2016) Whistler also proved that it is making use of the environmental conditions. It launched events (which are announced online) to educate visitors about its places and conveniences there. The environmental plan of Blackcomb resort states that the economy of the region is growing, while there are investments in the environment.
The area also implemented innovative destination governance, ensuring the lifecycle of the destination with diversifying the opportunities within the Whistler community. Firstly, Whistler, together with private firms, invested in the development of new communities (Gill & Williams, 2011, p. 635). Secondly, it pioneered the monitoring programs that evaluate environmental, economic and social change in the resort (Gill & Williams, 2011, p. 636). Thirdly, it collects feedback from the community, making sure that the environmental efforts create a positive response with other stakeholders. These initiatives ensure that Whistler adopts a long-term successful strategy. The well-accepted changes are transformed into awareness campaigns, including via communication initiatives. Past initiatives were titled ‘Whistler: It’s Our Nature’ and ‘Whistler: It’s Our Future’ (Gill & Williams, 2011, p. 639). They promoted the sustainable values and invited the community to be part of the change process, meanwhile sharing the aspirations for the area by the stakeholders.
Discussion of environmental communication initiatives
Website on becoming a greener skier
The website is a digital platform for communicating about current environmental initiatives in Whistler. This media is chosen in view of its capacity for responsiveness i.e. informing the visitors to the area that Whistler has adopted some strategies that respond to the actual environmental issues (Godfrey, 2005, p. 795). Besides, the website on sustainable skiing is the place for the first encounter with the ‘destination skier’ stakeholder. It is envisaged to present a favorable image on environmental activities and persuade the visitor that this place is competitive in terms of its sustainability vision. This communication media suits the stakeholders because it reaches both the local and destination visitor, who can take a virtual tour of the area, review the facilities and the environment via webcam updates, learn about weather patters, and interact with this media via Web.2 tools (Ali and Frew, 2013, p. 112).
The website on becoming a greener skier in Whistler is to be linked to the Whistler’s ski resort website and information on commercial opportunities, following the example of Chamonix area website, which is linked to the Chamonix area’s entertainment and commercial deals (“Environmentally Friendly Skiing in Chamonix,” 2016). The homepage will list tips on using public transportation and car-pooling, reducing waste, and off-setting the climate footprint. Several sub-pages will be dedicated to the environmental sustainability projects that are successfully implemented in Whistler such as comprehensive sustainability planning initiative Whistler: It’s our future! (Gill & Williams, 2011, p. 639) and Whistler Blackcomb Renaissance.
The website will be implemented in two stages: testing stage and launch stage. The testing stage is needed to receive feedback from stakeholders and incorporate their values as well as any materials that could make Whistler an environmentally competitive destination, possibly persuading stakeholders to invest in the environmental projects. The launch stage will consist in creating the website, raising its visibility on Internet, and distributing the website with help of search engines and marketing communications.
Video
The purpose of making a video about Whistler is to share the environmental information with the community and “enable better decision-making” (Ali and Frew, 2013, p.24). Also, the video is an excellent way to both engage the emotions of visitors and communicate the path-dependence of developments at Whistler (Gill & Williams, 2011). So, this material will include some overview of the environment and society, how Whistler governs its resources, people and spaces, and portray the environmental efforts. Current video version is titled ‘50th Anniversary’ (Whistler Blackcomb Renaissance, 2016). New video will be more about the area’s vision for the future. Its scenes may include some cuts from history of the place, but be more focused on depicting the innovative actions under way i.e. investments in protecting the nature while making it part of the resort’s growth.
Future video versions can include interviews with visitors, modeling of the area’s transformation into a more green space, and a vision of future as including more education for the community about the environment and commercial offers, that are appealing and would guarantee that visitors should return.
Implementation comprises shooting the video over the time period of up to one year (that encompasses scenes from all the seasons as well as multiple interviews during the skiing season), followed by screening the video in Whistler and then placing the video on the area’s green website.
Facebook page and Facebook group: posts and contests
Facebook profiles for Whistler (area page and group) will be attractive and interactive platforms, where visitors can connect, exchange information, participate in events, and share updates with their friends. The Facebook page titled ‘Whistler Blackcomb’ is to be complemented with the Facebook group for the Whistler area, which purpose is to raise interactions and positive reviews on the environmental efforts, including by stakeholders, but also to create and share content (Ali and Frew, 2013, p. 36) on environmental efforts in Whistler. The posts will be sometimes of educational purpose and other times be geared toward sharing the fun and useful information. The updates would promote skiing, while also raising awareness that skiing takes place on nature trails, which are likely to be polluted and disturbed by uncaring attitudes (Spector, 2012).
