Starting off the New Year Right.

I sat down today to craft a new years message for our tourism partners in the city and region. I thought a lot about advice I'd like to share with the tourism industry to ensure success in 2009. I thought about marketing, finance, HR, customer relations and a million other business related topics...but those will be blog entries for other days.

The most important thing we can do to ensure our own success is to understand what is important in life. When we have balance, our professional lives go that much smoother. I had an epiphany over the holidays about what's important. I've been at the helm of Tourism Thunder Bay for a little over two years now and I realized that I have been so absorbed helping to roll out innovative campaigns, I have not had a chance to really slow down. With typical weeks running 50-70 hours, discussing tourism at every social and family function and being away from home for what sometimes seems like weeks at a time, I took a deep breath and took some downtime. A week to be exact. I used to last 2 days on vacation before heading back to the office and I sleep with the Blackberry next to me so I can scan the online research reports when they roll out at 3 am.

This year, I spent time this christmas at home with the blackberry off. I got in the kitchen and cooked a rediculously massive Christmas dinner for friends and family, donated to some great local causes, worked on my project car, joined a gym and spent a lot of time with family. Its been truly energizing. I have to admit that while watching TV, I came up with a million new tourism marketing ideas, but there will be plenty of time to work on those later.

I used to have my own business so I like to think I can understand the challenges and sacrifices that many of our partners go through in the tourism industry to be successful. At the end of the day, none of our individual business successes are worth it if they negatively impact our personal lives and health. I was once told by one of my managers that "we're running a marathon, not a sprint." Those are words I always remember when things get hectic. A lot of us thrive on hectic. I know I do. Taking a step back, a deep breath and appreciating the environment we live in is important. Having our mental health sets the stage for personal and professional success.

I found an article online January 1st that summed it all up perfectly. So much so, that I think it will form my resolutions for the year. It ran in the Toronto Star yesterday and rather than paraphrase it, credit here has to go to the author, Sandy Naiman. Here is the link so you can read it yourselves.

http://www.healthzone.ca/health/article/559336

We've made some incredible industry advances in Thunder Bay in 2008 despite what was the perfect storm in the international tourism industry. 2009 will see some of those challenges continue but we have even bigger opportunities to place Thunder Bay front and centre as a destination of choice. If we follow some basic tips for mental well being, we'll all be able to maintain our creativity, persevere and continue to succeed through these challenging times.

Best of the new year to all of our tourism industry partners. I know I speak for the entire Tourism Thunder Bay Team when I say how excited we are to continue working with everyone in 2009.

Share Your Winter Shots with MyTBay.ca

MyTBay.ca has been producing a ton of great stories and pictures that will be featured in our upcoming 2009 tourism marketing campaigns.

This is your chance to share your winter photos, stories and videos with us. We want to see your favorite Thunder Bay winter experiences and hear about what makes Thunder Bay a special place in the winter for you!

Simply click on www.MyTBay.ca to upload your pics, stories and video clips.

Also, visit MyTBay.ca on Facebook to see more great stories and photos posted.

Read what Wander Woman writes about Thunder Bay

After a record breaking year for attracting travel media to the City of Thunder Bay, we're starting to see some great stories roll out.

Suzanne Wright, a freelance journalist out of Atlanta, GA, paid us a visit this past July and had an absolute blast. For us, it was fantastic to bear witness to her first impressions of Thunder Bay, as our community partners rolled out pleasant surprise after pleasant surprise for her to absorb.

Read what Suzanne had to say here.

http://www.wanderwomanonline.com/pdfs/Thunder_bay.pdf

To read more about Suzanne's global travels, go to http://www.wanderwomanonline.com/.

Tourism Thunder Bay holiday Hours

Its hard to believe, given a great year of tourism accomplishments, but even we stop to rest once in a while.

Tourism Thunder Bay's Administration Centre, located at the Pool Six lands in Marina Park, will be closed from noon December 24th and reopening at 8:30 am, Monday January 5th, 2009.

Hours for the Terry Fox Visitor Center are:
December 24th - closed at noon
December 25th - closed
December 26th - closed
December 27th-30th - open regular hours 9-5
December 31 - closed at noon
January 1, 2009 - closed
January 2nd, 2009 - closed
January 3rd, 2009 - resumption of normal 9-5 daily hours.
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Have a safe and enjoyable holiday season and we'll see you again in 2009.

Thunder Bay's Japanese Profile

Tourism Thunder Bay welcomed a record number of travel media from around the globe this past year and the results are starting to roll out with print and digital media profiles emerging in key geographical and experience seeking segments.

One of the most unique travel media experiences we hosted this year was four from Japan, who work for Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership's Japanese market office. While in Thunder Bay, we rolled out the red carpet for them, exposing them to Sleeping Giant Park, Sailing Charters on Lake Superior, iconic local culinary experiences and a tour of fort William Historical Park.

The result is a profile on the Japanese OTMPC site: http://www.ontariostyle.com/thunder/index.html

The Asian market in general has shown promising growth for the city and region as a future area of focus with a number of trans Canada motorcoach tour itineraries through the city in 2008. The overseas market now represents 6% of visitors to the city, double from 2005 and while the numbers are small, the spending, per person is greater than a domestic or U.S. Visitor with an estimated annual contribution of approximately $1.8 million to the local tourism economy.

In addition, Thunder Bay's unique location and surrounding wilderness are a good product fit with the experiences that the emerging new Japanese markets are seeking. Having already seen Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa, travellers who have fallen in love with Canada are now looking for smaller communities to visit and explore.

2009 Great Ontario Outdoor Adventure Calandars are Out!

Tourism Thundeer Bay is once again, excited to work with the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation to help promote the great outdoor landscapes that attract visitors to our city and region from around the globe.

From December 15th, complimentary copies of the 2009 Ontario Tourism's "Great Ontario Outdoor Adventure" calandars are available to the public at the Terry Fox Visitor Center as well as our Tourism Administration Centre located at Pool Six in Marina Park.

These full colour calandars depict stunning photography from Provincial Parks across Ontario, including local and regional pics from the Slate Islands, Gull River and Candy Mountain.

SKAL Thunder Bay Elects New President

Tourism Thunder Bay and SKAL Canada are working closer than ever before and effective January 2009, Paul Pepe, Manager of Tourism Thunder Bay will assume the role of President of the Thunder Bay chapter.

SKAL is an international association of travel and tourism professionals with 17 Chapters across Canada. The Thunder Bay chapter, active since 1981, is currently comprised of 24 members representing the accommodation, travel services, car rental, education, attractions and destination marketing organization segments of the tourism industry. The organization meets monthly to discuss tourism trends and issues and is a sounding board for a lot of the services and programs Tourism Thunder Bay is actively pursuing. The Thunder Bay chapter is one of the few in Canada that has representation by a municipality and the only one where a member of the municipal tourism association is the President. This is an accomplishment I'm proud of and shows a positive public/private working relationship to help build a stronger local tourism industry.

For more information on SKAL, SKAL Canada and SKAL Thunder Bay, visit: http://www.sicanada.org/thunderbay/