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“ANGELS
ON MY SHOULDER”
KEYNOTE
SPEECH. On
May 25th at the Best Western Inn, Sherwood Park,
Alberta, Jerry
W. Bird ,
Editor and Publisher of Air Highways and Africa
Travel Magazine, presented the keynote address for
the Yellowhead Trans Canada Highway Association's
56th Annual Convention. While the event covered a
wide range of topics, its final day was devoted to
tourism initiatives and opportunities. The audience
included mayors of communities along the 2600 km
route, tourism and transportation officials from
four provincial governments. Our Editors'
Yellowhead
Adventures
are
on this website.
:
 Life
is a Highway
... and just like the mighty Yellowhead, the Alaska
Highway or one of Canada's great river systems, it
follows a given path of tributaries, back roads and
trails - each worthy of
exploration.
One
never knows what's around the bend, or beyond the
next fork in the road, as every option presents a
different set of
possibilities.
Sometimes
a detour or wrong turn ends up being a pleasant
surprise or rewarding achievement. That's the magic
of serendipity... the call of the wild or lure of
the open road.
"There's
a great, big broad land way up
yonder
There
are forests where silence has
lease.
There's
a beauty that thrills me with
wonder.
There's
a stillness that fills me with
peace."
On
life's highway there are many signs, and a few
"special angels" to whose legacy we owe a powerful
debt. One whose example and sage advice impacted my
life was my uncle Frank Bird. Head of the British
Columbia Automobile Association for two decades, he
steered me down a career path that began at the
Edmonton Journal, and took an exciting new turn in
the 90s, thanks to desktop publishing and the
Internet. It's as if everything one learns through
four long decades is just boot camp; basic training
for even greater challenges to come.
Another
bright angel is Joe Whitehead, publisher of Western
Canada's Journal of Commerce, who has been
developing travel and trade missions with Korea and
Japan since the 50s. Joe provided international
distribution for our travel-business magazines at
Apec 97, the Asia
Pacific Economic
Conference,
opening new avenues to the Pacific Rim. Prior to
his death in January 2002, he was our Editorial
Board Chairman. Joe's legacy will continue in BC
Scene, our group's latest travel business magazine.
Speaking
of Joe Whitehead and the Asian market, last week's
Vancouver Sun told how BC Tourism and the Canadian
Tourism Commission scored a major coup, with 23
million Japanese television viewers waking up to
views of the Canadian Rockies by Rail. That same
article sang the praises of a new cruise ship
terminal for Prince Rupert. Well deserved to say
the least and of significant value to packaging and
marketing travel, trade and tourism on the entire
Yellowhead Route. Perhaps the legacy of Charles
Melville Hays, lost in the Titanic sinking, is
coming to pass with a cruise industry for Prince
Rupert. A powerful idea whose time has finally
come.
Packaging
Fly-Drive Vacations
My
legacy in travel and transportation started on the
Yukon riverboats, government surveys and Royal
Canadian Airforce, which provided me with an
appreciation for the vastness of Canada and the
need to secure our borders, network of highways and
airports. How important that lesson has become
today (post 9/11) a topic our magazines and web
sites are covering in increasing detail.
Open
Skies and the fly-drive concept led to our popular
Air Highway Supermaps, designed and produced for
Transport Canada, with other versions created for
Avis, Best Western, MasterCard, Sheraton and
Helijet Airways. Over 400,000 copies of our various
maps are now in circulation thanks to these fine
sponsors and a network of gateway airports that
distribute our items.
Speaking
of fly-drive opportunities, Canada's recreational
vehicle industry, whose trade association my agency
represented on the national scene, was a legacy of
the 60s. It's an exhilarating life in the wide open
spaces &endash; and as we learned as Europeans
flocked to Canada in a new way, a powerful earner
of tourism dollars. The Yellowhead Route is like a
Mecca to nature lovers and prime RV
country.
I
can't talk about packaging tourism without
mentioning the renaissance of rail travel, which is
like an elegant land cruise as packaged by Rocky
Mountain Rail tours and others. Back in 1989 many
colleagues thought my idea for a "Railways of the
World" feature in our travel magazine was a joke.
Har de har har!
