NEW DIGITAL VIDEO TOOLS ROLLED OUT IN CELEBRATION OF TOURISM WEEK

Tourism Thunder Bay has launched the first three in an ongoing series of new HD experiential videos showcasing some of Thunder Bay's most iconic visitor experiences.

Set against the backdrop of Prince Arthur's Landing as part of our tourism week open house, we welcomed over forty tourism industry representatives from around the community to enjoy persians, coffee, networking and of course, the launch of the new videos and the Youtube platform that anchors them.

These new digital assets replace our last video production, cobbled together four years ago and already outdated given changes to the tourism landscape.

Working with our creative agency Generator Advertising, Imaginarium Studios and Dining Room Studios, the total project from inception to launch was a little over 14 months.  We're proud to have been able to completely support our local cultural industries in the production of this.  The three launch videos were shot at over 46 locations and used 100 actors and over 100 extras.  Sound, provided by Dining Room Studios featured the works of local musician Jean Paul DeRoover.

What makes these videos particularly valuable is that they serve a purpose vastly different from traditional municipal promotion videos that featured identifiable businesses and focused on the "place".  Careful consideration was given to focus on the experience in the emotional sense, the human element of people enjoying the experiences.  Remember that the bast majority of people plan their travel for an experience, with the geological destination being the secondary deciding factor.

The video also factored in the careful avoidance of identifiable local businesses.  I was asked about this this morning as to why more individual businesses were not high lighted. The reality is that the tourism landscape changes with partners coming and going. As soon as an identifiable partner leaves the business scene, the video loses relevance quickly.  With over 1300 tourism related businesses, its difficult to feature every single one.

Its also important to remember that this project is not static and we're already planning the next chapters including cultural events and attractions, culinary, sport tourism and a convention planning video tool.  There is a lot to cover and we aim to continue adding content over the long term.

The videos, in Youtube and Vimeo channels as well as on DVD, are available for free use by our community's tourism partners.  Its already been posted to the VisitThunderBay's  facebook page, on twitter and is received significant media attention today from local and regional news media.

A big thanks goes out to Generator's Jack Hudolin, Barry Smith, Robin Moss, Heather Cranston and Maureen Mills.  The project could not have been executed without the exceptional talent of Piotr and Milosz at Imaginarium and the gang at Dining Room Studios.  The could not have been done without Tourism Thunder Bay's Marketing and Partnership Coordinator, Rose Marie Mancusa, who stick handled this from start to finish. 

Last but not least is our tourism partners who took the video and will be adding it to their websites, social feeds and hotel lobby screens to help promote the city.

Stay tuned for more videos over the next two years and also the inclusion of great visitor made video selected for the channel.  In the meantime, enjoy.

Thoughts on Ice Cream and Tourism

This past week saw the first commercial tenant move into new digs at Prince Arthur's Landing, just in time for the start of the spring and summer visitor season.
TJ's Ice Cream Shoppe opened in the Pond Pavilion building, a seasonal commercial space located just across from the Skate and BMX Plaza. TJ's, who have their main operations at the corner of James and Arthur Street is operated by Ted and Cindy Slongo, two well established local entrepreneurs in every sense of the word.  I've known Ted for well over twenty years and he's one of this city's biggest boosters in terms of promoting all that is great about our city.

I had the chance this week to stop by, grab myself some frozen lunch and chat with Ted who is very much hands on every day in his four businesses (in addition to the two Ice Cream Shoppes, Ted also operated the Robin's Donut's Franchise and a hockey equipment supply and service business.  He's enthusiastic about the opportunity to be located in one of the city's prime summer locations, mere feet from the world's greatest lake and meeting all sorts of great people in the process.  While there, Shaw Cable appeared to interview both he and his wife for an upcoming segment on Channel 10 locally.

