AMR

Accelerated Market Readiness Program

Tourism Atlantic (ACOA)

Program Description

Background

Accelerated Market Readiness (AMR) is a business improvement program that offers individual tourism

operators the ability to increase their standards of excellence, be more responsive to emerging tourism

trends, and ultimately increase revenues. AMR provides tourism operators with the opportunity to engage

with an independent qualified tourism expert on issues specific to their own operation to – provide

solutions to ‘What keeps them awake at night’ and helping to determine if they are truly “market ready.”

The program is offered in an inexpensive and time efficient manner. During a project, operators receive on-

on-one mentoring from an independent qualified tourism consultant, who will identify key areas of focus

and suggested improvements.

Target Audience

AMR is intended for use by individual tourism operators and has been successfully used by many – ranging

from small B&B-type operations to large scale tourism resorts and community colleges. The program is

designed to work with clusters from a defined geographical area with approximately five individual

operators at a time. Additionally, as like-minded operators from the same region participate in the

program, there exists the possibility that partnership or packaging opportunities may be identified.

Partners

Tourism Atlantic, provincial tourism industry associations, regional tourism associations, ACOA regional

offices, Provinces, others.

How the AMR Program Works

Once a cluster of operators has been identified in a region, the sessions

should be scheduled relatively close together (one day per operation). For

each operator, the AMR program consists of six basic steps, which are as

follows:

1. Initial Phone Discussion (at least one week prior to the site visit)

The operator has an informal conversation with the consultant at least

one week prior to the site visit. The purpose is for the operator to reflect

on what areas of their business they would like to improve upon. The

discussion helps the consultant understand the operator’s business and

priorities prior to the on-site visit, thereby making the visit more

productive.

2. Consultant Site Visit

The consultant will meet with the operator for a property site visit – a 2-

3 hour walk through at the place of business, followed by a

comprehensive mentoring and brainstorming session.

3. Mentoring Report

Based on findings from the on-site visit and discussions, the consultant

prepares a report that benchmarks the business. The report identifies

key areas of focus and makes suggested improvements and solutions for

each. There are no boundaries to issues involved in the mentoring

process: product and experiential development and delivery, business

planning, operation, branding, marketing, etc.

4. Mentoring Report and Work Plan Review

The consultant and operator will meet to review the report and work

plan that includes recommended urgent action items based on the

consultant’s review and the objectives of the business. This work plan

will create a visual timeline to help operators as they move forward with

next steps.

5. Consultant Follow-up

The consultant will be available to the operator for up to two follow-up

sessions, either by phone or by email, to help with questions or

concerns, troubleshoot and/or review progress on suggestions

implemented.

6. Follow-up Survey (approximately one month after participation in the

program)

A brief follow-up survey will be sent to the operator for completion. This

survey allows the operator to share feedback and provide comments to

the consultant and Tourism Atlantic on their experience participating in

the AMR program.

* In total, each operator is expected to spend maximum six hours to

complete the AMR program.

Consultants: an RFP will be issued to a pre-determined roster of qualified

consultants, which have been certified by Tourism Atlantic. The consultant

will have a comprehensive knowledge of ACOA’s tourism strategy and

program offerings and have several years of relevant experience in the

tourism consulting profession.

Cost: while the value of AMR exceeds $2,000 per operator, the cost to

operators is approximately $350 (plus applicable taxes) per operator.

Testimonials

“We participated in the AMR program in 2015 and found it to be an awesome experience! Laurel was great, very professional and knowledgeable. We were at a crossroads in our minds at the time, we knew we wanted to make some changes and had our own ideas but it was so helpful to get that additional professional perspective. Laurel definitely helped us out not only with our questions but had so many other ideas as well with everything from staffing to processes to decor. The final report that was provided was amazing, a complete overall look at your business and the personal follow up from Laurel was also great with suggestions and tools to help achieve success. We would definitely recommend this to any other businesses, whether your needs are big or small, it is definitely a worthwhile experience!”

- Christine McQuaid, Owner of Blue Mussel Café

“Harvey has a wealth of knowledge from his experience in the tourism industry. He had a realistic

approach to the unique problems faced by the New Brunswick Museum in this whole endeavor. The

verbal communication and the document delivered by the consultant was very realistic to the short

and long term goals of the NBM, recognizing that the museum is undertaking a major task of

commencing work on its new facilities. He made sure that the recommendations provided can be

achieved with injection of human, technical, and financial resources and further support from the NB-

AMR team, and the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture.”

