Go Clam Gardening: Samantha Hackett on Learning a Destination

Tofino, British Columbia has 2,500 residents and just over 700,000 visitors a year. Samantha Hackett, the new Executive Director of Tourism Tofino and a 20-year resident, explains how a community of people who chose a hard, remote place to live thinks about balancing resident and visitor needs, and why a Nuu-chah-nulth teaching of respect, shared by the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, now sits at the center of the destination's stewardship plan.

In this episode:

• Why most Tofino residents were visitors first, and how that changes the way a town relates to tourism
• "Harder to live here than to leave here": the real cost of staying in a rural, remote community
• The one thing Samantha hopes every visitor learns: whose territory they are standing in
• Trading a tourism master plan for a destination stewardship plan, and the teaching of respect at its heart
• Why Samantha cancelled a manager meeting to take her team clam gardening with Tla-o-qui-aht, and what it started
• How visitors connect with history in a town without a big museum: Naa'Waya'Sum Gardens, canoe tours, and signage in the Nuu-chah-nulth language
• Raising kids in a town two hours from the nearest arena, where nobody locks their doors

Plan a visit at tourismtofino.com.

Business Class is a podcast by Learn Tourism, featuring conversations with destination and tourism leaders from around the industry. Learn more at learntourism.org.

Business Class is brought to you by Learn Tourism, the nonprofit academy - harnessing the power of science, business psychology and adult education to advance the tourism industry and build sustainable economies. Learn how to engage your community, win over stakeholders and get more visitors at learntourism.org. 

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:29

Hi, I'm Samantha Hackett. I'm the executive director of Tourism Tefino. I lived in Tefino. I live in a small town. Tefino is a 2,500 population with just over 700,000 visitors a year. So big visitor population, but very small community. And I've lived here for almost 20 years from Victoria originally. So always lived on Vancouver Island in Canada. And loving small town life, that is definitely where I belong.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

How would you describe the balance between your resident need and the visitor need?

SPEAKER_00 1:06

That is a very complex question. I think our community, especially because of number dynamics we have. So because we are such a small population, especially Canada, funding and resources and everything that our community needs is based off of that 2,500 people. We have a very dynamic community, lots of interesting people coming from all over the world, both residents and visitors are residents. We don't have a lot of people that are born and raised in Tefino. They're not born here, lived their whole life, and working in the industry. It's majority of people that are living here as adults have come here as visitors, have enjoyed an aspect of Tecino that they've seen and have moved here or moved here for the job, the industry. So it creates a very diverse community and those diverse needs. Then we have, of course, a lot of visitors. We are a summer destination. So majority of those visitors are coming July and August. But then we do have, of course, visitors throughout the year. And so just creates a very interesting dynamic that our community is very different in the summer than it is in the winter, different types of visitors, different population size, and then being able to be part of a community that's tourism is our number one main industry, our economy, and so majority of the jobs, just everything that's going on in the community is is because of tourism.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

Do you think the fact that so many of your residents were first visitors and fell in love with the destination that is easier for them to uh embrace uh tourism and its role in the community?

SPEAKER_00 2:59

Yes. I think that it's a dynamic that helps with understanding the visitor perspective and it really creates this love and passion that I don't see every community that people have really chosen to live here in. We're a rural remote community. This is the very, very west coast of Canada. We're some people know us as a surf destination. We're one of the few surf spots in Canada. We like to call like surf capital of Canada. We have first and only Canadian Olympian in surfing is from Tefino, born and raised. And so that rural remote piece that is also a factor that it is hard to live in rural and remote communities. Takes more time, effort, money, resources. You know, you really have to get to know your neighbors and help each other. So we always talk about it being harder to live here than it is to leave here. That families and people that do choose to leave, it's because seeking out something or they want to go live somewhere that has more amenities or maybe a little bit lower cost of living. It's hard to stay in our community and make a life here. So the passion that people have for this community, they're staying for a reason. They have come here for a reason. And it's been interesting when we do start to bring our community together and our surrounding communities. We have main sort of communities, Tefino and Yculet, that are on the West Coast. And then we have five First Nations communities as part of this area as well. And so when you start to get some of these people that love the community so much, both the visitors and some of the residents, talking to some of the, even just the kids that have been born and raised here that didn't get to choose here, some of that passion wears off in that excitement for the area. And then they start to really see the community in a different light, which has been really special.

