Media Release: - For Immediate Release July 9, 2008
Healing On The Albany – Ready to Go!
On July 12th, seven American and three Canadian soldiers will be the guests of a Canadian adventure travel company, Wilderness North of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada and marks the first time the American non-profit group Project Healing Waters (PHW) will stage an event outside of the U.S. and one that includes non-U.S. soldiers.
Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. (www.projecthealingwaters.org) was started at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC by retired Navy Captain Ed Nicholson through partnerships with the Federation of Fly Fishers and The National Capital Chapter of Trout Unlimited. The program grew and is now a nationwide program serving vets across the United States and now, Canada. The skills required to fly fish and tie flies have proven to be a valuable tool in the rehabilitation of these heroes who have been wounded from all conflicts that the U.S. and Canada have been involved in.
PHW event coordinator Mark Snyder said the July 12-20 event – Healing on the Albany – is the result of contributions from both sides of the border, both as cash, and in the form of equipment and services. “It all started when Wilderness North owners, Alan and Krista Cheeseman, made their gift of 10 fly in fishing adventure trips to their Miminiska Lodge on the Albany River and includes round trip flights from Thunder Bay, and all food, lodging, boats and motors for the soldiers, a value of over $30,000.” Wilderness North published a story about the soldiers in an e-newsletter sent to their own e-mail subscribers, who in turn responded with over $12,000 dollars in cash.”
Ed Newby of Chicago, a retired airline pilot from American Airlines has donated his private plane and that of friend Bob Buttgen who will fly the U.S. soldiers from Chicago to Thunder Bay on July 11th and back to Chicago on July 20th. American Airlines has donated all flights for the U.S. soldiers to and from Chicago. Inova Federal Credit Union gave $5000 from members and employees, the North Shore Steelhead Association of Thunder Bay is paying a portion of the expenses for the Canadian soldiers, an elementary school in Pittsburg, PA had a fund drive to raise money and Tourism Thunder Bay is coordinating media distribution and sponsoring the shuttle service while they stay in Thunder Bay. Other contributors include RIO Products (Idaho Falls, ID), Cabelas (Sidney, NE), The Fly Fisherman (Clermont, FL), Temple Forks Outfitters (Dallas, TX), Orvis (Manchester, VT), Korkers (Portland, OR) and St. Moritz (Vancouver, BC)
While in Thunder Bay, guests will enjoy a breakfast reception with representatives from the Thunder Bay Military community and tour Fort William Historical Park as guests of Tourism Thunder Bay.
Aboard those big orange Wilderness North de Havilland Otter floatplanes taking off from Thunder Bay on the morning of July 12th will be ten brave men who suffered the injuries of war, now on their way to the peace of the lush green boreal forests of Northwestern Ontario - - a borderless trip made possible by both U.S. and Canadian persons, who through their gifts, say “Thank You” to those who protect our freedoms everyday.
A media opportunity will be held at 11:45 AM, Saturday July 12th, 2008 at the Wilderness North seaplane base, located at 531 Shipyard Drive, Thunder Bay, ON.
Contact:
Project Healing Waters-Washington D.C.-Mark Snyder
301-325-1312
Wilderness North – Thunder Bay, ON – Wayne Blackmon
888-465-3474
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Tourism Industry Spotlight - Superior Outdoors
To celebrate those that are helping build a strong tourism economy, I'm introducing a new segment that will focus on different tourism related businesses and people.Superior Outdoors (http://www.superioroutdoors.ca/) magazine got its start in the spring of 2007 with its premier issue to much acclaim within the outdoor community. Local owners Darren and Michelle McChristie have put together a spectacular publication and website dedicated to the silent sports and environmentally sustainable recreational pursuits that the Lake Superior basin offers. They have discovered a unique niche in the editorial marketplace and have become champions for the lake basin and all it has to offer those of us looking to learn more about it.
The publication has grown rapidly in distribution and content and the third issue, released in early June 2008, is on newstands throughout the region and into Southern Ontario outdoor retailers such as Mountain Equipment Co-op stores in the Toronto, Winnipeg and Ottawa markets. Locally, it is available at Chapters and most local outdoor retailers.
Hats off to the McChristies for establishing their business venture and their role in helping to promote the Lake Superior region as a unique destination.
