Bay And Algoma Merchants Roll Out New Welcome Signage

The Bay and Algoma Business district has long benefited from its association with its most famous neighbor, the iconic Hoito Restaurant. It is because of this that the area has become a mecca of sorts for visitors to the community and the blocks around the Hoito are filled with galleries, other restaurants and lounges and specialty retailers offering unique products and experiences.

The recognition of the area as a visitor attraction is something not lost on the Bay & Algoma Business Improvement Association and under the leadership of the association's new President, Norm Sponchia of Villedge Art Gallery (www.villedgeart.com), they are taking steps to make it even more welcoming for visitors.

I had a chance today to walk around the area with Norm where earlier in the day, they erected a stunning new entrance sign to the central Bay Street Block, identifying the area as a historic neighborhood and dressing up a vacant lot formerly operated as a fuel retailer. While a seemingly modest undertaking, its importance is not lost. Good and aesthetically pleasing signage improves business areas by marking them prominently, welcomes visitors and sets the stage for what hopefully becomes a common theme throughout the other business improvement areas. Produced by Brad Hominick Productions, the signage features a golden Sleeping Giant that radiates when hit by sunlight.

What this demonstrates is that improvements to a community to make it more visually attractive to visitors do not have to be expensive. Good signage, painted buildings, swept sidewalks, cut grass and flowers go a long long way to attracting positive attention and increased economic benefits. It also shows the power of small businesses working together. Hats off to Norm and other area business owners for taking the initiative to make the area more aesthetically pleasing and capitalizing on their historic significance. Check out http://www.bayalgoma.com/ to learn more about the area.

Five Things You Can Do to Make Your Tourism Business More Sustainable

Environmental, social and economic sustainability are the corner stones to building a strong and healthy regional tourism economy for the long term. Not only do these principals make for great public relations, they create long term operating efficiencies for your business. Pursuing sustainability doesn't have to mean giving up the experiences we provide either.




Here are 5 simple things your tourism business can do to pursue sustainability.

1. Use low wattage light bulbs. Replacing traditional incandescent bulbs with low energy bulbs, especially in large operations, brings substantial long term savings on your electricity bill. Check out http://www.everykilowattcounts.ca/ to learn more about ways your business can save electricity. In fact, the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines has a great financial assistance program for businesses to help them make the switch to alternative energy sources. Visit www.mndm.gov.on.ca/nohfc/program_nep_e.asp or call the local Ministry office for more details.

2. Buy local foods whenever possible - while not always in season or always as inexpensive as bulk goods trucked in, the effects are positive. local produced foods are fresher and are not trucked halfway across the province or continent contributing to increased exhaust emissions. Buying local creates economic opportunities for the local agricultural industry and more and more visitors seek local produced foods when they travel-even if it means they are priced as a premium experience. Check out the Thunder Bay Country Market to learn more about the food producers right here in the community. http://www.thunderbaycountrymarket.com/ and http://www.slowfoodsuperior.ca/ are two great sites to learn more about utilizing local ingredients.

3. Greenery - Plant trees and gardens around your tourism Establishment. Not only do trees look good, they help cleanse the air we all breath. Gardens provide an aesthetically pleasing first impression from your customers, give them a place to relax while visiting you and if you're really a green thumb, grow your own herbs and vegetables as well. For the arrival of the Clelia II this year, we installed planters along the dock until our environmental assessment allows us to complete the permanent landscaping and site work. The result is an aesthetically attractive welcome and a distraction for staff to get away from their desks to water and care for the plants for 5 minutes a day. http://www.treesthunderbay.org/ for more information or visit one of Thunder Bay's many nurseries and landscape supply retailers including Landale, Creekside, Trevisanuttos, Debruins, Vanderwees and Bill Martins to get some inspiration.

