Get Ready For the Motorcycle Market!

Thunder Bay sits comfortably on the shore of the world's largest freshwater lake and along one of North America's iconic coastal touring routes. Growing our tourism economy depends on doing more to promote this route through a regional approach.

Motorcycle touring, in particular, is a growing trend being noted by everyone from border staff to hotels, attractions and visitor centers. U.S. motorcycle sales up 7.2% in the first quarter of 2011 with some 102 000 motorcycles sold in the US during the first three months of this year. Leading the growth is the scooter (49%), dual sport (24.3%) and road bike segments (6.9%). more people are getting out riding and more boomers are hitting the road.

We, like many others around the lake, want to position the Lake Superior coastal touring area as one of the world's best motorcycle touring routes and that means offering more than just good roads and scenic vistas. It means a completely motorcycle friendly tourism industry ready and willing to welcome and serve the needs of motorcyclists. One need only to be an avid follower of Lake Superior magazine to understand what a stunning part of the world this is.

As part of our commitment to industry education, we've teamed up with Algoma Kinnewabi Travel Association, RTO13 and Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture to bring a motorcycle touring readiness workshop to Thunder Bay June 21st. The session takes place at the Victoria Inn, coincidentaly the host hotel for this summer's Ontario H.O.G. Rally.

We've contracted Chris Hughes of BC Hughes Consulting, one of the Province's best known experts in experiential tourism, an avid enthusiast of all things 2-wheeled and is the follow responsible for Bruce County Tourism's spectacular presence on the Ontario tourism scene prior to setting out to share his knowledge with others.

This workshop is open to any tourism establishment interested in becoming more welcoming to the motorcycle touring segment and committed to enhancing the visitor experience along one of the continent's best scenic drive routes.

If you're interested in attended the Thunder Bay session, check out the online invitation here or email kyle@bchughes.com to register.

Tourism Thunder Bay Welcomes John Cameron to our Tourism Team

Our team at Tourism Thunder Bay is pleased to welcome a new addition that completes our staffing compliment.

John Cameron assumes the duties of Tourism Development Officer effective today, April 6th and will be overseeing product development, capacity building and sport tourism files. John brings an immense amount of experience with him to the role and has held positions within the Ministry of Tourism (Fort William Historical Park and the Resource Based Tourism Unit), Ministry of Culture and Recreation, City of Thunder Bay Recreation Division and most recently, the Lakehead Region Conservation Authority. John is well known in the local sports community and is an occasional contributor to the sports section of the Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal.

Tourism Thunder Bay is fortunate to have a dedicated product development position and it reinforced the importance of tourism in the community as an economic driver. John will be working on touring development projects, Rails to Trails project, sport tourism bid development, Premier Ranked Destination Framework implementation plans, community tourism capacity building exercises and other initiatives that increase the opportunities for new visitor experiences to enter the marketplace locally.

John can be reached at 625-3231 or jcameron@thunderbay.ca

Join us in welcoming John to the tourism Thunder Bay team.

Major Tender & Construction Work with Waterfront

The City of Thunder Bay has begun tender releases to form Stage 1 – Phase 1 for the redevelopment of Prince Arthur’s Landing. Construction is set to begin immediately following Labour Day.

The first tender was released on July 9 for the Marine Works, which includes an interlocking sheet wall, lake in-fill, break wall construction, minor dredging and the marina dock retrofit. This construction will form the base on which Prince Arthur’s Landing will take shape.
The second tender was released today for architectural fencing. The custom steel picket fence has been designed to maximize visual impact and begin to frame the spectacular landscape being created.

The third tender, under the initial phase of construction, will be released on July 15 under the initial phase of construction. It is for major Civil Infrastructure that consists of water main, sanitary sewer, storm sewer and miscellaneous electrical elements required to service the site.
This multi-million dollar construction contract is scheduled to be completed by summer 2010. All three tenders have been designed to maximize local involvement and use local materials.

Visitors to Marina Park will already notice the changes occurring. From the revamped festival area opened two years ago to our new leading edge skate and BMX plaza, several key attractions are now on line. Over the past month, contractors have been busy stripping the paint from the historic CN baggage building and redying it for restoration and renovations (see pic). These areas will provide additional activities for local residents and play an important part of the visitor retention strategy for the city, giving people a chance to stay in the city a little longer. more importantly, it will connect residents and visitors to the iconic Lake Superior like never before.

To learn more about Thunder Bay's incredible new waterfront development initiative, visit www.thunderbay.ca/waterfront. Visit the site often as updates are added.