Tourism a growing industry in Saugeen Shores

“Tourism is a significant and growing industry and a top a economic driver in Saugeen Shores.”

Those were the words of Joanne Robbins, general manager of the Saugeen Shores Chamber of Commerce in a deputation to councillors at the Saugeen Shores committee-of-the-whole meeting last Monday night.

Robbins went before council to provide an update on the 2013 tourism season.

“Eighty-five per cent of businesses are directly impacted by the tourism dollar. The other 15 per cent depend on the prosperity of the tourism industry,” she explained.

She then went straight into her presentation by displaying Bruce County’s tourism and economic impact figures that were recently published by RT07. These figures were then compared to the figures of Grey County.

“What is amazing and we have to keep in mind is that our average is so close to Grey’s and they have three or four seasons, and we do it all in three months,” she said.

As presented, the average annual visits for Bruce County for 2012/2013 was 1,390,096 and for Grey County was 1,623,050.

Robbins said there were two vital parts in the area’s tourism draw, “our private cottage and cottage courts rental industry.”

“We are almost triple Grey county in cottage courts and private homes,” she added.

“We are [also] a huge leader in camping. We have a higher average than Grey and Simcoe. So we can capitalize on these strengths in these sectors.”

Robbins explained on average, a person will spend $135 a day on an overnight visit. She then took the average overnight visits from last year and calculated that overnight stays in Bruce County generated $372,416,265 last year.

“Bottom line is that our community benefits greatly with the visiting public and that our businesses would not be financially sound without it,” she continued.

During the next part of her presentation, Robbins shifted everyone’s focus to the 2013 Saugeen Shores tourism inquiries.

“Tourism inquiries were up 15,000 [in 20130],” she said.

Saugeen Shores inquiries totaled 97,826 last year.

“E-mail inquiries have been on an increase since 2009 and have leveled this past year. We are watching this trend to ascertain whether or not it is plateaued or is because our information is readily available to access through our website and social media,” Robbins continued. “Overall, our combined two locations saw an increase in visitation and phones calls compared to last year.”

She said this averages out to be 268 inquiries per day, 365 days a year. Chamber staff were asked to provide information about local events at 27 per cent, which was up six per cent from 2012, directions and maps at 26 per cent and things to do at 23per cent.

She said most visitors’ origins were locals which included all summer residents, family and friends and everyone 40-50 km away.

“The only fluctuations that you see are with visitors from other Ontario which is reflected in the trend to vacation in your own backyard and to do day trips,” added Robbins. However, “our visitation from Kitchener/Waterloo and the GTA are down.”

Robbins’ powerpoint presentation then pinpointed some trends.

“Visiting friends and relatives and pleasure travellers continue to be a huge part of our market,” she said. “The camping and private cottages see the most bookings in the local accommodation sector.

“According to the Ministry, the week-long stays are on the decline in all of Ontario. [However], we still get a lot of the family week long stays, but we need to be ready for shorter getaways and daytripping and efforts to inform and educate our local accomodators on this trend will continue.”

Robbins then briefly updated council on the Chamber’s and Town’s pilot project that was to offer a ‘man satellite’ and tourism information office at the Port Elgin beach that ran Wednesday and Saturday for the months of July and August.

“To our surprise the service was under utilized because we thought it would be swamped,” she said. “There were just over a 1,000 inquiries in total at a cost of about $3,300 so we don’t feel continuing down that path was and is financially viable or responsible.

“These insights led to the new pilot project as well for the 24 hour self-service kiosks on the beaches. They will be much more cost effective to distribute tourist information and we’re working with the town staff for optimal placement and getting them ordered,” she added.

Another initiative the Chamber took in 2013 was the extended hours to 7 p.m on Thursday and Fridays at both offices.

“Tracking indicated that over the total of 32 hours, there were 17 inquiries, but they’re not used to us being open so we’re not completely discouraged by these findings and are considering the same kind of flexibility in 2014,” Robbins said with confidence.

Overall, Robbins said 2013 was successful by the number of inquiries they received.

“Having said that, certain local tourism industry segments have seen a decrease in receipts,” she explained. “We hope by working with and encouraging our stakeholders, their continuing education to grab onto these trends and be aware of the changing opportunities that tourism numbers will continue to grow.”

Following the deputation, councillor Diane Huber suggested that the Chamber of Commerce not only accommodate those coming from out of town, but also target the ‘untapped market’, the locals.

“I think an untapped market that would have some potential are the locals that live here,” she said. “For example, there’s a whole pile people in this town who have not been to Chantry Island… and there’s a whole pile of people who haven’t been in the museum for years either.”

Huber also suggested that they come back in the fall during budget time with a better understanding of what else there is to do and what people are asking for.

Tourism a growing industry in Saugeen Shores