If you have a tourism business or know of a person that wants to be featured, email me at ppepe@thunderbay.ca and we'll consider your story for future online editions.
July Tourism News
Stats Showing local Tourism Industry on Par with 2007
With the first half of 2008 behind us, we are starting to paint a picture of how the visitor season will unfold. With the Tourism industry facing a number of unprecedented environmental challenges to contend with across Canada, Thunder Bay's tourism industry appears to be holding steady overall compared to 2007.
A review of a number of key indicators released to date paint a mixed picture and have identified areas of both opportunity and decline.
On the accommodations front, the local sector has faired well and on average, revenue per room has remained consistent with 2007 levels and in some cases slight increases have been shown. This has been largely due to growth in both the corporate (meetings and conventions) and sport tourism activities in the city and points to the successes of the city's enhanced focus on diversified tourism marketing efforts that put greater emphasis on attracting conferences and sporting events. The Mining Symposium and various sport events such as the Ontario Swimming Championships are strong indicators of the city's strategic advantage in hosting large groups.
Web visitation to http://www.visitthunderbay.com/ have shown a 51% increase over the same period of 2007, with visitors exceeding the 242 000 mark, up from 180 000 during the first half of 2007. This shows an increase in awareness about the city and it is being used as a tool to research leisure, sport and corporate travel.
Visitor Registrations at the Terry Fox Centre for the second quarter of 2008 show an approximate 8% decline. Domestic registrations are down approximately 4% with the biggest losses coming from Quebec, BC and Alberta markets. The Ontario market has shown increases of 2% over 2007, consistent with industry expectations that North American travellers would stay closer to home in 2008.
US registration numbers at the centre have shown a 25% decline over 2007 for the second quarter with declines across all major US markets. Overseas markets, while only representing 5% of our market, showed a 23% increase, consistent with national trends towards more European and Asian visitors who are coming to Canada because of the relative bargains and lower fuel prices compared to home markets. While the overseas markets are small, they typically stay longer in the community and have a higher per person per day spending over domestic visitors.
However, Canada Border Services data for the 2nd quarter paints a slightly more optimistic picture. While June US traffic at the Pigion River crossing was down 23%, April and May were on par with 2007 for US travellers entering Canada south of Thundder Bay, resulting in a second quarter decrease of only 12% overall. The second quarter saw 14 832 cars while 2007 saw 16 952 cars. However, the number of occupants within each car (not reported) is the more accurate measurement of visitation.
While we do not capture every single visitor in registrations at the Terry Fox Centre, the sampling represents the majority of those who provide basic information on their point of origin and is used as a barometer for guaging leisure traffic. Visitor retention is another important statistic as visitors who stay longer in the community will leave more of an economic impact, offsetting losses incurred by the number of person visits. U.S. visitors, while numbering less, are typically staying longer, helping to partially offset economic declines.
It is cautious to point out that these numbers are early indicators based on available data at this time. July and August travel numbers will be provide a more accurate picture as these two months represent the height of the leisure travel season. May and June border crossing statistics have not been released to us as of yet and may very well show declines less significant than visitor centre registrations are indicating, in percentage terms. We will endeavour to release data as it becomes available to us.
Motor Coach Industry Ramping Up
This Year's OMCa (Ontario Motorcoach Operators Association) conference painted a picture of an increase in motorcoach activity for 2008 and 2009 and the City recently hosted representatives from a number of Motor Coash and Tour operators who toured the city's main attractions to understand the opportunities that exist here. With rising fuel prices, the motorcoach industry is expecting a rise in travel as it becomes a more affordable option for those seeking to explore the country by road.
A number of cross Canada motorcoach tours are expected in the city over the summer and recently I had the opportunity to dine with 97 Southern Ontario visitors travelling aboard two Great Canadian Coaches from Toronto to Victoria on a tour called "Fabric of Canada" While in the city, they dined at the Fort William Country Club dining room, with the Norwesters providing the perfect backdrop to several presentations on the geology of the city by Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (http://www.mndm.gov.on.ca/) Geologist Mark O'Brien and Tim Lukinuk of Amethyst Mine Panorama (http://www.amethystmine.com/).
