Indigenous Services Canada Alberta Region

Destination Development

Indigenous Services Canada Alberta Region – Growth in Indigenous Tourism in Alberta Strategic Partnership Initiative (SPI

CES has been working with Indigenous Services Canada’s Special Project Initiative (SPI) to deliver pilot projects with 2 exemplary Indigenous tourism organizations to achieve new market ready products in Alberta’s Indigenous tourism sector. The first phase of the project included a visioning process with Enoch Cree Nation and Kikino Silver Birch Resort to establish clear goals for product development and plans for implementation. This included meeting with the community leadership, the business owners, and other key stakeholders to conduct strategic planning. This process was guided by the vision and goals of Enoch and Kikino whereby CES helped to facilitate the sharing of ideas and plans for bringing their vision to fruition resulting in a Go-Forward Strategy outlining key objectives for moving forward. 

Phase 2 involved the development of a detailed Product Development Plan to prioritize and outline phases for implementation of the goals. This Plan examines the needed professional and technical services, marketing services, partnerships, capital investments, business support services which will be required in order to implement each of the goals. The entire Strategic Partnership Initiative relies heavily on ongoing collaboration, planning, mentoring and support for both Enoch and Kikino. CES has established a wonderful relationship with both of our clients, ensuring that this project is built upon mutual trust and respect.

Now in Phase 3 of the project, we are seeing our clients’ hard work and dedication take shape as architectural planning begins and breaking ground is on the horizon. Operational Plans are in the works and tourism training, cultural product development and branding will soon become a wonderful reality for our clients. As the project progresses, CES’ role has become one of extensive project management amongst all parties involved including funders, architects, engineers and others involved in the project.

Both projects are positioned to become world-class authentic Indigenous experiences based on respectfully sharing Cree and Métis culture with visitors. The lifecycle of the SPI project is 3 years.