U.S. Visitor Traffic to Thunder Bay on the Increase This Year

It is a pretty significant fact that we are a forty five minute drive from the U.S. border and a source market in excess of three hundred and thirty million people.  Despite conditions of the past decade, the U.S. market continues to be important to us.  However, this market has declined over the past decade in a world of security and economic issues, coupled with inconsistent marketing investments to keep our region top of mind.

In light of the slow US economy, passport requirements, border security, high fuel prices and an at par currency, you'll have to understand if we're a little giddy today in the Tourism Thunder Bay office.

The second quarter border crossing statistics came in this week and to the end of June 2012, U.S. visitors to Thunder Bay through the Pigeon River border crossing have increased by 3.5% or about 1068 persons.  While not explosive year over year growth, its slow and steady as the old tortoise versus hare fable goes, and that's what wins the race. 

While same day traffic declined, it was the important overnight visits that increased, improving hotel performance in what is already a strong urban market.  These longer stays translate into increased economic impacts for our community and region and speak to a desire for avid travellers to explore in greater depth. From an economic impact perspective, this translates to approximately $370 596 in new visitor spending and a total economic impact including the multiplier effect of about $592 953.  Overall, that's a pretty good return early on even before the critically important July and August travel data is reported.  By about late October, we'll have a good sense of the true impact of the new investments being made. 

With approximately $1.1 million in new regional tourism marketing investments being made across Northwestern Ontario in the fishing, hunting, broad outdoors, convention, sports tourism and motor touring segments, its encouraging to see some early wins.  From our early indicators, the majority of this upswing is related to touring and outdoor adventure segment campaigns specifically into the United States totalling approximately $275 000.  This included the popular "Ride Lake Superior" motorcycle program, enhanced broad outdoor campaigns targeting Minnesota and Wisconsin and wider reaching US avid outdoor media channels.  We've also been able to host far more media familiarization trips, and build new relationships with US media such as Northern Wilds, Lake Superior Magazine and AAA media channels to grow interest in the area.  Tying the natural environment to the highway corridors is critical to maximizing visitor attraction.  Most travellers are outdoor enthusiasts but very few want to really rough it.  trails and waterfalls, birding, beaches and so forth are all huge draws but visitors want a good meal and comfy bed too.  communicating the epic-ness of Lake Superior - and our hundreds of thousands of other lakes too - will be critical to growing our markets.

The majority of the Northwest's angling traffic flows through Fort Frances so we'll be watching those numbers closely as well and reporting on the broader impacts.

The regional approach to partnership building is critical to continuing to build on these early successes and together with partners like Sunset Country Travel Association, Algoma Kinnewabi Travel and our friends in Northern Minnesota, we'll continue to work together to make the visitor pie bigger for everyone by focusing on epic experiences worth the distance. 

After all, how far would you travel for the perfect outdoor vacation?

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.

Closure of 75% of Provincial Travel Centres in the Northwest Unacceptable

As many of you know, I often focus my blog posts on good news that can move the industry forward. However, every once in a while, a policy issue hits our industry and we need to respond. Today, I'm requesting that our tourism industry partners throughout the region help us out. In last week's provincial budget, the Province announced the closure of three out of four gateway travel centres in the northwest. More alarming is that every one of the centers is located in the sunset Country region.

Ontario is a huge province that borders a lot of different close haul domestic and U.S. markets. This year, OTMPC's main target in their provincial campaign is families and targets the southern Ontario market, New York State and Detroit. With the exception of the southern Ontario markets, these are not key markets for the northwest and we opted out of the marketing program, indicating our interest to grow our marketing inner regionally and into the Manitoba and Saskatchewan markets. The reality is that we have different visitor experiences, cater to a different traveller demographic and have different source markets. We've made a lot of progress to develop partnerships with OTMPC to make wise investments so its a shock to see the region abandoned by the closure of these gateway centers from Minnesota, the Dakotas and Manitoba and Western Canada.

