Lakeshore Advance, 2013-05-01, Page 10Wednesday, May 1, 2013 • Lakeshore Advance 9
TOURISM SUMMIT: Raising awareness
Lynda Hillman-Rapley
Sarnia-Laulbton is good at getting overnight tourists to
spend money, a local tourism summit heard Thursday.
More than 50 people in the tourism business, as well as
community leaders, attended the Tourism Sarnia Lambton
hosted event in (:itinlitchie where Nancy Fallis, a London-
based provincial tourism advisor, was a speaker.
Overnight visitors spend an average of $167 in Lamb -
ton, compared to $46 for day visitors, she said.
"That's really high for a county of your size."
Most see only a $50 difference between (lay and over-
night visitors.
"fiery, you're ('loser to it $100 variation" sht' said, add-
ing that means the local economy benefits when visitors
ten be encouraged to spend the night.
�
Visitor spending accounts for $177
million in Lambton County — we want
our share of that pie! That means we
need to be competitive — that means
unique product and service offerings,
not just pricing. We need to offer the
tourist and visiting friends and
relatives a reason to visit, stay and
shop and then come back."
Tourism already contributes $177 million annually to
Sarnia-Larnbton's economy, Fallis said.
Susan Mills, (;rand Bend's Chamber manager says part
of the Tourism Summit's purpose, the first of its kind for
Lambton County, is to raise awareness with tourism -based
businesses about the gems in their own backyard. "As
Mary -Jo Schottroff-Snopko and Laura Boogemans have
always said WI'. are ambassadors for the area - WE need
to be able to answer the frequently asked tourist question
'What else is there for me to do here: This means not only
business owners, but summer student staff must be able to
answer that question."
Mills said it was great to see a few of local business own-
s the Summit, such as Brad Oke (Smackwater Jack's
aphouse), Mary -Jo Schottroff-Snopko and Irwin Schot-
troff (Pine Dale Motor Inn) and Rita and John Bastiaansen
(By The ()Id River B&B) in attendance as well as Mayor Bill
Weber.
One of the Summit's key messages and subject matter
discussed at Chamber Board meetings is that Lambton
Shores' beach -front communities are in competition with
sister communities to the north of us, such as Southamp-
ton, Sauble Beach and even Wasaga Beach, as well as
American lake -front communities on the other side of
Linke !heron.
"Visitor spending accounts for $177 million in Lambton
County - we want our share of that pie! That means we
need to be competitive - that means unique product and
service offerings, not just pricing. We need to offer the
tourist and visiting friends and relatives a reason to visit,
stay and shop and then come back. We can no longer rely
on what's been done in the past to keep our area top -of -
mind with vacationing Ontarians who account for 6496 of
all visitors to our area. Of particular interest from the stats
and facts Nancy Fallis presented is that 7996 of tourists to
our area are adults and the average age is 44 years. Of that
7996, almost three-quarters are travelling with children.
The average age of visiting Americans (predominantly
Dave Sheppard -Special to Lakeshore Advance
Lambton Shores Mayor Bill Weber (holding his door prize,) greeting Tourism Industry
Advisor Nancy Fallis, from the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports.
from Michigan) is higher at 52 years."
Nancy Fallis provided seasonal
tourist statistics that indicate July to
September accounts for 39"6 of the
tourist flow, but that the shoulder sea-
sons of April to June (28%) and Octo-
ber to December (1696) account for
4696 of visitors with January to March
1596. Although no research was pro-
vided to support this, I'm going to
hazard a guess that the demographic
of the tourist changes with the season.
Summer months will see more family
vacationers versus the shoulder sea-
son tourist who is travelling to avoid
summer hustle and bustle' and he
more motivated to travel by cultural,
heritage and outdoor incentives
(events, seasonally adjusted pricing
etc).
The Chamber is responding to the
tourist landscape by supportink
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collaborative events such as the
(rand Bend & Arca Studio Tour Arts,
Fats & Beats, which combines local
artists and musicians with culinary
experiences as well as the new Busk-
erfest event scheduled for June 22-23,
which combine's entertainment with
retail and food locations. "We are also
investigating incentive methods to
bring money -spending tourists to the
arta, connecting our largest shopping
centre's ((rand Bend and forest),
making it easier for area visitors to
find what they're' looking for, improv-
ing the data we have on our Chamber
members and the seasonal local econ-
omy and always looking for new and
improved ways to getting information
into the hands of potential tourists,"
said Mills.
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