4. Showcase works by local artisans. Thunder Bay has an amazing arts and culture scene, with hundreds or artists working in a variety of creative mediums. Display their work in your establishment, make it available for sale and promote local galleries to your guests. At Tourism Thunder Bay we make it a practice to buy a number of locally produced art pieces annually as gifts for visiting dignitaries and speakers. Supporting the local cultural industries helps grow a strong local economy across a broader range of entrepreneurs. A visit to http://www.thunderbayculture.com/ links you to the Regional Arts Council.

5. Request Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) approved paper for your printing needs. While the massive shift towards web based media helps reduce our reliance on paper, print materials will always have a place in business to some degree. when printing envelopes, brochures or guest magazines, request your printer use FSC approved stock. While there may be a premium on this paper now, hopefully, the costs come down as more people demand it and producers listen. http://www.fsccanada.org/ to learn more.

Want to know more about sustainable tourism? Visit www.ecotourism.org. You'll discover that any tourism operation, urban or remote, can learn from the principals of the organization and adapt them to their own business.

Talking Staycations With CBC

Tourism Thunder Bay will be featured on this weekend's edition of Cross Country Check Up with Rex Murphy on CBC Radio 1.

The North American tourism industry is facing unprecedented changes and challenges and moving or tourism industry forward requires creative and proactive solutions. Some of the things we've been doing to help Thunder Bay weather the tourism industry environment have included the shift to consumer researched marketing strategies that focus on experiences rather than the destination, industry leading engagement of social media and the promotion of the city to the local markets to encourage greater awareness and appreciation for the diversity of the tourism experiences that exist here. We live on the shore of the world's greatest fresh water lake and only minutes to some of the planets most exotic wilderness and geography. We have to recognize how lucky we are and share it with others.

With tourism being a $183 million annual industry here, employing 2000 people and affecting over 1400 businesses, its important to our community's evolving economy. One of our biggest allies has been the local, regional media who have continuously kept tourism front and center, whether its industry news, attractions or events, it all helps build local awareness of just what exists around us.

With over 28% of visitors coming here to visit friends and family, it makes perfect sense to build awareness among the local population and to encourage the growth of local Ambassadors - people who can help welcome their Friends and family,who can attract a meeting or conference for the business or organization or host a sports tournament here. With fuel prices high, passport requirements and tightening household budgets, its the perfect time to rediscover the city with a staycation. Visit the Fort, Sleeping Giant Park, or the Art Gallery. Wander through the farmer's market or take the kids to the skateboard Park of Boulevard Lake. There are hundreds of things to do in our own back yard. If we experience them ourselves, we can share them with our out of town guests.

Its widely known that we provide cases of our magazines and trade show displays to local residents who want to be ambassadors. We even provide guidance and advice to groups bidding on meetings and sport events, helping them help us.

To sell Thunder Bay to the world, we have to sell it to ourselves as well.

To listen to the podcast, visit http://www.cbc.ca/checkup/podcast.html and download the July 12 episode.

Motor Coach Operators Get New Tour Ideas In Thunder Bay

Tourism Thunder Bay is getting ready to roll out the red carpet for a group of motor coach operators from Ontario and the U.S. this afternoon. Ironically, the five are flying into the city rather than driving on a coach but while here, they'll tour some of Thunder Bay's iconic visitor attractions and learn a little about the city's hidden gems - those important little attractions and events that are key to visitor retention.

The motor coach market has rebounded with the increase in fuel prices as mature travellers look to exploring without having to burn fuel in their personal vehicles. These pay one price adventures appeal to a wide boomer demographic and our location on the Lake Superior Circle Tour as well as on the Trans Canada journey give us a strategic advantage as a stop over location.

This is one of a number of group travel and media familiarization trips the City is welcoming in 2009 with an increased focus on working with the travel trade. Attracting cruise ships, motor coaches and caravan groups such as RVs and motorcycle tourers translates into hundreds and even thousands of visitors coming in with the same marketing investment as attracting individual travellers.

This familiarization tour is a partnership the City has in Ontario's North, a collective including the City, Sault Ste Marie, Sudbury, Timmins and North Bay, Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership, Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation and FedNor. The collective leverages funding to allow Northern Ontario Cities to have a greater marketing presence in the travel trade, touring and media segments.