On Friday, in my capacity as the Regional Chair for the Northern Ontario RTO, I wrote to Minister Michael Chan - Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport and Ronald Holgerson, the Interim CEO of OTMPC to express the regional industry's collective concerns with this poor budgetary policy. We're requested a meeting with the Ministry to look towards creative partnerships to resolve these closures and recognize the importance of these centers in the gateway communities of Northwestern Ontario. In a year where over $1.5 million in new RTO and Provincial tourism marketing investments are being made in the Manitoba and US Midwest markets, the shuttering of these centers in 2012 will be an embarrassment to the industry, the region and the Ministry.

Don't get me wrong. We enjoy a great partnership with OTMPC. But we also owe it to the industry to take a stand to question matters that could have a negative impact on the communities and operators that count on these centers to provide visitors with the essential information on the region. We have quickly been able to attract support from the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario, Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association and letters of support from North Central and Northeast Ontario.

We're looking for more support from the region and industry so please write or email to Minister and Mr Holgerson to express the value these travel centers have to growing the region's tourism industry.

Hon Michael Chan
Minister - Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport
Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport
900 Bay Street, 9th Floor. Hearst Block
Toronto, ON
M7A 2E1
michael.chan@ontario.ca

Mr Ronald Holgerson
Interim CEO - Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation
ronald.holgerson@ontario.ca

Cold April Influences U.S. Traffic Results

The Spring spike in fuel prices and miserably cold weather (remember multiple snow falls and record hail in April prior to this year?) are being reflected in the early spring performance of our U.S. source markets. U.S. visitor traffic through the Pigeon River crossing declined 17% in April over the same month a year previous.

In April 2011, 1 792 US residents crossed into Canada south of Thunder Bay versus 2 163 a year previous. Same day traffic dropped most significantly to 643 this year compared to 924 in 2010. Single night stays rose to 172 from 151 and multiple night stays decreased to 977 from 1088 a year ago.

We're certainly hoping this isn't a trend we'll see continue. In 2010 we noticed a increase in U.S. touring traffic through Thunder Bay accommodation providers from mid spring to fall, signalling a shift in travel segments. Motorcycle and auto touring gained in popularity while the hunting and angling markets remained soft throughout the region. A continuing soft U.S. economy, $4 a gallon fuel and a horribly cold and snowy spring combine to influence early spring travel.

Based on last year's patterns and strong consumer response to our media channels, we continued to invest in US Midwest touring marketing such as AAA Living and Home and Away to build awareness in touring. To counter the current economic environment in attracting U.S. visitors, it is imperative that we focus on the calibre of the touring route around Lake Superior as an epic iconic "must see" experience that targets the avid educated and affluent traveller.


With a 330 million person source market beginning only 45 minutes drive from the city and indicators like the increase in motorcycle sales this year, we need to explore opportunities to shift strategy and seek new U.S. markets utilizing travel motivation and economic consumer trend data.

Tourism Thunder Bay Welcomes European Cruise Executives.

This past weekend Tourism Thunder Bay had the privilege to host five European cruise and group tour executives in the City as part of a Great Lakes industry familiarization tour coordinated by the Great Lakes Cruising Coalition.

The Coalition, of which Thunder Bay is a member, represents over twenty Canadian and U.S. ports, cities, vessel managers and tourism organizations. This bi-national group is successful in leveraging resources to attract the global cruise shipping industry to consider the great Lakes for future itinerary development.

Representatives from German, French and British operators were accompanied by Stephen Burnett, our great friend and GLCC Executive Director as part of a ten day tour. Chartering a Amphibious Caravan from Watson's Skyways, they were able to land on the water at Red Rock (another GLCC Member) before continuing on to Thunder Bay for an overnight stay and tour.

While here, we escorted them around in style to showcase the calibre of shore services and transportation we're capable of providing as a community. We utilized Prestige Limousine's limo bus and driver Rob for the two days, providing the perfect platform to showcase the best our community has to offer them.