Special Group Visit Coming Up
On July 11th, 13 very special visitors will be coming through Thunder Bay on their way North for a 8 day fly fishing school with Wilderness North (http://www.wildernessnorth.com/) through their sponsorship of a program called "Healing Waters"
10 U.S. and 3 Canadian Military Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, who have suffered serious physical injuries during the course of their service, will be arriving in Thunder Bay on the evening of July 11th and will be flying north to one of Wilderness North's camps on July 12th to enjoy a relaxing week of world class fly fishing.
American Airlines has donated the flights for the service men to Chicago and a number of retired airline pilots will be flying them to Thunder Bay on their private aircraft to start their adventure. We want to extend a huge Thunder Bay welcome to our friends from across North America who have made enourmous sacrifices in the battle against global terrorism.
Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active duty military personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings. You can click on http://www.projecthealingwaters.org/ to learn more about this program or to make a donation.
Upcoming Media Tours
Later this month a number of media familiarization tours will be in the city, including a number of Japanese travel writers and outdoor travel writers from as far a field as Atlanta, Georgia. These itineraies have been brought together in partnership with Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership in support of Seven Days with the Giant.
...and speaking of the Giant, Seven Days with the Giant generated over 25 246 entries during its 3 month run.
BluesFest Weekend Getaway a Success.
This year's TBayTel's Thunder Bay Bluesfest was a great event with perfect weather. Tourism Thunder Bay was a media sponsor of the event and hosted the Bluesfest Weekend Getaway contest in the regional, Winnipeg and Northern Minnesota markets. This year set a new record for entries, with over 700 received. The winners, from Winnipeg, enjoyed Thunder Bay hospitality with Lake Superior Visits (http://www.superiorvisits.com/) and enjoyed 2 VIP passes to the Bluesfest with VIP parking privilages at the gate, a sail tour of the harbour and one night aboard http://www.sailsuperior.com/ 's floating bed and breakfast, two nights at the Days Inn North (http://www.daysinn.ca/) and meals at the Prospector, Lot 66 and Ruby Moon.
MyTBay.ca Around Town
The launch of MyTBay.ca in mid June has generated over 100 stories, photos and videos to date and we are taking the show on the road this summer around the community. Tourism Thunder Bay staff will be around Summer in the Parks events at Marina Park every Wednesday evening to give out buttons and give people the chance to win a cool MyTBay.ca tee.
A big thanks goes out to MyTBay.ca sponsor TBaytel (http://www.tbaytel.net/) and Barry Streib for hosting MyTBay.ca and Tourism Thunder Bay staff at their booth during this past weekend's Bluesfest to help get the message out.
We have started uploading some select stories and photos to the MyTBay.ca facebook group and will be utilizing these stories and images in upcoming tourism marketing campaigns into 2009.
Sport Tourism Strategy Update
The Recreation and Culture and Tourism Divisions of the City of Thunder Bay are presently circulating a draft sport tourism policy that will form the foundation for a future of aggressive growth. To view and comment upon the proposed policy, contact Paul Burke at pburke@thunderbay.ca. We are hoping to have the final policy approved by Council in the fall of 2008.
With the first half of 2008 behind us, we are starting to paint a picture of how the visitor season will unfold. With the Tourism industry facing a number of unprecedented environmental challenges to contend with across Canada, Thunder Bay's tourism industry appears to be holding steady overall compared to 2007.
A review of a number of key indicators released to date paint a mixed picture and have identified areas of both opportunity and decline.
On the accommodations front, the local sector has faired well and on average, revenue per room has remained consistent with 2007 levels and in some cases slight increases have been shown. This has been largely due to growth in both the corporate (meetings and conventions) and sport tourism activities in the city and points to the successes of the city's enhanced focus on diversified tourism marketing efforts that put greater emphasis on attracting conferences and sporting events. The Mining Symposium and various sport events such as the Ontario Swimming Championships are strong indicators of the city's strategic advantage in hosting large groups.
Web visitation to http://www.visitthunderbay.com/ have shown a 51% increase over the same period of 2007, with visitors exceeding the 242 000 mark, up from 180 000 during the first half of 2007. This shows an increase in awareness about the city and it is being used as a tool to research leisure, sport and corporate travel.
