April Visits to Terry Fox Demonstrate Market Resiliance.

The April 2009 visitor statistics at the Terry Fox Center are approximately on par with 2008, a welcome sign that this summer's leisure season may be reasonably successful in light of challenging economic times across North America.

A total of 1064 visitors registered at the center in April and while that was down 94 persons from 2008, the center was closed on April 1 for a snow storm and on Easter Monday as part of our restructuring plan to reallocate staffing to keep the Pagoda center open longer during summer months. When these dates were accounted for as their daily average visitation, the numbers are pretty much only 10 visitors off from the previous year.

Canadian Visitors totaled 900 or 78% of visitors and included the following

• Ontario - 64%
• Manitoba - 11%
• BC - 8%
• Saskatchewan - 7%
• Alberta - 4%
• Quebec - 2%

US traffic, at 118 visitors, was 10% and was overwhelmingly from our core markets of Minnesota (70%) and Wisconsin (15%)

Overseas traffic, at 46 visitors, made up 4% of total traffic to the center.

Tourism Thunder Bay Encouraging Careers in Tourism

For the first time, Tourism Thunder Bay has a presence at the 2009 Regional Career Fair being held at the Confederation College Aviation Center of Excellence. The Fair runs May 21 and 22nd.

Opportunities for summer employment, careers and entrepreneurship exist in the tourism industry and its important to reach youth in the community and encourage them to consider the opportunities that the industry can provide. There are dozens, if not hundreds of careers within the broader tourism industry, ranging from culinary and hotel management to web development, marketing, human resources, parks, guiding, and aircraft maintenance and flying. These opportunities span the private, public and not for profit sectors. Students don't often think about tourism or the employment future that can exist in the region and with downturns in the traditional economic sectors, a pending wave of retirements across the public service and product gaps requiring skillful entrepreneurs, there is a future for youth in tourism.

We're also utilizing this as a platform to promote tourism programs at Lakehead University and Confederation College as well as some of Northern Development and Mines NOHFC Co-op and Intern, Youth Entrepreneurship and new entrepreneur programs. In discussions with event organizers, we see the potential to grow the tourism industry presence at future career fairs to involve more of our private and public sector tourism partners to showcase the exciting diversity of careers within an industry that will need youth the grow and diversify. My hat goes off to event organizer Pat Forrest of Forrest Marketing and Communications for her leadership role and enthusiasm in organizing this great event.

An added side benefit of a tourism presence at the event has been educating young people about all Thunder Bay has to offer. With thousands of students from Grade 8 and up coming through the doors, our 2009 Visitor Experience magazines have been a popular item, with many students commenting that they never realized how much there is to do in Thunder Bay. As our community's teenagers reach the age where they are forming opinions about the city and whether they want to remain here after school, building community pride and awareness of all the city has is an important step in helping stem out migration.

After a successful first day today, we'll be at the fair again on Friday May 22nd from 9 am to 2:30 pm in booth 24. Feel free to stop in and say hello. For more information, visit http://www.nstb.on.ca/careerfair/index.htm

Harnessing Technology Improves Communication

Well, the title is pretty obvious and to anyone in marketing, the statement is like preaching to the converted. The tourism industry is made up of thousands of stakeholders in Thunder Bay and keeping the industry informed is a little like herding cats. Town hall meetings rarely get large turnouts because industry partners are either busy running their own business, are content with how things are working or are suspicious of the input processes.




The City's exciting new waterfront development program at Prince Arthur's Landing is an important step forward in moving our community's reputation as a great outdoor city and hence our tourism economy forward. Connecting people and the downtown to the water is essential to making our city more vibrant. Understandably, a project of this investment level and magnitude does not evolve without its detractors. We're not alone. Every city undergoing a fundamental shift in its economy goes through these discussions and debates.


Providing the community the opportunity to understand what's happening within the tourism industry is an imperative part of the transparency process. Recently an open house was hosted to inform the community of the design details and environmental assessment process. The unique part of the session was that it was broadcast live on streaming video. Morvision's Paul Morallee (http://www.morvision.on.ca/) teamed up with James Murray of NetNewsLedger (http://www.netnewsledger.com/) to broadcast the entire session on the web and post participant workbooks for interested individuals to fill in and email back to the City. Hats off to these two gents, who are huge supporters of the City and have been incredibly helpful to us in getting the tourism message out during my time here.

I had a chance to check out Paul's set up earlier that evening and its slick and compact. Camera, laptop, wireless transmitter and brackets and bracing (manufactured by Thunder Bay's own Cinevate no less) make for a set up that's relatively easy to set up, move and store.