The Facebook group will be particularly aimed at engaging the external (non-local) visitors. The group interface allows to add comments on the group page and to initiate posts by any group member. This means that local and external stakeholders can inter-connect and discuss environmental issues virtually, equating this group status with the Holiday Club setting of a successful Swedish ski resort, where external actors could gain a local presence (Nordin & Svensson, 2007, p. 64).
The issues that are particularly controversial, like damage to trails because of garbage and smoking, can be resolved with help of online contests. One of the contests can ask local and non-local visitors to post photos of environmentally-friendly actions, like recycling, throwing trash like cigarette buts into the containers instead of polluting nature, and using car-pool to commute to the destination. Such activities are suitable for stakeholders, because most visitors are already on Facebook and can easily connect to the page and group in order to be informed and to participate. Implementation will be two-part: preparing the digital materials and planning the contests, followed by the launch of the Facebook campaign, when participants will be invited to participate and share content.
Mobile application for measuring climate change footprint
This communication tool is a mobile app that adds together the initiatives and allows the visitors to monitor their environmental impact while skiing in Whistler. The application is geared toward self-reporting. Customers can modify their behaviors, based on the suggested scale of environmental impact. The inputs into the digital app will reflect best practices, be an aggregate for the stay at Whistler, and include energy use, energy sources used, waste, transportation, and offsetting emissions (Bruski, 2009). This tool is good for both local and non-local visitors, because the application can be accessed from a mobile phone or tablet anywhere in the world. And, it allows to educate new visitors and let them be informed and become accountable in an easy and practical way.
Implementation and distribution: the mobile app will be developed after compiling the best practices at Whistler and Greener Choices platform, a website assessing choices and community empowerment tool (“Eco Holiday Choices,” 2016). Afterwards, the app will be made available on iTunes for free (Ali and Frew, 2013, p.107).
Timeline for implementation and distribution of communication pieces
Conclusion and recommendations
After the launch of its environmental innovation and community development strategy, Whistler faced the need to communicate its environmental efforts to its stakeholders. This paper focused on the visitors to the area i.e. local visitors and destination visitors, who are mainly skiers and who differ in their participation in the area. Local skiers are more interested in the value of recreational activities, while destination skiers are more concerned with innovation. The communication activities were identified, which could engage the stakeholders in the environmental activities, promote them, and allow the visitors to assume environmental values in order to join the investments in the environment. The plan communicates environmental efforts to stakeholders, both local visitors and destination visitors to Whistler. It outlines the communication tools, activities as well as the timeframe for their implementation and distribution. Whistler’s past communication materials confirm that the area is transparent about its efforts and would like the community to become part of the renaissance of the area. Whistler launched an innovative destination governance and raised awareness about the environmental efforts with some initiatives, which underlined the value of nature and future sustainability.
The report recommends to implement a range of communication and information materials. A green website should be launched, complementing the Whistler Renaissance site, with the purpose of increasing responsiveness and information access. The website can list tips for visitors on becoming environmentally-friendly. The second tool is the video, which communicated not only the past of the area, but also its vision for future. The third tool is Facebook profile and group, making space for interactions with and between stakeholders. The Facebook pages would host contests on actions by visitors and engage non-local visitors. Also, a mobile application should be made available on iTunes, to let visitors self-assess and improve own actions toward the environment in Whistler. The implementation and dissemination of these communication pieces should follow the proposed timeframe and be done within the next year, but the tools are envisaged to increase both short-term and long-term impact on environment and climate.
References
Ali, A., and Frew, A. (2013). Information communication technologies and sustainable tourism. Routledge.
Bruski, E., Taylor, I., Hoffman, L., Martin, L., & Michael, G. (2009). Boyne Mountain Environmental Sustainability Plan. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/62106
Eco Holiday Choices (2016). Green Choices. Retrieved from http://www.greenchoices.org/eco-holidays/eco-holiday-choices.
Environmentally Friendly Skiing in Chamonix (2016). Chamonex. Retrieved from http://www.chamonet.com/environmental.
Gill, A. M., & Williams, P. W. (2011). Rethinking resort growth: Understanding evolving governance strategies in Whistler, British Columbia. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 19(4-5), 629-648.
Godfrey, P. C. (2005). The relationship between corporate philanthropy and shareholder wealth: A risk management perspective. Academy of management review, 30(4), 777-798.
Nordin, S., &Svensson, B. (2007). Innovative destination governance: The Swedish ski resort of Åre. The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 8(1), 53-66.
Perdue, R. R. (2003). Stakeholder analysis in Colorado ski resort communities. Tourism Analysis, 8(2), 233-236.
Spector, S., Chard, C., Mallen, C., & Hyatt, C. (2012). Socially constructed environmental issues and sport: A content analysis of ski resort environmental communications. Sport Management Review, 15(4), 416-433.
Whistler Blackcomb Renaissance (2016). Whistler Blackcomb. Retrieved from http://renaissance.whistlerblackcomb.com