Visitor Registrations at the Terry Fox Centre for the second quarter of 2008 show an approximate 8% decline. Domestic registrations are down approximately 4% with the biggest losses coming from Quebec, BC and Alberta markets. The Ontario market has shown increases of 2% over 2007, consistent with industry expectations that North American travellers would stay closer to home in 2008.
US registration numbers at the centre have shown a 25% decline over 2007 for the second quarter with declines across all major US markets. Overseas markets, while only representing 5% of our market, showed a 23% increase, consistent with national trends towards more European and Asian visitors who are coming to Canada because of the relative bargains and lower fuel prices compared to home markets. While the overseas markets are small, they typically stay longer in the community and have a higher per person per day spending over domestic visitors.
However, Canada Border Services data for the 2nd quarter paints a slightly more optimistic picture. While June US traffic at the Pigion River crossing was down 23%, April and May were on par with 2007 for US travellers entering Canada south of Thundder Bay, resulting in a second quarter decrease of only 12% overall. The second quarter saw 14 832 cars while 2007 saw 16 952 cars. However, the number of occupants within each car (not reported) is the more accurate measurement of visitation.
While we do not capture every single visitor in registrations at the Terry Fox Centre, the sampling represents the majority of those who provide basic information on their point of origin and is used as a barometer for guaging leisure traffic. Visitor retention is another important statistic as visitors who stay longer in the community will leave more of an economic impact, offsetting losses incurred by the number of person visits. U.S. visitors, while numbering less, are typically staying longer, helping to partially offset economic declines.
It is cautious to point out that these numbers are early indicators based on available data at this time. July and August travel numbers will be provide a more accurate picture as these two months represent the height of the leisure travel season. May and June border crossing statistics have not been released to us as of yet and may very well show declines less significant than visitor centre registrations are indicating, in percentage terms. We will endeavour to release data as it becomes available to us.
Motor Coach Industry Ramping Up
This Year's OMCa (Ontario Motorcoach Operators Association) conference painted a picture of an increase in motorcoach activity for 2008 and 2009 and the City recently hosted representatives from a number of Motor Coash and Tour operators who toured the city's main attractions to understand the opportunities that exist here. With rising fuel prices, the motorcoach industry is expecting a rise in travel as it becomes a more affordable option for those seeking to explore the country by road.
A number of cross Canada motorcoach tours are expected in the city over the summer and recently I had the opportunity to dine with 97 Southern Ontario visitors travelling aboard two Great Canadian Coaches from Toronto to Victoria on a tour called "Fabric of Canada" While in the city, they dined at the Fort William Country Club dining room, with the Norwesters providing the perfect backdrop to several presentations on the geology of the city by Ministry of Northern Development and Mines (http://www.mndm.gov.on.ca/) Geologist Mark O'Brien and Tim Lukinuk of Amethyst Mine Panorama (http://www.amethystmine.com/).
Special Group Visit Coming Up
On July 11th, 13 very special visitors will be coming through Thunder Bay on their way North for a 8 day fly fishing school with Wilderness North (http://www.wildernessnorth.com/) through their sponsorship of a program called "Healing Waters"
10 U.S. and 3 Canadian Military Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, who have suffered serious physical injuries during the course of their service, will be arriving in Thunder Bay on the evening of July 11th and will be flying north to one of Wilderness North's camps on July 12th to enjoy a relaxing week of world class fly fishing.
American Airlines has donated the flights for the service men to Chicago and a number of retired airline pilots will be flying them to Thunder Bay on their private aircraft to start their adventure. We want to extend a huge Thunder Bay welcome to our friends from across North America who have made enourmous sacrifices in the battle against global terrorism.
Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc. is dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active duty military personnel and veterans through fly fishing and fly tying education and outings. You can click on http://www.projecthealingwaters.org/ to learn more about this program or to make a donation.
Upcoming Media Tours
Later this month a number of media familiarization tours will be in the city, including a number of Japanese travel writers and outdoor travel writers from as far a field as Atlanta, Georgia. These itineraies have been brought together in partnership with Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership in support of Seven Days with the Giant.
...and speaking of the Giant, Seven Days with the Giant generated over 25 246 entries during its 3 month run.
BluesFest Weekend Getaway a Success.