Project Healing Waters Set to Welcome more U.S. and Canadian Military Heros this Weekend.

Thunder Bay has been chosen as the launch site of the second annual Healing On The Albany event scheduled for July 10 through the17th.

“After last year’s exceptional welcome, we did not even consider any other city from which to begin our Canadian adventure” said Mark Snyder, event coordinator for the organization Project Healing Waters. The non profit group was founded by a retired U.S. military officer – Ed Nichols - to assist wounded soldiers in their physical and psychological healing after battle field trauma. “Learning and practicing the art of fly fishing offers these soldiers a peaceful place to acquire the skills of angling” Snyder said.

In July 2008 soldiers from both the U.S. and Canada were officially welcomed to Thunder Bay and then to Miminiska Lodge a Wilderness North Fly In Fishing destination on the Albany river.

The ten soldiers in this year’s event have all be selected by “Soldier On” in Canada and by Project Healing Waters in the U.S. to enjoy a week in the boreal forest of Northwestern Ontario, after suffering serious injuries in foreign wars.

During their stay last year, soldiers were also special guests at the Fort Hope’s Eabamatoong First Nation Pow Wow, and honored in a special community wide ceremony. Plans include another such ceremony this year.

“However, it’s mostly R&R” said Snyder as he reviewed his list of gifts from the public in general in the form of cash contributions, and from organizations like Orvis Company who donate the fly fishing tackle, and American Airlines who provide the flying for the U.S soldiers. Snyder goes on, “The key to the entire project is the gift from Wilderness North. Alan and Krista Cheeseman provide the wilderness flying, the lodge, the food and the boats and guides and their staff treats these soldiers like royalty.”

Tourism Thunder Bay is once again supporting Project Healing Waters through media coordination and related services. “Thunder Bay has developed a phenomenal reputation as a warm and welcoming community. We are proud to help support this project by welcoming these brave Canadian and U.S. service personnel into our community and thanking them for their service.” according to Paul Pepe, Manager of Tourism Thunder Bay

Thunder Bay’s Victoria Inn has donated rooms for the arriving soldiers on July 10 and will host a press conference breakfast scheduled for 8:30 A.M. on Saturday July 11. More information on Project Healing Waters can be found at www.projecthealingwaters.org or at www.wildernessnorth.com

Contact: Wayne Blackmon Wilderness North 888-465-3474
Mark Snyder- Project Healing Waters – 301-325-1312

Thunder Bay Heralds a new era of Cruise Shipping

At 7:30 AM on Friday July 3rd, the M.V. Clelia II, slipped past the main light in Thunder Bay harbour and proceeded to the Pool 6 cruise ship dock to berth for the next 9 hours. With her horns blasting through the calm sunny morning, she awakened Thunder Bay with her arrival and awakened a new era in cruise shipping for the community. Judging by the 500 or so residents who came to the dock to watch her throughout the day, her wake up call was a welcome sound.

The arrival of the Clelia II marks a fantastic new relationship with New York based Travel Dynamics, (http://www.traveldynamicsinternational.com/) the vessel's charterer. The vessel will be making 11 scheduled stops in the city over the next 2 1/2 months to allow passengers the opportunity to explore the community. While in the community, the vessel's guests will be touring Fort William Historical Park (http://www.fwhp.ca/), the Forest Research Station and have opportunities to rent bicycles dockside or tour the shopping districts by motor coach shuttle or on their own. The vessel is a stunning and luxurious boutique expedition cruising vessel and offers its 100 guests an incredibly high level of service. The itineraries give guests the chance to learn more about the communities they visit and that has provided us the opportunity to showcase our unique attributes, including the exciting realities of a city in economic transition.