Utilizing this technology is simple and has countless applications in reaching industry partners effectively, on their time and turf. This isn't new technology but recent local partnerships are making it more available to wider audiences and providing new opportunities to share and inform in real time. For more information, visit http://www.netnewsledger.com/ or www.morvision.on.ca

New Program Gives Potential New Tourism Entrepreneurs a Leg Up

Starting a business is not easy and with the current trends in the economy and of the commercial banking industry that can make access to credit all the more difficult, its great to see new programs available to reward the spirit, confidence and determination of the entrepreneur.

The Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC) has announced the "New Entrepreneur Program" today. The program provides conditional contributions up to a maximum of 50% to a maximum of $125 000 for new start ups in Northern Ontario. The program is welcome news for the regional tourism industry, where current product gaps can potentially now be met. The commercial banking industry has been cool to the tourism industry in the region but this program provides applicants with significant financial support that can be used to leverage additional funds successfully.

I hear dozens of new business ideas weekly from people who call, email, stop me in the mall and even call my home. A lot of these ideas are great ones (and some need more thought) and many can be referenced back to the product gaps we've identified within the recently released "Premier Ranked Tourist Destination Framework". However, a major stumbling block has always come down to access to financial assistance to take these ideas to reality. It's what has been preventing the industry from expanding to meet the evolving needs of consumers.

There are a lot of educated and talented people in the city and region, many of which have found themselves caught up in the turmoil of the resourced based economic slowdown. Many have talents passions and ideas that can form the foundation of rewarding self employment opportunities. Programs that can make entry into the industry easier are welcome and while entrepreneurship is one of the most rewarding careers on earth, it is also one of the most stressful and challenging. I know as I've had several businesses over the past 20 years and know the highs and lows well. Prospective entrepreneurs can feel comfortable knowing there are numerous programs to help them through the process, well beyond the financial challenges.

Some of the program highlights include:

• The program is open to residents of Northern Ontario who intend to start a new full time business in the region.


• The program provides conditional contribution of up to 50% of eligible costs up to a limit of $125 000.


• The business must create new full time employment opportunities.


• The applicant must make a cash contribution of 10% of the conditional grant.


• Total federal and Provincial financial support must not be greater than 75%


• Eligible costs at the 50% threshold include capital and leasehold improvements.


• Marketing costs up to 20% of the total project cost.


• Cannot be utilized to expand an existing business similar to an existing one owned by the applicant or family members.
  

Nothing worth doing is never easy and hopefully, the uptake on this new programs sees bold new business owners take their new tourism experiences to market shortly. I, for one, can't wait to see what new tourism businesses succeed because of this.

For more information on the program, go to: http://www.mndm.gov.on.ca/nohfc/program_northern_entrepreneur_e.asp

Putting Our Best Foot Forward

Last Friday kicked off Spring up to Clean Up in Thunder Bay and over 9000 people came out of their workplaces and schools to pick up winter's nasty little surprises around the community. The receeding snow leaves its share of litter and debris but so do inconsiderate residents. Its the reality of a winter city and we can take some degree of comfort in knowing that every city faces this problem. This effort helps out the dozens of parks and road crews out scrubbing the roads and parklands in preparation for the spring visitor season.

The tourism and waterfront staff did our part too, getting out to collect litter, old tires and even disgarded car parts along the waterfront office road. In our case, this was the first time in over 5 years that people have been working along that road and so , it was quite a task. however, it took a team of 8 people only 30 minutes to make a huge dent in the accumulated litter. In fact, while we were out there, citizens joined us, bringing their own garbage bags and gloves.

First impressions mean everything in our industry and as I begin my seasonal tours of the City's attractions and accommodators, I often point out ways that tourism businesses can improve the appearance of their business creatively and inexpensively. Picking up litter on a regular basis, cutting the grass, trimming weeds, planting gardens and trees and sweeping winter sand from parking areas are all easy and inexpensive ways to make a business shine. Even installing ash trays and garbage cans is something easy to do but often overlooked. These are all easy things to do, using existing staff but sometimes get overlooked for a variety of reasons. Maybe its because I am a former landscaper but my big peeve is unkept grass and empty flower beds.

The Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce (http://www.tb-chamber.on.ca/) annually gives out a looking good award and this year, congratulations go out to the Best Western Norwester Resort Hotel. Some others that consistently shine also include the Valhalla Inn (http://www.valhallainn.com/), OLG Casino Thunder Bay (http://www.olg.ca/) , Fort William Historical Park (http://www.fwhp.ca/) and the Day's Inn (http://www.daysinn.ca/) properties and they deserve a round of applause for the continual efforts made to promote clean and green. I encourage our tourism partners to get out there, look around your businesses and see what the visitor sees. Check out other properties and you will find that you don't need to do a lot to make visual improvements.

The City of Thunder Bay's Clean, Green and Beautiful committee is another great new initiative worth noting. $300 000 annually is set aside in the City's operating budget for projects that promote a cleaner and more aesthetically pleasing community, including public art and campaigns that celebrate businesses and organizations who have made an difference in presenting themselves through clean and green initiatives.

