Product Development - South Carolina Heritage Corridor

March 8th - March 12th

The Product Development Mission will focus on community and product development from a tourism perspective. The mission will explore the challenges for industry to offer products and services that increase the overall profitability of the community and further develop the attractiveness and competitiveness of the destination. The Product Development Mission will provide information on initiatives that showcase the product development process, proactive development approaches and opportunities, new forms of tourism, product development obstacles, broadening market base, repositioning, and strategic partnerships. 

Learning Objectives:

• How to proactively determine growth potential & opportunities by recognizing that your destination has greater potential
• Creating product, places and spaces that encourages tourists to visit and locals love
• How the heritage corridor has developed a successful product development mission
• How can the destinations from our region take a realistic look at what worked at what did not in other destinations, enabling them to learn what strategies, ideas, etc they can realistically and successfully implement
• What are the major obstacles in development implementations and how they can be avoided
• See how a product development mission can be carried through start to finish
• What methods and new ideas are there for developing a high quality tourist destination based on experiential products, particularly with culture and heritage
•  How can both major cities and rural Atlantic Canadian locations switch focus and authentic product that has appeal to the "new tourist"
• Creative ideas for product development: how one good idea can spark a complete community revitalization
• Gain knowledge in the techniques used by various destinations in planning and developing new forms of tourism
• Identifying the need to establish a new development initiative within your destination as a catalyst for economic amelioration
• The role of "beautification" in the product development process
• How can proper programming and planning increase visitation and development in downtown
• How to develop product ideas linked to local regional themes
• How interactive activities enhance a destinations tourism draw
• How does the role of government (state, municipality, etc.) contribute to the success of the community / product
• How to capture larger markets through events and tours around a heritage site
• How to involve the community in development initiatives? What are the successes or challenges
•  Thinking outside the box on development initiatives
• How to create attractions around heritage to enhance the tourism experience

The Product Development Mission focused on community and product development from a tourism perspective. The mission explored the challenges for industry to offer products and services that increase the overall profitability of the community and further develop the attractiveness and competitiveness of the destination. The Product Development Mission provided information on initiatives that showcased the product development process, proactive development approaches and opportunities, new forms of tourism, product development obstacles, broadening market base, repositioning, and strategic partnerships.