After settling into their hotel, they were taken up to Hillcrest Park, the Pool 6 Cruise Terminal and the new Prince Arthur's Landing development. From there it was onto Gargoyles for an epic dinner reception with some of Tourism Thunder Bay's partners in cruise shipping attraction. Doug Morrill, Gargoyle's owner and chef out did himself with a custom menu featuring all locally sourced ingredients including bison, pickerel, fresh greens and more. This was backed by some exceptional service from Gargoyle's team.

Following a great rest and breakfast at the Valhalla, our guests toured Fort William Historical Park, Kakabeka Falls, and finishing off at Whitewater Golf Club with a course tour and lunch. From there it was off to Wasaya where a chartered Pilatus whisked them onto Duluth to continue their fact finding journey.

Later this year, we'll welcome the C Columbus for two visits. While we have no commercial cruise vessels yet confirmed for 2012, we continue to work regionally in attracting vessel operators for the year and subsequent cruising seasons.

A big thanks goes out to all of Tourism Thunder Bay's partners involved in the familiarization tour. This familiarization tour was also made possible through funding provided through the Regional Tourism Organization and the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Culture. We continue to work with local and global industry partners in growing the cruise segment that enhances Thunder Bay's reputation as a port community.

OTMPC Travel Trade Session Opens Eyes on Affluent Travel Trends

The travel trade has been an important link in the tourism industry supply chain for decades and while we've engaged that segment's tour operators, receptive guides and cruise ship operators, the affluent travel trade segment has been something we have not spent enough time as a region working on.

About 18 months ago, I had two epiphanies back to back. The first came to me at the Calgary outdoor show where we shared floor space with African and Kenyan wildlife safaris (both consumptive hunting and photography), wilderness adventures and other destinations offering luxury epic adventures. My thought was "Our natural environment is just as exotic as they are. Why are we not as confident in it."

About a month later, at Cruise Shipping Miami, I proclaimed to a Galapagos Island tour operator that they should reposition their ship to the Great Lakes because we are every bit as exotic as the Galapagos!" Bold words indeed.

Getting there requires an understanding of the changes in travel motivations and emerging travel trends and the willingness of our private sector to make the necessary infrastructure and capacity improvements to attract these avid affluent adventure markets.

I was fortunate to be invited to an Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation travel trade education session today in Toronto, bringing four of North America's premier travel trade operators together in a day long panel to meet with eighty tourism professionals invited to participate from across the Province.

These professionals, Cathy Holler from Virtuoso, Norman Howe from Horizon and Co, Victoria Pearson from Routes to Learning and Nancy Blount of Blount Small Ships Cruising, The session provided valuable information on the educated and affluent segment of the North American market that we haven't given enough thought about. Despite the recession, there are still people working. With over 1 million millionaires and 25 million $100 000 plus households in the United States, many are still travelling and looking for value - not cheapness but experiences they feel good about and are willing to pay accordingly to enjoy them.

One of the common themes that emerged throughout the day by all of the presenters was on natural and cultural environment being a large draw for the emerging travel markets. How about that! We have natural environment that includes the world's largest freshwater lake, largest continual boreal forest and wildlife that is no less exotic than that found around the globe. Thunder Bay is the urban hub for all of this connected to the world by great air corridor connectivity, highway infrastructure and port. In the new regional tourism environment, working in partnership with the areas beyond our city lights is imperative to meeting the desires of the emerging traveller.

Armed with this consumer awareness and the desire for these firms to seek out new experiences for their clientele, the opportunity presents itself to look at our core attributes and identify the infrastructure and capacity improvements we need to make as an industry to attract them. Its the remote angling lodge reached by epic float plane journey, cruising the archipelago of the Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area or watching, camera in hand, eagles, bears and moose in their natural environment. These core trophy experiences connect to local culinary creations and a luxurious bed in a B and B, Inn or lodge.

