Heritage lovers, local historians, story-tellers of every stripe, unite.
The Prince Rupert Ambassador Program has redefined itself for cruise ship Thursday nights, as well as for the arrival of the Norwegian Pearl tomorrow night, with a greater emphasis on interpretation and telling our collective story.
Traditionally, the Ambassador Program has been a greeting vehicle for cruise ship visitors with volunteers providing directions and answering questions. This year, Community Futures and Tourism Prince Rupert have revamped the program to include interpretation and are looking to the local citizenry to provide that knowledge base.
“We’re looking for people who can share what they love of Prince Rupert,” says Treena Decker of Community Futures, herself a long-time Ambassador.
“The focus is really on pride of place. Ambassadors will be sharing stories about our history, a rich history that includes being the Halibut Capital of the World, our origins as a tent city, as a station for American troops during WWII, the Tsimshian connection to the land and their rich artistic heritage.”
Also, this year, the Ambassadors will be situated at strategic locations alongside buskers throughout the city to direct visitors through Cow Bay, Third and Second Avenues. It’s part of an integrated tourism strategy that should greatly enhance the experience that independent cruise ship passengers have in the community.
“We’re looking for volunteers who want to be core members of the program or who may only be able to give a couple of hours on Thursday evenings,” explains Decker.
“This is an opportunity for us to create a greater visitor experience this year. The better we are at improving the overall visitor experience, the better we are as a community.”
Retired salesman Rene Van Summeren volunteered last year as an Ambassador.
“I enjoy it very much,” he says of being an Ambassador.
“I’m a people person so this is a perfect fit. I’ve lived here since 1953 so I pretty much know everybody.”
Tourism Prince Rupert, which has been operating the program since the first pilot visit of the Norwegian Wind in 1999, is hoping to turn the program over to volunteers this year. TPR’s Bruce Wishart says it has been an extremely successful program.
“Cruise lines comment on it, and consider it very progressive,” Wishart explains.
“Most of the cruise passengers who fill our exit surveys mention the Ambassadors as a highlight of their visit. This is entirely to the credit of the volunteers.”
The Ambassador Program is one of several initiatives launched by the Cruise Ship Task Force for 2011 in the wake of NCL’s decision to drop Prince Rupert from next year’s itinerary. The Task Force is made up of the Port of Prince Rupert, the City of Prince Rupert, Community Futures of the Pacific Northwest, Crest Hotel, Tourism Prince Rupert, the Museum of Northern BC and several other organizations and businesses.
For those interested in becoming an Ambassador please call Treena Decker at 622-2332 or Monika Clifton at 624-8687.