Olympic experience key to cultural centre’s win

The Tourism Industry Association of Canada had a new honor to bestow at the National Awards for Tourism Excellence gala held Nov. 2. It was the National Cultural Tourism Award and it went to the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler, B.C.

The awards—14 in all—recognize the people, places, organizations and events that offer a superior tourism experience to travelers in Canada.

The centre’s involvement with the Winter Olympics 2010 is what put the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre over the finish line to receive a nomination for this first-time award, said Gwen Baudisch, the centre’s marketing manager.

The centre was nominated by the Resort Municipality of Whistler, which is the local government of Whistler. During the Olympics the cultural centre offered continuous and varied activities over a two-week period, and instead of charging admission, they requested donations for admission thereby removing any financial barriers people might have had during their visit to the region.

The centre worked with Cultural Capitals of Canada to bring in artists’ exhibits and performances of dance, song, storytelling and even a hands-on interactive weaving activity, said Baudisch.

Vancouver’s 2010 Cultural Olympiad brought three performers to the centre, and the circus group Artcirq came in to perform.

Artcirq was developed in 1998 to help Inuit youth become more engaged and provide them an outlet for expression. They perform regularly around the world mixing traditional circus acts like juggling and acrobatics with the Inuit cultural activities of throat singing and drum-dancing.

As well as having performers come to the centre, the centre took an active part in the Olympics as well.
The Olympic torch relay was a Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre event as well, with Dillon Sampson, a youth from the Lil’wat Nation, passing the torch to Chase Lewis, another youth from the Squamish Nation, on Feb. 5 at Whistler.

The centre was expecting about 300 people to attend, but was surprised when 700 people showed up to witness the torch relay. There was no shortage of enthusiasm for this event.

The centre also worked to complete a very important project in time for the Olympics, called ‘Sea to Sky Cultural Journey.’

The journey takes visitors along Highway 99 from Vancouver, north through Whistler, to explore First Nations culture.

The Ministry of Transportation changed signs along the route to include the names of rivers, roads, and towns in the language of the Squamish and Lil’wat Nations. There are maps, audio guides, and kiosks at specific points along the journey to help people grasp the cultural and historical significance of this region and its peoples.
As well as having the area’s history available on panels along the route, the non-safety provincial route markers and road signs from Horseshoe Bay past Whistler to Mount Currie were designed with First Nations’ themes. This included sign shelters that held 84 panels showing the art and culture of the local First Nations people.

Raven’s Eye asked Baudisch what she thought the National Cultural Tourism Award would do for the cultural centre going forward. She said Heritage Canada gave the centre a grant of $80,000, which will go towards starting phase two of ‘Sea to Sky Cultural Journey.’

More signs and kiosks will be added to the journey route. A visitor’s guide is presently in development and the centre hopes to expand the Sea to Sky corridor route as well.

Baudisch also felt that the award helped to legitimize the centre and raise its profile, which would encourage more visitors. Some of the funds will go towards the artists who work on site, and a paddle exhibit.

The National Cultural Tourism Award was developed during a dialogue between the Federal/Provincial/Territorial Culture/Heritage and Tourism Initiative and the tourism association. The initiative was developed by Canadian Heritage in order to increase the understanding, as well as strengthen the bonds, between the culture and heritage sectors and those in the field of tourism.

Even though this was the first year for this award, there were 45 nominations submitted. David Lauer, manager of communications with the tourism association, said it was the highest number of nominations submitted in any category.

The nominees are judged on a set of criteria specific to their areas and graded accordingly. The highest final score that can be achieved is 100.

The awards are judged by a panel of three experts in the category. The nomination process starts in May and runs for two months. Once the nominations are closed, the judging takes place during August and September with the award presentation held in November.