Most railway items or articles at that time were
consigned to the back pages, swimming in a sea of
ads. Anyway, I pressed on, and for years my railway
features generated more mail than any other topic
on our editorial menu. A series that ran for three
years in a Seattle newspaper used to fill my
mailbox in Point Roberts, Wa within a few days of
its appearance. Some joke!
Another
legacy is Canada's hotel industry. I once handled
promotion and advertising for the Calgary Brewing
and Malting Company, who owned a chain of country
inns. Our theme was Alberta's famous doors of
hospitality. Canada's great hotels are part of the
legacy in cities, towns and villages along the
Yellowhead, and I have had the honor of working
with both the Alberta and BC/ Yukon Hotel
Associations. Hoteliers are true pillars of the
community and some of my best friends are among
them. I look forward to visiting some of the famous
and lesser known doors of hospitality on the
Yellowhead this summer and fall.
Packaging
the Yellowhead Experience
At
our Air and Marine Tourism Conference in 1998,
Kevin Walker of Victoria gave a short course on
tour packaging that was a standout. Drawing from
years of hands-on experience as a family hotelier,
Kevin was one of the first to spot the Ecotourism
trend and the attraction of whale watching. His
efforts paid off in spades and started an
Ecotourism and Adventure tourism
bonanza.
In
"A Yellowhead Journey Into History" written for
Latitudes Magazine of Montreal, I was also able to
draw from experience, having traveled much of the
route by car and train at various times. The marine
highway on Canada's Pacific Coast is another
dimension that makes marketing travel on the
Yellowhead such a pleasure. The Yellowhead Highway
conjures up feelings of romance. Looking at
postcards of wilderness spots along its course,
brings to mind the musical Rose Marie with her red
coated Mountie, lusty songs of the voyageurs and
love call piercing the summer sky. That's the mood
I was after in the opening lines...
"Imagine
your auto or railway coach is a time-capsule.
cruising down a broad ribbon of Canadiana in the
wake of nomadic hunters, voyageurs, missionaries,
traders, sodbusters, fortune-seekers and railroad
builders. From Lake Manitoba to the Haida Gwa'ii,
it's a 2600 km journey into history, with Indian
encampments older than Egypt's great pyramids,
national parks, ancient shrines and battle sites.
Ethnic dances and pageants salute every facet of
our heritage. Before we dim the lights and start
the movie, you're curious to know how the name
Yellowhead was derived -- right? In the 1870s, a
roving guide, dubbed Tete Jaune for his golden
locks, gave title to a mountain Pass near Jasper
House and gained instant immortality.
"
Since
Parks Canada was our prime sponsor, what really
dawned on me in developing this story, was not just
the magnitude of this awesome journey through four
provinces and 3 time zones, but the bonanza of
travel opportunities the Yellowhead route offers in
packaging side trips to parks and historic places.
Each side trip, major city or area offers a tour
within itself ... from the Forks at Winnipeg and
Lower Fort Garry, to Riding Mountain National Park,
Saskatchewan's Qu'Apelle Valley, Watrous Lake,
Historic Batoche and the Battlefords, Alberta's Elk
Island Park, Edmonton's North Saskatchewan River
Valley, Rocky Mountain House, Jasper, Mount Robson,
Hazelton, Skeena River Country, Prince Rupert and
the misty islands of Haida Gwaii.
It's
a great big, eco-friendly package that offers
something for everyone, most especially our
American friends to whom we can guarantee a
relatively safe vacation or business trip .... at
an exchange rate that's loaded in their favor. So,
as George Lois, one of my mentor in advertising
used to say " If you've got it ... flaunt
it."
This
summer's "photo safari" on the Yellowhead by road
and rail, will help us map out some super fly-drive
tours, circle tours and mini tours for the benefit
of our readers and web site viewers around the
world. Yes, we plan to start with a ferry cruise
from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert on the Queen of
the North.
Packaging
Ecotourism: The Land, the Culture, the Wildlife
This
being the International Year of Ecotourism,
sanctioned by the United Nations and World Tourism
Organization, that topic has been high on my
agenda. Ecotourism is defined as "Traveling to
relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural
areas with the specific objective of studying,
admiring and enjoying the scenery and its wild
plants and animals, as well as any existing
cultural manifestations."