We have a lot of product components already in place and some close to getting there. Critical to our strategy is raising the game of our experiences to the highest level possible by as many partners as possible and tools like today's session help us get there. We'll be following up in the next few months on developing some educational forums for industry interested in reaching these new affluent markets.

2010 Brings more Positive Travel Media Exposure to the City

Thunder Bay is continuing to see a strong travel media presence this summer with a number of web, print, television and viral stories released and new media personalities discovering the community's experiences.

Travel media is an essential and critical component of our community's tourism marketing strategy because it extends our reach to larger markets with significant visuals and editorial content that a simple advertisement just cannot deliver. When working with travel media we like to see an end product that ultimately has a digital home and where it can be shared with readers globally.

First, let's start with some of the media we've seen released in the past month or so.

KSTP, the Minneapolis ABC Television affiliate, paid two visits to our great community back in June and early July to tape a series of segments for their evening news travel program called "On the Road With Jason Davis. While here, Jason and his cameraman, David Peterson, visited Fort William Historical Park, Eagle Canyon, Kakabeka Falls, the Amethyst Mine Panorama and experienced Lake Superior salmon fishing with Archie's Charters. These segments went to air in late July in the Minneapolis and St Paul markets and you can view them here at http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/s1655626.shtml?cat=69

The Toronto Star published a story about Thunder Bay's iconic connection to its natural environment this past July as well. Writer David Gonczol visited the community back in 2009 and spent several days exploring with SailSuperior.com, and experiencing the city's Finnish and culinary culture. You can read it here at http://www.thestar.com/travel/article/841808--a-superior-experience-in-thunder-bay

Recently, we received a note from Victoria that we got a brief mention in a story on Great Lakes Cruise Shipping. The M.V. Columbus returns to the Great Lakes in 2011 with two scheduled stops in Thunder Bay and a story about the vessel's North American itineraries made it into the Victoria daily news.

A recent story on the Thunder Bay to Sault Ste Marie touring route found its way online at antimusic.com and rocknworld.com. Kevin Wierzbicki, an Arizona based free lancer, was here in early July and published his story in mid August. Read more here at http://www.rocknworld.com/roadtrip/10/lakes/index.shtml

As the majority of writers are scoping out and researching their stories well in advance of their publication and release, some of the articles being researched now won't appear for up to a year in market. That said, we're having an incredibly busy August, with no fewer than three separate groups in the city this week alone. This includes the publishers of the annual Travel Guide to Canada, motorcycle journalists Joe and Flora Lloyd (http://www.curbsyde.com/), and a Minnesota based freelancer.

Our media footprint continues to raise the profile of the community and its experiences, helps us solidify our goal to be positioned as one of Canada's best outdoor cities and rising destination of choice for avid educated outdoor enthusiasts, sport tourism participants, convention planners and group tour operators.

Responding Confidently to Changes in Travel Patterns Can Yield Success.

This morning's edition of the Chronicle Journal provided a little insight into the state of U.S. travel to the Thunder Bay area and offers a slice of optimism in what remains our closest large market. We are 45 minutes to a country of over 300 million, 35 million of whom live within a 15 hour drive of us. Ignoring this market because of the border crossing requirements and economy is foolish. We just have to work smarter than we have in the past.

Make no mistake, there are challenges, there have been declines and certainly for the outfitter markets offering the standard experiences, those declining U.S. numbers are still a reality. What we attempted to articulate to the industry in the article is that there are some encouraging trends to take advantage of and we need to adapt and evolve. In the north, we have to, as an industry, retire our traditional sense of entitlement and self depreciating negativity and start being positive, confident and aggresive because we do have world class outdoor experiences that should be on par with anything else on earth.

There is no doubt to any of us in the tourism industry that the U.S. market has declined in a post 911 security environment. Throw in an economic meltdown for good measure and you have a challenge. Fail to change your marketing tactics, research emerging trends or freshen up your product and you just add fuel to the fire. All of these things have combined to the reduction in the US market. One of the worst decisions we made as an industry after 2001 was curtailing our U.S. marketing campaigns and making generalized statements such as"why bother, they're not travelling." We simply, as an industry, didn't do our homework and we didn't shift our tactics and we didn't refresh our product.

