Project WWW.VINDIA.STORE
Presentation
Take a piece of Sylvan Lake with you...
1. Who I'm?
I'm a newly arrived resident of Sylvan Lake from Ukraine. I have been living here for the fourth month, I have made many new friends here and I am very grateful to the town that it saved my family from the war. I was looking for where I can be most useful and how to start building my new life here. And now the answer has been found - I will deal with souvenir and gift products that will promote Sylvan Lake and leave tourists with a pleasant memory of this best city on earth.
In order to do this, in my opinion, you need to have three components:
1. Creativity,
2.Understanding the philosophy of travel,
3. Marketing and management skills.
In short, I'll tell you about myself. On the issue of creativity: My first higher education was a theater director. In Ukraine, I ran a travel blog, a rural tourism group, and my own channel with films from my trips. One of the films was selected for the film festival, where he received a diploma, and for my work I became a member of the Union of Journalists of Ukraine.
Also I have my musical project "Puerto Friko" where I write songs that I perform myself. You can listen to them at the link: https://www.youtube.com/c/PUERTOFRIKOMUSIC
My songs are played on the radio in Ukraine, at the Ukrainian station in Edmonton, and on June 4, I performed with my songs on the big stage of the "Ukrainian Festival in Calgary". This festival was visited by one of the Counsilors of Sylvan Lake Ian Oostindie with his beautiful wife Debbie. I was pleased that he left a very warm post on his Facebook about my performance.
Understanding the philosophy of travel is an important element of my life. Before the war, my wife and I visited 45 countries of the world and kept detailed diaries about it, wrote posts on blog, and published films on our YouTube channel. We have studied the needs of travelers well and know how to make their life brighter and more interesting.
But all of the above was a hobby, and the real work was marketing and management. For the last 8 years, I have been the CEO of a company that imported goods to Ukraine from China and India and was engaged in distribution within the country. In 2019, I completed my business studies and received my MBA diploma.
With creativity, an understanding of travel and business skills in my background, I figured out how to take the work with souvenir products to a new level. I plan to localize Sylvan Lake products. Usually the level of localization is a country or cities with a population of over a million, but I suggest focusing on gift products specifically for our small town. I have already worked on and partially launched the first collection of souvenirs, which is based on my author's artwork - photographs of the lighthouse, specially processed for recognition and conveying the atmosphere. I will place these images on the company's advertising flyer, which will tell customers about WWW.VINDIA.STORE
First product line:
a) Two types of silicone bracelets "I love Sylvan Lake"
b) Pendant with a lighthouse, made in color and 3D volume. It will be offered in a special box labeled "Gift from Sylvan Lake"
c) Belt buckles "Cowboy from Sylvan Lake"
d) Umbrellas
e) Beach bags
How do I plan to sell products? 1. Website 2. Sales on the beach (Natasha Bhola wrote that if I don’t make souvenirs myself, then I can’t sell them on the beach. I think that I need to look deeper here - it’s my souvenirs that will promote the town and I need such permission to sell) 3. Sales at the pharmaceutical market and other Sylvan events 4. Installation of special shelves with a full range of souvenirs in stores on 50th Street and Lakeshore Drive
Who is the main target audience? A small analysis on the Internet showed that more than a million guests visit the city every year, and the slogan "Diamond all year" shows that the city's leadership aims to increase this number. Therefore, audience number 1 a) Tourists visiting the city. If each of a million tourists in the future spends $20 on souvenirs from Sylvan, then the revenue will be $20 million. And this is something that can be easily measured, but there is also the second part, when this souvenir is brought to friends, somewhere in Calgary, it will arouse interest in visiting our city.
The second target audience is Silvan residents. Those who want to buy souvenirs from patriotic feelings for their city or to take them to relatives and friends living in other cities.
Where should this business be developed? The first steps are:
a) Expand the number of collections to three.
b) Expand the number of products to ten
c) Expand the assortment towards more expensive localized souvenirs. For example, a souvenir tabletop paddleboard with painted rays of the sun and the inscription, "Sunsets should be met on the banks of Sylvan Lake."
d) Open specialized kiosks of souvenirs and gifts.
Analyzing traffic, I determined that most tourists get to the beach either from 50th street or from a parking lot near the barbecue area. Accordingly, the first kiosk is best placed next to the letters Sylvan Lake, and the second on the waterfront after your washrooms.
Let's digress for a while from souvenirs and I'll try to imagine what I would do if I was the head of tourism development in the town.
Turn souvenir kiosks into full-fledged tourist information centers that offer leisure services, advise guests on upcoming events, maps of typical routes have been prepared: "How to spend a day with a child in Sylvan" and an approximate program: Breakfast here, then aquasplash, then the beach, then the candy store, then the movie night. Or the route of the history buff, where you can go through all the historical places marked on the map. Or the athlete's route, where he can run 3 kilometers along the trails of the town.
The next stage: the creation of a new tourist mythology of the city. Options: every evening a trumpet appears from the upper window of the lighthouse and plays a melody for 1-2 minutes. In the brochures, describe a romantic story about unrequited love, the hero of which turned into a ghost and every evening at 8 o'clock plays a melody in the hope that his beloved will return. Such things attract tourists and they will then gather on the embankment in anticipation of the ritual.
Make a small amphitheater on the shore (perhaps near Petra beach) and indicate that at least one evening in your life should be spent there, seeing off the evening sun. And romantic couples will be drawn there. Opposite in the water, you can set up a small stage with a free microphone, where tourists looking at the sunset, local musicians will play their songs.
Make a special route for bar lovers, something like "Way of Dionysius". It will be described in a special mini-book, which can be bought at the information center. And in each of the bars to leave a funny seal. A man, resting in Sylvan, tries to go around all the indicated bars and collect all the seals. Anyone who can, comes to the information center, shows a book with seals, and then receives a special prize - a medal or a glass.
Hold a songwriting competition with the words "Sylvan Lake is the best place on earth" and choose the best sung anthem as the anthem and then promote that song to play once an hour in every bar so tourists can sing her chorus. As an example, the song Pattaya from Thailand:
Add some special places for tourists:
a) a kissing place
b) The main place for a selfie
c) A place to sing your favorite song
Etc.
Prepare a couple of very brightly decorated horse carriages and ride adults and children from the lighthouse to the barbecue area and back.
And this is just the first thing that came to my mind to improve and develop the tourism industry in Sylvan Lake. Many more activities can be added by brainstorming.
In addition to the advertising business, I plan to produce and import goods under my own brand from China and India (import), as well as fulfill such orders for other users.
Thank you for your attention.
With love to Sylvan Lake.