What
a turn of events is this example. Thanks to the
legacy of P. Lawson, I had the opportunity to
launch a television show we called "Where in the
World," reaching a Western Canadian audience. The
content reflected the days before Ecotourism became
part of our dictionary, when sun tans, beaches,
trade winds and the great escape led the travel
tourism agenda. Today, Ecotourism is all the rage,
as a different type of consumer is emerging,
seeking educational and cultural experiences, the
joys of nature, camera safaris, whale watching,
bird watching, wilderness adventure and much
more.
My
legacy of the 70s, was a series of projects for the
Propane Gas Industry, whose efforts to introduce
this alternative fuel source "Auto Propane" took me
across Canada, and Western USA, interviewing fleet
operators, airport limousine drivers and users of
every description. The end result was a library of
marketing, safety and training film strips and
videos. This experience sparked a keen interest in
the continuing development of alternatives fuels
and transportation innovations.
The
Power of Partnerships and our African
Connection
The theme of our Air and Marine Tourism
Conference was "Links and Partnerships," which
reflects what is happening with organizations such
as the Yellowhead Trans Canada Highway Association.
While I have worked with and for professional
associations in accounting, hotels, sports,
petroleum and housing development, etc. the last
decade brought something completely different into
my life, spurred by the power of strategic
worldwide alliances.
In
1995, thanks to the
magic of
serendipity,
I was given a once in a lifetime opportunity to
launch and operate an official magazine for the
Africa Travel Association, based in New York and
directly across from the Empire State Building.
It's been a truly rewarding experience. Learning
the cultures of various African countries and
regions gives one a deep appreciation of our own
country's rich wildlife heritage. Being amongst the
herds of wildebeest and zebra is a lesson that
relates to our own caribou herds and buffalo, which
were once just as numerous on the Canadian plains
and tundra. Feeling the warmth, friendliness, and
appreciation of the local people, whether they be
successful, moderately well off or desperately
poor, is a heartwarming experience and a lesson for
all Canadians. What I've seen of Canadians working
in Africa for great causes has made me extremely
proud. The Africa Travel Association is in its 28th
year and its strength has been the ability to keep
free of politics, while involving tourism ministers
and forming strategic trade partnerships, some of
whom I interact with on a constant basis, such
as:
WTO
- the World Tourism Organization
USTOA-
the United States Tour Operators Association
ASTA
- the American Society of Travel Agents
ARTA
- the Association of Retail Travel
Agents
TIES
- the International Ecotourism Society
One
of my pet projects, the Peace Through Tourism
Movement was founded by my friend Lou d' Amore who
currently lives in Stowe, Vermont. The IIPT held
its first Global Summit in Vancouver 15 years ago,
and we invite you to attend its 6th Global Summit
next February in Geneva, Switzerland. Their lofty
goal is the alleviation of poverty through
tourism.
Follow
Your Passion and Leave a
Legacy.
This
latest 'mantra' and theme of a popular best seller
is one we take to heart. Passion energizes my
93-year-old friend Elyse White of Harlem, who has
traveled to Africa to attend every congress for 27
years. Elyse is a powerful role model for anyone
and an ideal candidate the Yellowhead
experience.
Shortly
after high school graduation, I worked for a while
on what is now the Dempster Highway, near Dawson
City, part of the Alaska Highway system that leads
to the top of the world. A year before, it was a
government survey crew traveling by pack horse from
Mayo in the central Yukon to the Canol road built
by the US Army to Norman Wells, NWT. Perhaps the
next milestone, or dream to be realized will be a
land bridge to Asia and Europe via Siberia. Nothing
is beyond comprehension in our times if enough
people follow their passion.
Thank
you for your interest
Note:
Copies of a 96 page magazine featuring Mr. Bird's
story, “I am the Yellowhead,” are
available on request. You pay the postage.
write
airhwy@dowco.com.
A similar story on Canadian highway travel appeared
in 400,000 copies of Latitudes "
Roads
to Canada's Great Drives” printed in French
and English. Excerpts are on this website. See
Yellowhead.
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