SPEAKER_01 4:55

What drove you to move there?

SPEAKER_00 4:57

Oh, yeah, it's a funny story, but also I feel like is many people's story for this area, anyways, is you kind of come here for a job or a one summer and you end up staying forever. And so I'm from Victoria, which is about a four or five hour drive away from Tefino. It's the capital of British Columbia, but still a smaller city, not like Vancouver or Toronto size. And I wanted to work in the industry. I wanted to be a hotel general manager one day. That was I decided in high school that was what I was going to do, and had gone to school, had worked at a couple of places in Victoria hotels, and uh I worked for Tourism Victoria, a PR firm. And so the PR firm said it was a co-op. You've done a great job. You know, we'll help you get a job with one of our clients. They had majority hotels, and I wanted to start working for a hotel and start working my way up. And so I started to look at all the different destinations that I could go to for anyone that's familiar with this area. Nemo Bay Resort, Clayquot Wilderness Resort, these lovely resort off the beaten path you have to boat in or fly in to get to those. Those were some of the options. And Bear Mountain, which is just north of Victoria, and the area on the Malhat. And then Long Beach Lodge Resort was one of their clients, which was the resort in Tefino that I said, oh, you know what? I've been to Tefino a couple times, would love to be a little bit further away from home and but still be somewhere maybe that I could stay year-round. And it was December. I applied for a job and I came up for an interview. My mom and I stayed in Port Alberni. It was 20 years old. Stayed in Port Albernie, and we woke up to total whiteout. It was snow on the ground. We had a minivan, and my mom was like, Well, we're not going to Tefino. It's a long, windy road. It's an hour and a half from Port Albernie. No, you'll just have to postpone the interview. And I said, No, absolutely not. I'm showing up for that interview. I will not be late. We have to get it there. And so she drove the minivan through, we call it the pass, narrow, like I said, windy roads and got me there for the interview and obviously was successful. I started in January, which also is just a strange time to start a job in Tefino. It's the lowest season. It's 50% occupancy businesses. Some of them are closed. Very quiet, sleepy town at that time. But I loved it. And for a lot of people that love the community, it's storm season, it's moody, exciting, because if it's not stormy, it's actually beautiful and sunny. It's kind of either extreme. We don't get those dreary, drizzly days. And so yeah, I fell in love with the community. I also met my now husband 20 years later that first week that I moved to Tefino. And so it sort of just was this lovely, magical love story with the community and with my husband, and I'm still here.

SPEAKER_01 7:50

That's pretty awesome. What could you? What's one feeling you wish every visitor had while they were visiting your community?

SPEAKER_00 7:59

One thing that I haven't mentioned was 20 years ago and that isn't wasn't there then, that is there now is we're in Tolokwit territory in Tefino. This is it's a new new channel community, so there's many new channel nations in our area. Tolokyat is the local nation here. We also have Housed and Heshkuit, Tokwad and Ipulafat around us. And when I moved here 20 years ago, it wasn't something that was acknowledged or talked about or just didn't have the opportunity to learn. And I've learned so much and been so lucky to be able to be part of the change that has happened in this area and to see the difference. And so now what I didn't experience 20 years ago, and what I hope visitors experience now when they come here is learning that that's where they are. Just even that simple learned acknowledgement of and being able to say, Oh, I was in Tefino, which is within Toluquit territory. I was within the Toluquit travel park, is some of those little bits of learning. There are so many activities and things that you can do to start to explore it a little bit more. But even just that little bit, because it really acknowledges everything that Tafino is the rainforest, water, the animals, the people, you know, they have been here and have been part of this land and stewarding these what they call their ancestral gardens for so long that's really about learning and acknowledging, but also being grateful for what they have kept here. And that's why we have visitors. That's why visitors want to come here is because of all that stewardship that's happened in this area.