However, a lot of U.S. residents are still travelling in general and although not in the same volumes as before, the fact that there are over 11 million passport holders in our key US border states and over 75 million nationally, one thing is certain....There are still a lot of people looking for experiences beyond their borders.

Its incumbent on us in the industry to reach these avid, affluent and educated travel markets more effectively than in the past. Selling the same thing in the same channels through the same marketing model as we did for the past 40 years doesn't work and we, as a region, have to make some changes to what we have, how we sell it and who we reach.

In 2009, when US travel to Canada was down 9.2%, U.S. traffic through Thunder Bay declined by approximately only 1%. In other words, we were largely unaffected. We lost some traditional hunting and fishing markets but gained new markets in touring and soft adventure. We did this by shifting tactics and focusing on avid markets in State capitals and being more aggressive in web and earned media through an experiential targeted approach. By reaching markets with higher percentages of government and supporting service employees - people who are less likely to lose disposable income in recessions - we were able to find some degree of success.

US traffic through Pigeon River remained steady this year for the first 4 months and while a dip in May has us watching closely, we've been told anecdotally by area hoteliers and attractions, that they are seeing the US market rebound modestly in the summer months. We can hope that this trend continues but it will require vigilance on our part in understanding the trends, knowing the consumer and reaching them effectively with good quality, high value trophy experiences that are relevant to their desires.

Some simple tips to remain successful in attracting the U.S. market.

1. Know Your customer. Who are they, where are they from and what they want to experience

2. Research - understand travel motivators. The Ministry of Tourism has some fantastic data for free on their website to help you identify the travel trends. www.tourism.gov.on.ca

3. Market effectively. In a digital age, you can reach markets globally and more cost effectively than ever before and its critical that those in the industry feel comfortable using the web, managing their content to keep it current, utilizing social media and it can start with simple things like responding to emails. Its also important to track your marketing to know what works and what doesn't.

4. Be Relevant. Offer people a experience that they seek. Times change and so do people's desires and expectations. It important to evolve with them.

5. Quality and Value. There is nothing wrong with charging what an experience is worth but make sure the visitor goes away happy, refers you to others and returns. Things like clean accommodation, good food, exceptional customer service and groomed properties go a long way. A gallon of paint, a lawn mower and a smile don't cost a lot but can have an impact.

6. Build critical partnerships. We're all in this together and we all play a role in encouraging visitors to choose our area for their experience. Even Thunder Bay, for its size and tourism budget, relies on effective tourism partners throughout the Northwest to help reach our markets effectively. Just look at the Canada's Great Outdoors program this year as an example. When we all work together and pool resources around a common goal or experience, we all benefit.

7. Be patient. Even modest gains in the beginning is positive and its important to build upon these successes year after year.

COUNTDOWN TO 2010 THUNDER BAY MARATHON - MILES WITH THE GIANT BEGINS

The countdown to the fi rst annual Thunder Bay Marathon - Miles with the Giant race
weekend began in earnest yesterday with the launch of the official website at http://www.thunderbaymarathon.com/.

The Thunder Bay Marathon - Miles with the Giant event on September 19, 2010 will feature a marathon of 26.2 miles, a half-marathon of 13.1 miles, and a 5 km race. The weekend will also include a Health & Fitness Expo, a pre-race Spaghetti Dinner, entertainment and activities around the city - along the racecourse, and at Marina Park. In addition, participants will have the opportunity to raise pledges for local charitable organizations.

Barry Streib, President and Chair of the Thunder Bay Marathon - Miles with the Giant, a not-for-profit corporation says, “We believe that this event will provide numerous benefi ts to our community by encouraging an active and healthy lifestyle, generating economic stimulus, increasing tourism, and fostering collaboration between community groups.”

