View - The Municipality of Lambton Shores
View - The Municipality of Lambton Shores
View - The Municipality of Lambton Shores
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External marketing includes a major overhaul <strong>of</strong> the website and the travel guide.<br />
75,000 travel guides were published, 44,000 have been distributed through South<br />
Western Ontario, GTA, Michigan. Some marketing is targeted direct markets on<br />
specific demographics such as international travellers who would likely have a passport<br />
as they tend to stay longer and spend more than domestic travellers. <strong>The</strong> store front<br />
presence would not be as productive as Grand Bend as T.S.L. is only open during<br />
regular business hours and it is not located near a tourist attraction, so most support is<br />
<strong>of</strong>fered through phone, mail and email. Home Depot has also assisted with the<br />
installation <strong>of</strong> freestanding information boards such as the one outside <strong>The</strong> <strong>Shores</strong>.<br />
While at a recent meeting held by the South Western Ontario Tourism Corporation<br />
(S.W.O.T.C), Mr Kern learned that there are five levels <strong>of</strong> hierarchy with specific logos<br />
and sayings.<br />
1. Canada: focuses their efforts to bring tourists from the UK now.<br />
2. Yours to Discover: focuses to have people within Ontario to travel within Ontario,<br />
also try to bring tourists from mainly Quebec, Manitoba and near US, New York, Ohio,<br />
and Michigan.<br />
3. Shaped by Nature: has 77 billboards within Ontario, some in Michigan and Ohio.<br />
<strong>The</strong>ir goal is to double economic tourism impact within the province by 2025<br />
4. No specific logo: Tourism Sarnia <strong>Lambton</strong> Blue Water Country<br />
5. Storefront: Such as Grand Bend tourism building <strong>of</strong>fering direct visitor services<br />
According to S.W.O.T.C tourism is the secondary industry after manufacturing, etc. is<br />
exhausted. This means that our area is in competition with every other municipality. It<br />
can’t be a one <strong>of</strong>f effort, it must be continuous, a growing and sustained effort to <strong>of</strong>fer a<br />
new experience every time a tourist returns.<br />
TSL has renewed its leadership, management and been given a renew mandate and<br />
support by county council. Mr. Kern believes that TSL is on the right track engaged<br />
with the tourism industry members in <strong>Lambton</strong> <strong>Shores</strong> and contributing to the growth <strong>of</strong><br />
the tourism industry across <strong>Lambton</strong> County. <strong>The</strong>re 14000 tourist partners across the<br />
county and mass emails can be sent out to the partners upon request for events,<br />
festivals and attractions.<br />
Mr. Kern can <strong>of</strong>fer direction to the templates for tourism, agriculture and sports for<br />
example.<br />
Research and development does not have a budget, so duplicating is one <strong>of</strong> the few<br />
options. <strong>The</strong> research is generally from a provincial or federal level, so it’s difficult to<br />
determine how it applies to <strong>Lambton</strong> <strong>Shores</strong>. Advertising to London and Kitchener-<br />
Waterloo includes direct mail and brochures. Recent tracking efforts have indicated that<br />
website hits are <strong>of</strong>ten from South Western Ontario, Ohio, Michigan and lingering<br />
response from efforts with S.L.E.P. within GTA. <strong>The</strong>re are partnerships and ongoing<br />
exchange <strong>of</strong> information with other areas such as Huron, Chatham-Kent, Windsor-<br />
Essex, etc. <strong>The</strong>re are intentions to have a biking tour extend into <strong>Lambton</strong> <strong>Shores</strong> area<br />
in the future.<br />
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