This year's TBayTel's Thunder Bay Bluesfest was a great event with perfect weather. Tourism Thunder Bay was a media sponsor of the event and hosted the Bluesfest Weekend Getaway contest in the regional, Winnipeg and Northern Minnesota markets. This year set a new record for entries, with over 700 received. The winners, from Winnipeg, enjoyed Thunder Bay hospitality with Lake Superior Visits (http://www.superiorvisits.com/) and enjoyed 2 VIP passes to the Bluesfest with VIP parking privilages at the gate, a sail tour of the harbour and one night aboard http://www.sailsuperior.com/ 's floating bed and breakfast, two nights at the Days Inn North (http://www.daysinn.ca/) and meals at the Prospector, Lot 66 and Ruby Moon.
MyTBay.ca Around Town
The launch of MyTBay.ca in mid June has generated over 100 stories, photos and videos to date and we are taking the show on the road this summer around the community. Tourism Thunder Bay staff will be around Summer in the Parks events at Marina Park every Wednesday evening to give out buttons and give people the chance to win a cool MyTBay.ca tee.
A big thanks goes out to MyTBay.ca sponsor TBaytel (http://www.tbaytel.net/) and Barry Streib for hosting MyTBay.ca and Tourism Thunder Bay staff at their booth during this past weekend's Bluesfest to help get the message out.
We have started uploading some select stories and photos to the MyTBay.ca facebook group and will be utilizing these stories and images in upcoming tourism marketing campaigns into 2009.
Sport Tourism Strategy Update
The Recreation and Culture and Tourism Divisions of the City of Thunder Bay are presently circulating a draft sport tourism policy that will form the foundation for a future of aggressive growth. To view and comment upon the proposed policy, contact Paul Burke at pburke@thunderbay.ca. We are hoping to have the final policy approved by Council in the fall of 2008.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Small Business Banking Advice for the Tourism Industry
Tourism Thunder Bay has been working proactively with the Thunder Bay financial Services community, educating them on emerging trends in the tourism industy and to encourage them to support tourism ventures that elevate the quality experiences visitors can have in the community.
Scotiabank is literally hitting the road in a specially-equipped RV to deliver information, advice and tools to small business owners across the country to help them grow their businesses to the next level. The RV tour was officially launched in Vancouver on June 3rd and is making a stop in Thunder Bay on June 27th to join local Scotiabank Small Business advisors as they meet with small business owners to identify strategies to grow their businesses.
The Scotiabank ‘Get Growing to a Million’ RV will be in the parking lot of the Scotiabank Balmoral Business Banking Centre on June 27th from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m at 745 Hewitson Street South. Scotiabank Small Business advisors will be on hand. Refreshments will be served and the RV will be open for interested small business owners.
While in town, Scotiabank will be highlighting the success of small business owner Lori Paras, a enthisastic local tourism industry partner and executive member of the North of Superior Tourism Association.
Scotiabank is literally hitting the road in a specially-equipped RV to deliver information, advice and tools to small business owners across the country to help them grow their businesses to the next level. The RV tour was officially launched in Vancouver on June 3rd and is making a stop in Thunder Bay on June 27th to join local Scotiabank Small Business advisors as they meet with small business owners to identify strategies to grow their businesses.
The Scotiabank ‘Get Growing to a Million’ RV will be in the parking lot of the Scotiabank Balmoral Business Banking Centre on June 27th from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m at 745 Hewitson Street South. Scotiabank Small Business advisors will be on hand. Refreshments will be served and the RV will be open for interested small business owners.
While in town, Scotiabank will be highlighting the success of small business owner Lori Paras, a enthisastic local tourism industry partner and executive member of the North of Superior Tourism Association.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tourism Thunder Bay wows the Cruise Shipping Industry
On June 20th and 21st, Tourism Thunder Bay played host to 6 cruise shipping industry executives representing various companies including Travel Dynamics, Residensea, LePonnant, Mundy Crusing, and Cruise North. They were accompanied by Stephen Burnett , the Executive Director of the Great Lakes Cruising Coalition.
The prepresrntatives were on an 8 day air safari of the Great Lakes and member ports of the Great Lakes Cruising Coaliton.