SPEAKER_01 9:38

Stewardship for a lot of people is a learned skill. What is something you might hope to teach those in your community?

SPEAKER_00 9:46

That's a great question. We have so a traditional tourism master plan in most communities. We have just undertaken the last two years a very complex process of creating a what we call a destination stewardship plan. And I think what's interesting about stewardship and even in the process that this plan undertook was kind of figuring out what's our identity as a community, as a tourism destination, not just not just a community, but how do they intersect and how do we make sure that everybody, both residents and visitors, are able to really feel that connection to the place because so many of us do know and experience it. And one of the things, and it's a new channel teaching and telokliate was very gracious in being able to share it with us was ESOC, which is the teaching of respect. And I think what's so interesting about as I've learned, and stewardship has become such a word in the tourism industry, and I think just in our day-to-day nowadays, compared to before, is that it is really about respect. And so we know that in the English language as stewardship. Okay, that's respecting land and respecting animals, respecting each other, and then and then taking that respect that you have and then doing something about it and trying to be better and leave things better than you found it. Well, that teaching of respect in Aesok has been passed on and has been here well before we were here. And that that is why the land is still, there is still old growth trees, and there is still salmon in the water, is because that was the teaching. And so we've been able to work with Toloquit to bring that word and the Aesok pledge is what Telokiet has, that they're asking all visitors, residents, businesses to take the Aesok pledge to really learn the stewardship, the respect piece, and what it means to this area, because it's different in every community of how we want people, residents and visitors to act and help and contribute. And so it's been really special to be able to bring that to, I think, just that intersection of helping people understand if you want to visit here and if you want to contribute, which I think people do. I think people care. You know, if you visitor, if you travel just at all, you want to connect to those places that you're visiting. And this is now a mechanism and a really special way to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

What is something you would like to learn in the coming year? Anything, any skill, any any anything?

SPEAKER_00 12:25

I so I'm actually new to this role. I've been the Tourism Tefino Executive Director since December. And so one of my things that really in this journey with working with Teloquid and our local nation is I want to learn all the just some of nuances and little things that we don't think about and we take for granted. The one example recently we had the opportunity to go clam gardening, and it's something, you know, I love seafood. I have enjoyed many amazing seafood dishes in my time living here in Tefino and even just on the island, everywhere. Clams. That is something you see them on the beach, you know, they're in the sand, they're the one, the white, the little ones. But the context of their life cycle and all of those never learn. There has not been any opportunity to learn. And so those are those little pieces of taking each of those opportunities. So when it was actually a work day, but it was sort of through work that they had invited to Res and Topino to join them. Well, we had a manager meeting that day, and I said, forget the manager meeting. Like, why don't we invite all the managers to go clam gardening? Because this is one of those unique opportunities that we don't get to go. You know, this is very, very much a Tolpiate initiative to build and maintain these clam gardens. And the learning that we got in one day, and then, you know, we've been able to have other conversations about it and what it's turned into is what we're and what we're hoping is that Telopiate wants help with the clam gardens. They've been 50% of the clam gardens on the island have been stewarded by First Nations communities, and that hasn't been happening the last few years. And so the clam gardening are deteriorating and all part of our ecosystem, one of the many pieces to make it all function. And so they want to start rebuilding these clam gardens, but you have to maintain them. You have to build these rock walls and maintain this habitat for them. And with climate change, they're actually saying it's even more important because the clams need to stay in water as tides change and different things. So, yeah, it was just amazing to learn. And it's those little things of something that you eat that you maybe take for granted in that process of how it got to you and how you get to enjoy it. And so being able to step back and not just learn its life cycle, but then you know, who else is contributing to those pieces and really through our relationships with to look with, that's where there's so much learning that we just haven't uncovered and we haven't taken the time and taken the space to listen and learn those teachings.

SPEAKER_01 15:04

I just had a conversation yesterday where we were talking about how there's only so much knowledge in our room. And it's not until we open our eyes and ears and minds to what's outside of our space, you know, whether it's our work, our definition of a job, our definition of a company that we end up learning and growing beyond our space. And there are things that we can apply from clam gardening, from from a walk through the woods together, make us better at what we do. What is something you wish more people knew about Tofino?