Ted is also a solution focused guy.  Lets face it. Small business is difficult and I have a ton of respect for those in the private sector who make their own way in the economy.  I've been a bureaucrat for over 15 years and a business owner for almost the same.  I've seen both sides and appreciate the challenges businesses face everywhere in navigating the rules, policies and procedures established by various levels of government with relation to commerce.  Its not easy.  Ted is one of those fellows who finds the opportunities and can navigate through the regulatory requirements to make things happen by being focused, creative, positive and professional in his approach.

So what does this all have to do with tourism, you ask?  Plenty.   For starter's, the Ice Cream Shoppe is part of a major visitor attraction for a lot of people...the waterfront.  Its a destination for those who want to see the big lake, awe at the Giant, take a fishing or sailing charter, check out the public art installations or take in one of the many festivals held there.  It extends a visit to the city for thousands more.  A lot of these people will leave an economic impact while they stroll the park with ice cream in hand.  At the end of the day, it all adds up to create some seasonal employment for our youth and help a local entrepreneur grow.

Equally importantly is that Ted has always been a promoter of all things city and that includes the visitors who stop by any one of his businesses.  While chatting with him, a Minnesota couple, who had never visited Canada prior, stopped by for a treat.  Ted, as always, had his A-game on.  He was able to explain the park's improvements to them, suggest a local eatery within walking distance for a late lunch and local attractions of interest.  He speaks of pride of the city, is supportive of the investments made to improve both the economic and aesthetic values of our community. Its what every entrepreneur and single front line employee in the tourism industry should do.  Period.

A stop by the waterfront and TJ's is a must, for visitors and locals alike.  Its worth it for the ice cream.  If you see Ted himself at the window, its worth it for the conversation too. Here's wishing him much success with the new location.

WIN AN INCREDIBLE BLUESFEST GETAWAY IN THUNDER BAY

In Celebration of National Tourism Week – June 6 – 12th, 2011, Tourism Thunder Bay is giving away an incredible Blues Festival getaway for two in Thunder Bay.

The Thunder Bay Blues Festival is one of the largest and most anticipated events of the summer.
Blues fans gather on the shores of Lake Superior to enjoy a spectacular line-up of well known international musicians and an all-star line-up of national and local talent.
Now in its 10th year – this event scheduled for July 8th – 10th at Marina Park - promises to delivery more of the best fans have come to expect!

The Prize Package coordinated by Lake Superior Visits includes Round-trip airfare for Two people to Thunder Bay; 4 day Car Rental with National Car & Truck Rental; 3 nights accommodations at McVicar Manor B&B; two weekend VIP passes to the 10th Annual Thunder Bay Blues Festival; gift certificates for the world-famous Hoito Restaurant, the Prospector Steak House and Lot66 Restro Lounge & Wine Bar; a Thunder Bay harbour tour by SailSuperior.com with great views of the Sleeping Giant and the Blues Festival; Unique Personal Transportation to and from the Festival and/or bike rentals courtesy of Superior Pedicabs and all applicable taxes.

“This campaign encourages locals to become ambassadors and invite their friends and family to visit Thunder Bay this summer with a fun contest theme that showcases just how much there is to see and do in our great city.” According to Tourism Manager Paul Pepe.

Out-of-town friends and family can enter the contest at www.VisitThunderBay.com
The contest opens at 12 noon May 17, 2011 & closes at 12 midnight June 20th. More information about the 10th Annual Thunder Bay Blues Festival can be found at www.tbayblues.ca

2008 Ontario Travel Intentions

Ministry of Tourism Releases 2008 Travel Intentions

The Ministry of Tourism has recently released the Spring/Summer 2008 travel intentions survey conducted by Canadian TNS Facts.

Tourism Thunder Bay is following this data closely and developing proactive and logical responses to address changes in visitor intentions involving new marketing tools and segment focus on dedicated experience seekers.

We expect stronger travel intentions from Southern Ontario and Manitoba markets. We expect that Thunder Bay will be a more appealing destination for regional travellers staying closer to home and those travellingcross country. In 2007, we recorded a 14% increase in Canadian travellers at our municipal Visitor Centers over 2006 and we expect a further 5-10% gain in 2008.