Its also historic for Tourism Thunder Bay and the city in general. Its the first passenger vessel to dock at the 100 year old Pool 6 dock and makes the start of the sites transformation to major Great Lakes cruise shipping facility. This spring, Transport Canada mandated security and safety upgrades, concrete dock repairs, site grading, painting, leveling of topsoil and seeding took place to create a functional and practical staging are to accommodate the vessel to Transport Canada security standards and create a convenient location to service the vessels. The proximity of Tourism Thunder Bay's main administration center on the property has also given us the ability to create a comfortable area for the vessel's crews to sit, check emails and enjoy a coffee while ashore.

Because Tourism Thunder Bay manages the facility, it gives us the control and flexibility to attract new lines without having to juggle passenger traffic within the health and safety challenges posed by docking at industrial facilities. We can now respond quickly and with greater flexibility to meeting the needs of the industry and in attracting more vessels. While this new undertaking is a significant addition to the responsibilities of Tourism Thunder Bay, management of the facility through a division with a focused economic development and tourism focus will be essential to its long term success.

While the approximately 100 passengers who will visit the city on Clelia II this year may sound small compared to the 652 000 visitors the city receives annually, it is in fact a very important part of two growing segments in the tourism industry -expedition cruise shipping and group travel. The economic impact of the Clelia's visit to the City is estimated at over $521 000 this summer as the vessel touches more than 30 businesses and organizations from security, waste management and water supply companies to attractions, retail, motor coach operators, stevedores and vessel management firms. In fact, when one looks at the number of people involved in the welcoming of the vessel over 11 days, its the equivalent of almost two full time jobs annually.

Long term, however, the cruise shipping industry offers phenomenal potential for Thunder Bay to position itself as a major expedition cruising hub for the Great Lakes. Our airport infrastructure, the newly announced Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area and the abundance of stunning and unique natural environment and history of human settlement around the lake basin gives this the potential to become one of the world's next hot expedition cruise shipping markets. Eleven hundred visitors can become twenty five hundred and can become five thousand before long if we continue to make the necessary investment in our dock infrastructure. Becoming a hub for the cruise shipping industry means vessels start or end their itineraries here. This translates into hotel rooms for passengers flying in or out of the city, new airport and airline business, new opportunities for vessel servicing companies, grocers and others. This means an economic impact that expands almost four fold over the same vessel making day stops only. It also opens opportunities to smaller communities along the lake shore regionally as smaller vessels can dock or anchor close by and offer their guests unique experiences shore side as well.

However, getting us to July 3rd took the work of a phenomenal number of organizations, businesses and people across North America. They include Travel Dynamics, Navitrans, Stephen Burnett of the Great Lakes Cruising Coalition, William Hryb of Lakehead Shipping, Canadian Border Services, Transport Canada, Lake Superior Visits, Thunder Bay Tug Services, Thunder Bay Port Authority, Winning Streak Charters and Caribou Coach, Signs Now, Superior Pedicabs, Opportunity Thunder Bay and all of our local and international media partners who helped general public support for this fantastic development.

For me personally, this has been the culmination of almost 6 years of personal passion for the potential of Great Lakes Cruising. Seeing the vessel dock effortlessly on July 3rd was only the start of what will become a great addition to our city's waterfront.

April Border Crossing Numbers Encouraging

The Canadian Border Services Agency has released its April 2009 border crossing statistics from Pigeon River and the numbers are encouraging.

While April is a slower month for US travel to Thunder Bay, April 2009 posted results of 2240 U.S. residents crossing into Canada south of the City compared to April 2008 that saw only 2085. This represents a modest 9% gain and that is important considering the state of the U.S. economy. Also contributing to this rise could be a favourable exchange rate of 24%, a "rush" to visit for non passport holders prior to the June 1st deadline and an increase in experience based marketing into the North shore communities, targeting the entertainment and culinary markets.

The year to date numbers to the end of April, however, are showing a modest decline of about 250 residents from 2008's 8779, with January being the hardest hit month for declines.
2008 2009
January 1883 1503
February 1924 1897
March 2932 2887
April 2085 2240

All things considered given the state of the U.S. economy, these numbers are comforting in that it shows that people are, overall, still travelling. The real state of the 2009 season will be revealed once the June and July travel numbers are released sometime mid fall.