While in the city, they were treated to a tour of the Thunder Bay airport, an important ingredient in attracting vessels to use the city as a home port or terminal for starting and ending cruises, a strateegic advantage that potentially doublews the economic impact on the city. Guests were also treated to a sneak peak of Fort William Historical Park's historic precinct, revealing an incredivbley well manicured and prestine site on the heels of the June 6th flood.
Guests then enjoyed the dinner and hospitality of Whitewater Golf Course with Tim Heney of the Port Authority, Margaret Myslicki of the Thunder Bay Airport Authority and Bonnie Gauthier representing Lake Superior Visits, the local Inbound receptive operator, who all provided overviews of thier operations. After a tour of the course, the evening ended with a trip to Kakabeka Falls at 10 pm, highlighting the exceptionally long days of daylight we receive.
Saturday morning brought them to Good News on the Lake at the Historic CN Station for a catered sit down breakfast with Her Worship Mayor Peterson, Katherine Dugmore, the City's Waterfront Manager and Rob Lefavre of the Canada Border Service Agency. A presentaition on the new development followed by a tour of the Pool Six property, designated as the future cruise ship docking facility gave the delegation a great view of the harbour and a great site for future. From here, they boarded their chartered Kingair to continue a low slow flyover of the Lake Superior coast to Duluth.
The prepresrntatives were on an 8 day air safari of the Great Lakes and member ports of the Great Lakes Cruising Coaliton.
While in the city, they were treated to a tour of the Thunder Bay airport, an important ingredient in attracting vessels to use the city as a home port or terminal for starting and ending cruises, a strateegic advantage that potentially doublews the economic impact on the city. Guests were also treated to a sneak peak of Fort William Historical Park's historic precinct, revealing an incredivbley well manicured and prestine site on the heels of the June 6th flood.
Guests then enjoyed the dinner and hospitality of Whitewater Golf Course with Tim Heney of the Port Authority, Margaret Myslicki of the Thunder Bay Airport Authority and Bonnie Gauthier representing Lake Superior Visits, the local Inbound receptive operator, who all provided overviews of thier operations. After a tour of the course, the evening ended with a trip to Kakabeka Falls at 10 pm, highlighting the exceptionally long days of daylight we receive.
Saturday morning brought them to Good News on the Lake at the Historic CN Station for a catered sit down breakfast with Her Worship Mayor Peterson, Katherine Dugmore, the City's Waterfront Manager and Rob Lefavre of the Canada Border Service Agency. A presentaition on the new development followed by a tour of the Pool Six property, designated as the future cruise ship docking facility gave the delegation a great view of the harbour and a great site for future. From here, they boarded their chartered Kingair to continue a low slow flyover of the Lake Superior coast to Duluth.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Local Tourism Sector Supports Moving Muscles Ride 2008
Moving Muscles Ride 2008, a group of five university students, are cycling across Canada this summer to raise funds and awareness for Muscular Dystrophy. The five riders are Keith Martin, Jonathan Eric Taves, Patrick Cuthbert, Michael McDonald and Brian Avery Sprague.
The riders have a personal connection to Muscular Dystrophy in that Keith Martin suffers from Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD), a form of Muscular Dystrophy, a disorder that is characterized by the progressive weakening and wasting of voluntary muscles that control body movement. FSHD primarily affects the muscles in the face, shoulders and arms. Kieth is fortunate as others affected by the disorder are confimed to a wheelchair and although his future with FSHD is uncertain, he hopes to be able to maintain his lifestyle by constant movement of his muscle groups to avoid further deterioration. There is currently no cure or treatment for it.
The local tourism and hospitality sector have jumped on board to support this worthwhile initiative. The Valhalla Inn (www.valhallainn.com) has offered to be the accommodation sponsor for the five riders, ensuring that they will enjoy a first rate sleep after living in tents along the highway for the past few evenings in Northwestern Ontario. Thanks goes out to Rene Gurtner and staff for their participation and extending legendary Thunder Bay hospitality to the group. Tom Petrie of Petries Cycle and Sports is another sponsor of the riders and will be offering them cycle servicing while in the city.
Corporate National Sponsors of the event include Bombardier and Specialized Cycles.
They will arriving in Thunder Bay from the west on Wednesday June 18th in the afternoon. Their fundraising goal is $150 000 and they have raised $112 000 to date and still have half the country to travel.