With the struggling U.S. Economy, high fuel prices, a strong Canadian dollar and passport confusion, we expect continued declines in US travellers from Minnesota and Wisconsin but especially from Michigan, Iowa and Illinois as US travellers stay closer to home. We expect U.S. declines at Pigeon River to be in the 12-16% range. U.S. travllers coming to the city and area will likely be outdoor experience seekers (angling, hunting and eco/adventure travel) and Lake Superior Circle Tour tourers.

You can view the entire survey at the following link at the following:

http://www.tourism.gov.on.ca/english/research/travel_intentions/Travel_Intentions_Spring&Summer_2008.pdf

What is Tourism Thunder Bay doing about these trends?

With respect to domestic marketing, some of the major initiaitives we are pursuing include:

Seven Days with the Giant is an experience based campaign has focused specifically on the Southern Ontario and Manitoba markets through a multi media partnership with Fednor, OTMPC, Ontario Parks and over a dozen local experience providers. The campaign, with a $12 500 contest grand prize, raises the profile of Thunder Bay around the iconic Sleeping Giant Provincial Park and positions Thunder Bay as an Outdoor City with great air service options between the GTA and Thunder Bay.

Recognizing a strong visiting friends and relatives (VFR) market makes up 28% of our liesure segment, we are focusing on a number of local awareness campaigns, including a "Rediscover your City" tabloid that will be going to every household in June 2008 to promote Thunder Bay's attractions to local hosts and encouraging them to take their out of town visitors around this summer

A 6 month awareness and engagement campaign, to be unveiled in June 08, will allow residents and visitors to tell their stories about Thunder Bay, build awareness of our local experiences and provide material for future campaigns

Local mediarelations partnerships to help residents and regional visitors know about local attrractions and experiences and encouraging local residents to send the 2008 Visitor Experience magazine to their friends and family.

The U.S. market, while declining, still represented 23% of our visitation in 2007 and 30% of visitor spending.

Tourism Thunder Bay is a participant in the Fort William Historical Park Canada Gateway Center. Located along highway 61 south of Grand Maria (with daily traffic counts of 4300 vehicles), the centre is in a popular tourism region and is within our short haul market catchment area. The centre will raise the awareness of Thunder Bay as a destination and provide regular information to the more than 5 000 Cook County residents who travel to Thunder Bay for VFR, dining, shopping and entertainment experiences.

Seven Days with the Giant is being heavily promoted in the US border states of Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota, and targets affluent outdoor experience seekers through outdoor retail stores, websites and targeted direct e-mail.

Attracting affluent niche markets in the boating, outdoor and touring categories with tactical approaches including the Minneapolis Boat Show (resulting in 1400 inquiries in 2008), and editorial focusing on motorsport touring in publications such as Lake Superior Magazine and AAA Living.

Other Segments

We are actively pursuing new strategies to increase market share in both the sport tourism and corporate segments. With respect to Sport Tourism, We will be releasing a new Sport Tourism Strategy mid 2008 and we are actively engaged in the develop of several new "Thunder Bay owned" events including a major fall 2009 marathon project. As well, we continue to communicate actively with regional, provincial and national Sport organizations to position Thunder Bay as a host site for future sport tourism events.

Our corporate markets will see a focus on organizations that have a Thunder Bay presence and thus, more likely to host conferences. These sectors include First Nation, Education, Health Sciences, Mining and Government. We encourage local organizations to host their regional, provincial and national meetings and conferences in the city by providing marketing tools to assist them in championing the city. These include delegate bags, visitor magazines, free rental of our promotional trade show displays, and copies of our meeting and convention planner. For corporate groups looking for assistance with their efforts, please contact Rose Marie Tarnowski, Meeting and Convention Planner at rtarnowski@thunderbay.ca.