Do you have a new or existing tourism idea that, with some refinement, could become a Kawartha Lakes Signature Experience?
Knapsack is Kawartha Lakes experiential tourism training and recognition program. It leverages being different, and teaches tourism businesses how to make and share memorable moments of travel.
Knapsack supports the development of new tourism experiences and it recognizes and promotes these best of the best developments. It acknowledges the tremendous effort put into creating and delivering transformative guest experiences and rewards those efforts by helping to develop ideas into successful visitor experiences that gain attention on a regional, provincial or national level.
Graduates of the Knapsack program share the recognition with other peers whose commitment is to deliver best in class tourism experiences.
What is a Signature Experience?
Defining something as “signature” implies that it is part of a group and is one of the best items offered. A signature experience is a highly anticipated, highly memorable activity or activities delivered by a skilled and knowledgeable person with a direct connection to the local community it takes place in.
Other Signature Experience Programs
Destination Canada: Promotes a collection of once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences found only in Canada that features over 200 experiences representative of all provinces and territories.
Destination Ontario: Promotes a collection of incredible, world-class experiences curated by the province of Ontario, and includes many experiences that are also Canadian Signature Experiences selected by Destination Canada.
Goals of the Knapsack Signature Experience Program
- Create economic opportunity for Kawartha Lakes through tourism
- Build strong relationships with innovative and engaged tourism operators, mentoring them to think differently, challenging them to leverage their unique attributes as well as those of the Kawartha Lakes region, and to think beyond current trends
- Create 2-3 new Knapsack signature experiences each year with the end goal of ensuring that Kawartha Lakes has a supply of quality, memorable experiences to attract visitors
- Define the Knapsack signature experience program parameters and requirements for operator participation
- Gain recognition and visitor attention for Kawartha Lakes, becoming well known for delivering emotional connections to the region through signature experiences
- Help you to create amazing experiences that attract people to the region, and may have the ability to qualify as a Signature Experience
- Ensure visitors create a deep connection to the area through experiences that are memorable and authentic
- Focus on developing new high yield, small group experiences vs mass market low yield offers
2024 Knapsack Program Intake
The Knapsack program is an annual program that will launch for 2024 intake in January.
To Inquire About Being Part of the 2024 Knapsack Signature Experiences Program contact:
Laurie McCarthy
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