The course will combine Thunder Bay North’s urban, park, and residential settings into a unique experience for participants. Runners will be treated to a spectacular view of the Sleeping Giant on their sprint to the finish down Red River Road. Half marathoners will circle the route once while full marathoners will complete the route twice. A full map of the course is available on the website.

“An event of this magnitude cannot happen without the support of the community,” says Streib. “We will be actively seeking support from the business community and from enthusiastic volunteers to assist in making the weekend a success.”

The Thunder Bay Marathon – Miles with the Giant’s mission is to create a world class marathon offering a fast, challenging course, attracting both elite and recreational runners and walkers, and a series of associated events to encourage community and corporate involvement, with a single common thread - a love of wellness and the sport of running.

For more information on getting involved as a runner or volunteer, please visit www.thunderbaymarathon.com or visit their Facebook group at:http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=Thunder+Bay+Marathon&init=quick#/group.php?gid=134888051133&ref=search&sid=571295562.2675316804..1

July U.S. Travel Number to Thunder Bay Continue to Show Optimism

Statistics Canada and the Canadian Border Services Agency have released the July 2009 travel statistics and we are pleased to see a continued pattern of U.S travellers entering Canada south of Thunder Bay increasing modestly over last year.

The number of U.S. Residents entering Canada by automobile at Pigeon River was 18,190 in July 2009, compared to 17,977 in 2008, a 1% increase over 2008.

While declines this year have been noted in day trips (3303 in 2008 to 2856 in 2009) and one night stays (722 in 2008 down to 667 in 2009), the growth has occurred in the two plus night travel markets which saw an increase from 13,952 in 2008 to 14,667 in 2009, an increase of 5%. The increase in longer stays is also important to note in that it increases the economic impact on the city and region with each longer stay. This also indicates that the travel was planned in advance of visitors leaving their homes rather than spontaneous day tripping.

Given the continued struggling North American economy and new Passport identification issues, these sustained travel patterns and areas of growth are an encouraging sign that shifts in tourism marketing towards U.S. experience based travel markets by Tourism Thunder Bay, OTMPC and other tourism partners are having an effect at countering the losses felt in other jurisdictions. Anecdotaly, we have heard of increased motorcycle and RV travel from area partners and believe these new touring markets represent the future growth potential for the city as part of the larger Lake Superior Circle Tour experience.

How Will Greyhound's Departure Affect Local Tourism

With today's announcement that Greyhound Canada will discontinue service in Northwestern Ontario and Manitoba, there is some speculation on what this departure, and the removal of a traditional form of ground transportation, will have on the city.

While hard to pinpoint the exact numbers of travellers to the city who use Greyhound, the effect will be negligible for a number of reasons. Many of the people utilizing Greyhound through the city are doing just that - going through the city - and their stop here is only a matter of stretching for a few minutes, grabbing a meal and getting on with their journey. Those that do start or end their journey here are taking the bus because their point of origin is not serviced by air, that the bus is cheaper (in theory) than air or they are afraid to fly. Where we anticipate a reduction in visitation, albeit a minor one, is the youth budget cross Canada market. These groups are generally on a budget and have a big country to explore so they won't stay in the city that long, nor leave a large economic impact. That said, the local industries that I predict may be affected by this travel segment would be the hostels, basic level accommodation providers and in some cases, even campgrounds.

The air corridor and fear of flying reasons are both sound reasons but on the topic of expense, a look at the Greyhound website shows 14 day advance bookings at $93.75 each way from Toronto and a last minute non refundable ticket at $195.10. A refundable ticket will set you back $216.10 each way. These rates are not that much less than advance airfares on the three major Canadian airlines that service the Thunder Bay to Toronto corridor and add to that the 2 hour travel time by air versus the 24 hour travel time by bus, the time saving alone is worth the extra airfare cost.