From time to time Tourism Thunder Bay receives inquiries from charitable groups raising money with exciting and unique cross Canada journeys. The local tourism industry is thrilled to extend Thunder Bay's warm hand of hospitality to those with the passion and determination towards advancing research and treatment of physical and developmental disorders.
You can follow their progress and read their blog each day at www.movingmusclesride.ca.
Help us extend a warm Thunder Bay welcome to these five dedicated individuals by supporting Muscular Dystrophy's efforts in research and services.
The riders have a personal connection to Muscular Dystrophy in that Keith Martin suffers from Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD), a form of Muscular Dystrophy, a disorder that is characterized by the progressive weakening and wasting of voluntary muscles that control body movement. FSHD primarily affects the muscles in the face, shoulders and arms. Kieth is fortunate as others affected by the disorder are confimed to a wheelchair and although his future with FSHD is uncertain, he hopes to be able to maintain his lifestyle by constant movement of his muscle groups to avoid further deterioration. There is currently no cure or treatment for it.
The local tourism and hospitality sector have jumped on board to support this worthwhile initiative. The Valhalla Inn (www.valhallainn.com) has offered to be the accommodation sponsor for the five riders, ensuring that they will enjoy a first rate sleep after living in tents along the highway for the past few evenings in Northwestern Ontario. Thanks goes out to Rene Gurtner and staff for their participation and extending legendary Thunder Bay hospitality to the group. Tom Petrie of Petries Cycle and Sports is another sponsor of the riders and will be offering them cycle servicing while in the city.
Corporate National Sponsors of the event include Bombardier and Specialized Cycles.
They will arriving in Thunder Bay from the west on Wednesday June 18th in the afternoon. Their fundraising goal is $150 000 and they have raised $112 000 to date and still have half the country to travel.
From time to time Tourism Thunder Bay receives inquiries from charitable groups raising money with exciting and unique cross Canada journeys. The local tourism industry is thrilled to extend Thunder Bay's warm hand of hospitality to those with the passion and determination towards advancing research and treatment of physical and developmental disorders.
You can follow their progress and read their blog each day at www.movingmusclesride.ca.
Help us extend a warm Thunder Bay welcome to these five dedicated individuals by supporting Muscular Dystrophy's efforts in research and services.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Tourism Thunder Bay June 2008 News
MyTBay.ca On June 16, 2008, Tourism Thunder Bay, in collaboration with Corporate Communications and the Community Economic Development Commision launched http://www.mytbay.ca/, a community engagement portal developed to gather stories, video and photos from Thunder Bay residents, businesses and visitors about what makes Thunder Bay a great place to live, work and visit.
The campaign will run over the summer and will encourage local residents to build pride in their community, share their best tales and help spread the word about everything there is do do in the city. The camapign will help residents and satisfied visitors become ambassadors for the community. Selling the community to ourselves makes it easier to sell to others.
Selected materials gathered from this engagement campaign will be utilized in a number of upcoming tourism marketing campaigns, focusing on real experiences of real travellers and residents.
The campaign will be supported by community media partners Dougall Media (http://www.dougallmedia.com/), Newcap Radio (http://www.newcap.ca/), NetNewsLedger (http://www.netnewsledger.com/), CBC Radio 1 (http://www.cbc.ca/) and the Chronicle Journal (http://www.chroniclejournal.com/). While a few other communities around North America have had similar type campaigns, Thunder Bay's is unique in that it will engage social media channels unlike any other city, using Facebook, MySpace, Youtube and other social networks to engage visitors and steer them towards the main portal.
TBayTel (http://www.tbaytel.net/) is a major partner in the campaign as is Thunder Bay Transit and the Thunder Bay Public Library(http://www.tbpl.ca/), who will assist those without access to a home computer to log on at any Thunder Bay Public Library Branch to have their say.
The campaign was developed by the City's creative advertising agency, Generator Advertising (http://www.generatorad.com/) and a special thanks is extended to Jack Hudolin, Barry Smith, Heather Cranston and Steve Coghill of Generator for their creativity and insights into the project.
Visit http://www.mytbay.ca/ to add your photos, stories and videos about what you like best about working, living and visiting Thunder Bay.