- New Brunswick Museum

Appendix 1

Getting to Know the Operator - Discussion Guide (to be used as a guide during initial phone discussion)

CONTACT INFORMATION:

First name: Last Name:

Business Name:

Address:

Municipality: Province: Postal Code:

Telephone:

Email:

Website:

Social Media Sites:

ABOUT YOUR OPERATION:

1. How long has the business been operating? (Place X beside appropriate box)

☐ Less than a year ☐ 1-3 years ☐ 4 – 7 years ☐ ≥ 8 years

2. If you are the business owner, how long have you owned the business? (Place X beside appropriate box)

☐ Less than a year ☐ 1-3 years ☐ 4 – 7 years ☐ ≥ 8 years

3. Please provide a general description

Core Business:

Additional Business Activities:

4. What was your total revenue received from all sources for your most recent complete financial year? $___________________

5. Please enter the percentage of your business revenues generated by the following activities:

Accommodations ______ % Admissions ______ %

Food and beverage ______ % Tour fees ______ %

Retail sales ______ % Other ______ % Type ____________

6. What markets do you serve?

a. ______________________________

b. ______________________________

c. ______________________________

7. How many staff do you employ?

Seasonal full-time __________ Seasonal part-time __________

Permanent full-time __________ Permanent part-time __________

PRIORITY AREAS:

Below, please rank the top business priorities that you would like to focus on in your mentoring

session (with 1 being the most important priority).

_____ Increase sales

_____ Increase profitability

_____ Increase productivity (business procedures, etc.)

_____ Improve staff management

_____ Improve staff recruitment and retention

_____ Make existing products/services/experiences more competitive

_____ Develop new products/services/experiences

_____ Improve financial management

_____ Improve product/service costing

_____ Strategic planning

_____ Marketing planning

_____ Improve management process

_____ Improve performance management

_____ Improve quality systems and controls

_____ Other #1 (specify) ___________________________________________________________

_____ Other #2 (specify) ___________________________________________________________

Please provide some additional information about your top three priorities (Why are they priorities?

What, if any, specific mentoring help you would like with each one? What, if any, goals or objectives do

you hope to achieve by addressing these priorities?)

PRIORITY 1:

Specific help:

Objectives to be achieved:

PRIORITY 2:

Specific help:

Objectives to be achieved:

PRIORITY 3:

Specific help:

Objectives to be achieved:

Appendix 2

Mentoring Report

Operation:

Location:

Contact:

Consultant:

Date:

AREAS OF FOCUS:

1. Operator Identified Issues

2. Overall State of the Business

Date of business plan:

Operating dates:

Key management (person/title):

Staff levels (# FT/seasonal):

Key markets:

3. The 12 Essentials of Successful Tourism Products Provided courtesy of iImagine

Lacking Meeting Exceeding

Theme/Brand/USP:

Access:

New Media Strength:

Essence of the Destination:

Powerful Sense of Place:

Authenticity:

Emotional Trigger:

Educational/Entertaining/ Enriching:

Hands-on interactive:

Value-Added Proposition:

The Mechanics:

Sense of Excitement:

4. Overall Physical Site Impressions

Overall curb appeal:

Interior:

Comfort and amenities:

5. Customer Service

Receptive capability:

Staff uniforms/nametags:

Customers service training:

Customer service evaluation:

Staff rewards:

6. Packaging and Sales

Packaging:

Partnerships

Sales activity:

Volume:

Revenues:

Profitability:

Other:

7. Marketing Materials

Directional signage:

To site:

On-site:

Brochures:

Advertising:

8. Online Presence and Social Media

Web content:

Website transactional capability (i.e. online sales etc.):

Use of social media and other platforms:

Current social media engagement and targets:

Quality of social content (i.e. photos and videos):

Other:

9. Other Emerging Issues

10. Market Readiness Work Plan

The following table is intended to act as a visual guide for tracking improvement to your business, and can be used during the follow-up sessions. “Urgent Actions” may be tangible or intangible, for example: “make the business wheelchair friendly” or “improve customer satisfaction”.

Urgent Actions to be completed by

the consultant

Budget to be completed by

the operator

Responsibility to be completed by

the operator

Timeline to be completed by

the consultant

Measure to be completed by

the operator

Status to be completed by the

operator

Update #1: Update #2:

Update #1: Update #2:

Update #1: Update #2:

Update #1: Update #2:

Update #1: Update #2:

11. Tourism Atlantic Operator Tools and Solutions Checklist

Would the operator benefit from considering any of these tools or solutions? Check all that apply.

Tools:

☐ A Business Diagnostic Tool

☐ Site Assessment Tool

Solutions:

☐ Tourism Best Practices Mission

☐ Gros Morne Institute for Sustainable Tourism (GMIST)

Provincial Programs:

Potential Resources for Assistance: Contact Person Contact Information

Community Business Development Corporation (CBDC)

Province

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

Business Development Bank of Canada

Appendix 3

Participant Satisfaction Survey

Thank you for participating in the Accelerated Market Readiness training program and for taking the time to complete this questionnaire. The information provided will help us continue to provide quality programming tailored to the needs of our tourism industry. Please circle the number that indicates your level of agreement with the following statements.

The program Completely disagree Completely agree

1. The tourism consultant had clearly read the pre-survey and researched my website prior to our meeting.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

2. The mentoring session discussion and walk-about was relevant and useful.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

3. The follow up report contained useful suggestions / feedback to improve my organization

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

4. The amount of time I was asked to invest was reasonable.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

5. The cost of the program was reasonable. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

6. The program met my expectations. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

7. I would recommend this program to others. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8. What did you like best about your experience in the Accelerated Market Readiness program? 9. What did you least like about your experience in the Accelerated Market Readiness program? 10. If this program needs improvement, what are your suggestions?