For more information on getting involved in Spring Up to Clean Up and other environmental programs and advice for your business, visit Eco Superior at http://www.ecosuperior.com/.

Ontario's Competitiveness Strategy Provides an Opportunity for Input

A few month's back, the Ontario Ministry of Tourism unveiled the blueprint to revitalize Ontario's tourism industry and improve its competitiveness on the global stage. If you haven't read this yet, its a must read for the industry and can be accessed at http://www.tourismstudy.ca/en/index.php. The report's 20 recommendations are all solid although there are not a lot of surprises with respect to the elements of the tourism economy we can improve upon. One thing is for certain. Its great to see them spelled out and movement being made to implement them.




The Province has been quick to begin unveiling some of the recommendations already, with the notable inclusion of $40 million in the 2010 budget towards regional tourism marketing. That $40 million, as you may recall, is the net from a proposed Province wide destination marketing fee being proposed. Essentially, every accommodation provider in the Province will collect a hotel room levy, with the proceeds reinvested back in the industry. While it is estimated that $100 million could be collected, retailers collecting the new tax are expected to be able to apply input tax credits, meaning that they will get back what they pay out for supplies. This is an exciting time for the future of the tourism industry in the Province but some tough decisions must be made to move us collectively forward.


The Province is currently undertaking a series of consultations across Ontario to get input into the proposed new Tourism Destination Marketing and Management regions with their own organizational structures . Two of these DMMOs have been proposed for Northern Ontario - northeast and northwest - and as you can imagine, this is creating quite a lot of spirited discussion. To that end, its imperative that the industry provide their feedback into the proposal and help craft destination management zones that are effective and make sense.



I encourage industry representatives to submit their input to Rob Ballantyne at the Ministry of Tourism by emailing your constructive and creative suggestions to him at rob.ballantyne2@ontario.ca. To help you craft your submission, follow the following questions that have been posed at the various input sessions.

Determining criteria for regional boundaries resulting in successful regional tourism management

Think about: A region being destinations that work together

Question 1: What criteria should be used to determine regional boundaries?

Think about:
Iconic attractions within an area
A well established brand
Tourism travel patterns
Minimum level of tourism activity
The potential for travel packaging

Question 2: How should the boundaries be drawn and who should draw them?

Think about:
Whether you have suggestions for specific boundaries

Question 3: How should the name of each region be decided?

Think about:
What the process should involve
The people / organizations who should be involved

Describing roles and responsibilities of a Destination Marketing and Management Organization

Question 1: What should DMMOs do?

Think about:
Leadership and coordination
Marketing and packaging
Quality of service/experience
Research/Information
Workforce development
Investment and product development

Question 2: How should DMMOs be organized?

Think about:
What is needed to put them in place
The appropriate governance model (e.g.
board structure, partnerships, success
measures)

Question 3: How would the DMMO work with others involved in tourism?

Think about:
Industry
DMOs
Associations
Ministry of Tourism
Provincial marketer
Other levels of government

Question 4: The 2009 Ontario Budget announced funding for tourism regions. What factors should be considered in distributing the funding?

Think about:
What is needed to become sustainable
The expectations of DMMOs that receive funding
Other sources of funding
How existing partnerships can be further
developed

How to move forward to establish a DMMO in this area

Question 1: What challenges or issues would have to be addressed?

Question 2: What are the strengths you have to build on in your area?

Showcasing Thunder Bay at Midwest Mountaineering

Thunder Bay is making waves in the Twin Cities outdoor community this week. Midwest Mountaineering's Spring Expo is the largest paddle sport and camping show in Minnesota, attracting some 12-15000 visitors over three days this past weekend. It also attracts top outdoor journalists and over 77 other exhibitors from around the world.

The event has been our chance to meet with potential consumers, pitch stories to travel media and network with some of the other partners to build some unique cross marketing initiatives. I'm at the show personally this year because Tourism Thunder Bay is one of the event sponsors and I'm speaking on the City's Seven Days with the Giant promotion on the 26th on the University of Minnesota campus. Catch me at 12:30 pm on the 26th on the Mississippi stage at the Humphery Centre on the U of M campus.

We don't do many consumer sport shows because they are expensive, time consuming and hard to track results. We do, however, explore new opportunities such as Midwest Mountaineering's Expo, where we can reach educated and affluent travel segments - in this case, outdoor seekers- who are more likely to travel during tough economic times and who can influence their professional peer groups.

This year, we have s significant Canadian contingent at the show and in addition to ourselves, we are sharing floor and presentation space with Ontario Park's Northwest zone, Wabikimi Wildwaters and Beyond the Giant Nature retreat. Regionally, we're also networking with our friends in Grand Marais and Lutson/Tofte to cross promote each other. We're hearing very positive feedback from the hundreds of consumers we've spoken to in the past two days and its encouraging to note that many of them have their passports already in advance of the June 1, 2009 deadline.