Given the emphasis we have placed on the motor coach attraction market, our focus has been on the specialty firms that offer packaged destination experiences and not scheduled transportation carriers like Greyhound. In fact, we see those charter operators continuing to serve Thunder Bay and some that provide trans Canada touring routes could even pick up some of the slack albeit a minimal amount. With respect to Tourism Thunder Bay's marketing focus, most of our efforts in the leisure market caters to the independant adventurer, arriving by car, RV or motorcycle. Our corporate market caters to regional auto travel or air travel and our sport tourism markets will generally utilize charter coaches or air travel.

However, I don't see the absence of bus travel to and through Thunder Bay lasting long at all. Within the city we have 4 great locally owned motor coach operators. Caribou Coach (www.cariboucoach.ca) has already assumed previously abandoned Greyhound lines extending from Fort Frances to Hearst and is growing to meet growth opportunities in the charter field. Other local players include Winning Streak Charters (www.winningstreakcharters.com), Norcan Tours (www.norcantours.ca) and Happy Time Tours (www.httours.com) While there is no telling, who, if any pick up the routes, the opportunity could exist for a local or regional solution to link Saskatchewan and Southern Ontario.

The bottom line is, while a concern for those in rural Northern Ontario, the departure of Greyhound will not have a huge or lasting negative impact on tourism within the city of Thunder Bay. If efforts to restore a traffic corridor were to be undertaken through the region, I'd rather see efforts made towards the return of passenger rail.

The McGuffin's Launch a Great Quetico Commerative Book

Anybody in Canada and the United States who appreciates wilderness photography and conservation knows the names of Gary and Joanie McGuffin. They have done a lot to bring attention to the natural beauty of Northern Ontario through their stunning photography, epic annual adventures and leadership in conservation based causes to ensure our natural environment remains a tourism treasure for generations to come. I'm also proud to call them friends of mine and I credit them as being an instrumental part in of launching of the "Seven Days With the Giant" platform in 2008.

This morning, Gary and Joanie released a new book of images and stories to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Quetico Park. I have to admit I have never paddled Quetico but have flown over much of it in a float plane and educated myself at their visitor center. A read through their latest work uncovers the layers and depth of what is one of the world's great natural environment parks that encourages me to explore it by water, up close and personal. It also reminds me that we in Thunder Bay are fortunate to be a gateway community to this renowned wilderness area and our strategy to build Thunder Bay into one of Canada's great outdoor cities needs to integrate with such a gem.

The book is available at Chapters here in Thunder Bay and it makes a fantastic gift or a great educational keepsake for yourself. I think more local tourism partners should learn about this gem and what they can do to link themselves to it in some way. To learn more about these wonderful folks, visit http://www.garyandjoaniemcguffin.com/

Trophy Garden Summer Reunion Brings Two Hundred RV Enthusiasts to Thunder Bay this Summer.

Tourism Thunder Bay is pleased to welcome the Trophy Gardens Summer Reunion, a group of U.S. based recreational vehicle owners who will be enjoying Thunder Bay’s Superior By Nature visitor experiences for five days.

Over 225 people are registered for this event, organized by local RV enthusiasts Carol Ahlstrand and Donna Hunter who winter in Texas. They extended an invitation to their winter neighbors and many jumped at the chance to explore the area this year. While the majority of them are exploring by recreational vehicle, others are arriving by automobile and staying at local hotels.

Promoting the Lake Superior circle tour drive for RV groups is an important part of our overall marketing strategy, and capitalizes on our community’s location on one of North America’s best scenic drives. This event alone is expected to inject over $166 000 into the local economy as these visitors tour local attractions, shop and explore. Our sponsorship of this event is being tested as a new approach to encouraging local road touring groups to organize local events that bring visitors and new revenue into the community. We congratulate the Ahlstrands and Hunters for their role as local ambassadors in a way that helps us grow the local tourism economy.