Upcoming Familiarization Tours
On June 20 and 21st, Tourism Thunder Bay will be hosting executives representing 7 various cruise lines and vessel management firms. They are touring Great Lakes ports as part of the Great Lakes Cruising Coalition's efforts to introduce new cruise vessels to the Great Lakes. While in Thunder Bay, they will visit the Terry Fox Lookout, Whitewater Golf and the new marina development. While Fort William Historical Park is also on the itinerary, flood repairs may alter that visit.
While in the city, they will meet with City officials as well as staff from the Thunder Bay Port Authority, Thunder Bay International Airport Authority and Canada Border Services.
Cruise shipping can offer significant financial impacts on the community and it is expected that the 11 visits in 2009 by the vessel MV Clelia II will generate approximately $300 000 in economic impacts.
Following on their heels will be another delegation of 10 motorcoach executives touring Northern Ontario cities. With rising fuel prices, motorcoach travel is gaining in popularity and touring routes are once again popular. Three routes - the Lake Superior Circle Tour, loops from the prairies and trnas Canada travel catering to a largely Asian market - are all on the city's radar.
Seven Days With the Giant Update
Seven Days with the Giant officially ended May 30 and the campaign generated over 25, 240 entries. The winner's name should be released in the coming weeks and they and 3 guests will be visiting in August, 2008. During the campaign, web visitation to the http://www.visitthunderbay.com/ site increased by 41%.
BluesFest Weekend Getaway
This year, Tourism Thunder Bay celebrated tourism week with the release of the Bluesfest Weekend Getaway campaign in the Winnipeg, Northern Minnesota and regional Northwestern Ontario Markets. Thunder Bay residents are not eligble to enter but are encouraged to invite their out of town friends to enter online. The winner and a friend will recieve weekend passes to the 7th annual TBayTel Thunder Bay Bluesfest, a sailing charter with http://www.sailsuperior.com/ yacht charters and 1 night overnight accommodation on their floating Bed and Breakfast, two nights stay at the Day's Inn North (http://www.daysinn.ca/) dinners at the Prospector and Lot 66 and lunch at Ruby Moon.
ReDiscover Thunder Bay
In the June edition of "Your City", Tourism Thunder Bay was featured in a two page centre spread, encouraging local residents to rediscover our city. As part of National Tourism week and in response to the fact that 180 000 visitors come to the city annually to visit friends and family, building local amassadors helps sell the city.
Map Flap
As many in the industry are aware, Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership publications left Northwestern Ontario completely off the maps in both the distinctive Getaways campaign and the My Ontario 2008 Visitor Guide. However, with respect to each of the errors, the effects on Thunder Bay were minimized in that, the experiences featured in the Distinctive Getaways were not offered in this part of the Province and in the My Ontario Guide, the map ends just west of the city and Thunder Bay was featured in a 4 page editorial piece focusing on Fort William Historical Park, with the call to action listed as http://www.visitthunderbay.com/.
The Northern Office at the OTMPC took up the issue as did MPP Michael Gravelle and his staff at the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines. We thank them for bringing the concerns to the highest level to ensure the mistake is not made in the future.
We had the pleasure of meeting with Bill Duron, the Chair of OTMPC several weeks back to discuss many of the great partnerships Tourism Thunder Bay has formed with the OTMPC and Bill offered his heartfelt apology for the map deletion. However, we are pleased with the partnerships with OTMPC that assisted us with many campaigns in the past year, including Seven Days With the Giant. Watch for some new partnerships being announced in the nrear future.
Tourism Thunder Bay on the Move
We're moving out of our VicotriaVille offices and going on down to the water. Effective July 14, 2008, our new administrative offices will be located at Prince Arthur's Landing in the former Pool 6 office building.
The move facilitates the movement of the Mayor and CAO's offices into the former tourism location during City hall renovations this year.
We are excited by the new office location, while in the middle of a construction zone, signals growth of our city and our commitment to the waterfront development and future enhancements on the site, including cruise ship docking commencing in 2009. Terry Fox Visitor Center and the Pagoda will remain themain consumer points of contact for information.
Once we are settled, we welcome industry partners to visit for a tour and to see the plans for the new developments unfold.
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