SPEAKER_00 15:40

I think just that there is so much depth. And I think that that's something that we're starting to uncover and create, again, that sort of space and time to be able to showcase. They wanted to connect with some sort of history. I think in other communities, things like museums and cultural spaces or art spaces, those are all very popular. People are familiar with them. We don't have that in Tefino the same way. It's not like you can just go somewhere and learn everything. And so the question was always, well, how do I, how do I connect? How do I learn anything, something? And so we've started to have a bit of those. We have a couple art galleries, we have a very small museum, we have some of those more traditional things. But I think it's something like we have a beautiful garden space, it's no awesome gardens that has been recently owned and operated now by telquiate members. And it really just makes a difference to have a space that not only that they can share, but that it's it goes both ways that visitors are really looking for space to go to learn on their own terms and with tours and teachings and activities and things like that. The next one that I hope and we're working on to support something to happen is canoe tours. That's something that happened years ago that was really special. And visitors really enjoyed being able to go in a traditional dugout canoe and have that learning water and the surrounding area from a Tolquiate member. And so we're working as Tours and Fino, and I think the community and the businesses are trying to support that to happen more. And how can we support more of those teachings and even just signage? There hasn't been a lot of signage and different things to even identify spaces, naming different areas using the neutronic language, all of that to two last questions.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

One, is there anything I didn't ask that you wish I did?

SPEAKER_00 17:37

I don't think there's anything that I wish you asked. I think talk about the community that I have hopefully clearly so much passion for and love to feel this is where I'm raising now two kids. And one of the things that I always think is interesting to the community and for me personally was when I first moved here, I loved the community, wanted to stay in the community, but I always thought I wouldn't raise kids here. And it's been something that has obviously that isn't the case now. I'm I have a six-year-old and a nine-year-old. I became a girl guide leader when I first moved here. And I started to learn the differences. When you're born and raised in a community like Victoria that has all the amenities and all the things to do, it's well, how could I raise kids if I don't have an arena or a pool or all of these things right at my disposal? They can do any activity. There's no first back riding or just so many things that are not accessible here. It's a two-hour drive to get to any of those amenities that I just mentioned. And I started to learn that childhood here is different. We don't lock our doors and our cars as residents. We let the kids play out in the streets till 10 o'clock at night in the summer. You know, they're going to knock on their neighbors' doors. It is just a different childhood here. And we would take the girl guides camping and kids from Tefino and Yculet, the West Coast, they were so resilient, and camping was like nothing for them. You know, and I started to see the difference 10 years ago of kids coming from Nanaimo or Victoria. Just wasn't familiar for them. And I'm like, okay, that's the difference of living in Tefino and Yculent and these rural and remote communities is they're just exposed to a different experience. And so I've been very happy and excited to raise family here and be part of a community, the community in a different way, being able to see it through through my kids' eyes. And I think that's every year, every experience that I have in Tfino, I learn something new about the reason why I love it. So I think that's what's so interesting for visitors too, is when they come here, they're gonna get a different experience every single time and they connect more and more. And not everybody's sure why. You can't always put your finger on it, but there's just something about the place.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

And lastly, if folks want to plan a visit, how would they get there?

SPEAKER_00 19:56

There is many options. That's also the exciting part, the journey of part of the vacation. Same as you leave your house, whether you're flying, you can fly here, you can take a bus here. Driving is the most common. And just if you're coming from Vancouver or through Vancouver, the airport or driving, that you also maybe get to take a ferry to get to the island because we're also on Vancouver Island. So we're not only on the very west coast of Canada, but then on Vancouver Island. So it yeah, a few different ways to get here, a little bit of everything. Even you could probably take a train to get here. So not directly, but anyways, on the way, lots of ways.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

And to plan the trip, I would say folks should check out your website, tourismtofino.com. Great site, some great resources on there. So folks should check that out.

SPEAKER_00 20:43

Thanks, Steven.

SPEAKER_01 20:45

That's it. Thank you for your time. I appreciate you. Thanks so much for having me.