Councillor Rebecca Johnson, a huge supporter of tourism initiatives and myself were invited to their sit down supper this past tuesday and both of us had a chance to bring our welcome from Council and the city's tourism industry. While a seemingly small gesture for us, they loved feeling welcome and having a City Councillor there made their days. In mingling afterwards, I heard nothing but positive comments from the more than 225 people in attendance, telling us how friendly and accommodating everyone in the community had been to them and even the ease in which they were processed at the border.

The event is being held at the KOA Campground in Thunder Bay and runs from August 17 to the 21st. Stop in and say hello if you have a chance. They love feeling welcome in our community.

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.

Travel Media Descends on Thunder Bay

Throughout July Tourism Thunder Bay (www.visitthunderbay.com) have played host to an unprecedented number of travel journalists through our partnership with Ontario Parks (www.ontarioparks.com) and the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation (www.tourismpartners.com).

During the week of July 19th, Tourism Thunder Bay played host to eight writers from three countries travelling in two groups. The theme of both tours was "Four Days With the Giant" and we were able to showcase Thunder Bay's incredible "Superior By Nature" brand of customer service.

One group consisting of Canadian and US freelance journalists arrived in the City on July 19th and were escorted around the community for six days, visiting Sleeping Giant Park, paddling and sailing the harbour and rivers through the city, visiting iconic attractions such as Fort William Historical Park and Kakabeka Falls and enjoying many of Thunder Bay's unique culinary experiences, including the Hoito, Caribou, Good News, Thunder Oak Gouda and others.

The second group was arranged through OTMPC's Japanese office and consisted of four Japanese journalists who specialize in writing about Women's outdoor experiences. This group enjoyed much of the same itinerary that focused on outdoor and cultural experiences combined with urban culture and culinary elements. The Asian travel market, while a small percentage of Thunder Bay visitors, shows tremendous growth potential as the market looks to explore Canada beyond Toronto and Vancouver. It is also a group that stays longer adnd leaves a much greater per person economic impact.

For both tours, Tourism Thunder Bay's Cathy Presenger worked behind the scenes to arrange the local itineraries and provide support to ensure their every need was accommodated while in the community.

The recurring comment made by the writers was the incredible hospitality they received in the city, the abundance of attractions and discoveries, great summer weather, cleanliness of the community and the interest in being present in a community undergoing an exciting economic transition. One group was treated to wine with their Caribou dinner experience, complements of kayaker Maureen Stehman, whom they met on the McIntyre River earlier in the day.

The writers had time to explore on their own and went discovering unique local gems, some of which were unknown to even those of us in the know!

As the articles start emerging in print and online travel journals, we will be posting links on this site.

Summer Northern Ontario Travel Intentions Released

The Ministry of Tourism has released the 2008 Travel Intentions study focused specifically on Northern Ontario

The full report, undertaken by TNS Canadian Facts is available at the following link.

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

The intentions mirror what many in the regional industry are already seeing; a decline in US traffic and potential growth markets with short haul domestic markets such as Southern Ontario and Manitoba.

Tourism Thunder Bay has responded to the intentions with marketing efforts that focus more on the region, Manitoba and the Southern Ontario outdoor experience seeker market more likely to travel a little further for unique outdoor adventures.

On other fronts, a greater emphasis on sport tourism development and more agressive corporate marketing are helping to offset potential declines in the leisure markets.

Domestic markets remain steady at the moment, compared with 2007 data and while US markets are lower than 2007, we are noticing a resurgence in interest by the motor coach and cruise ship segments. Tourism Thunder Bay will host 8 cruise industry executives and 10 motorcoach industry representatives on two separate Familiarization Tours in late June 2008.

Tourism Thunder Bay is also partnering with NOSTA and the North of Superior Marian Marketing Association to test market the affluent US midwest boaters market with a series of print and online advertisements and editorial promoting the Lake Superior boating experience. With over 1.5 million boats registered in Minnesota and Wisconsin, focusing on a large market seeking high quality marine experiences, aims at attracting U.S. visitors more likely to travel for an experience they have a passion for.

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.