Business/Marketing Plan - City of Brantford

Economic Development StrategyThe City of Brantford’s new three to five year Economic Development Strategy, approved in Q32010, includes 65 recommendations and identifies several short and long-term opportunities thatinvolve the tourism and arts and culture sectors in Brantford and area.The following are some of the key recommendations from the strategy that relate to thetourism and culture sectors in Brantford:Tourism Sector1. Proactively continue to build on existing relationships with the Six Nations of the Grand River, the Mississaugas ofthe New Credit First Nation, the County of Brant and other regions as appropriate to leverage opportunities andcreate a broader context.2. Accelerate the growth of sport tourism through strategic marketing of new municipal sport infrastructure, bid andhosting opportunities.3. Work with partners in the newly created provincial RTO #3 to leverage provincial support, enhance the tourismproduct and experiences and market the area.4. Develop standardized visitor statistics and tracking mechanisms from key attractions in the area to determine whyvisitors come to Brantford and what will encourage them to stay longer.5. Conduct an analysis of current marketing areas and develop opportunities for future growth.6. Carry out niche tourism market research and segmentation in order to better focus product development andmarketing initiatives.7. Accelerate the business retention and expansion activities with downtown businesses.8. Establish a working committee to develop a downtown business retention and recruitment strategy, in partnershipwith the Economic Development Advisory Committee, the Downtown Business Improvement Area,post-secondary institutions and department staff.9. Through the utilization of local retirees with business expertise, increase mentorship opportunities available toexisting companies, especially smaller firms, to increase their ability to survive and prosper.10. Increase the capacity of this mentorship program by recruiting local retired business persons as mentors.11. Continue to assist in the business capacity development of the tourism industry, downtown businesses andsmaller industrial companies.12. Establish a Community Task Force, chaired by the Mayor, to bring together all parties in raising education and skilllevels of the community.Arts and Culture Sector1. Proactively continue to build on the existing relationships with the Six Nations of the Grand River, Mississaugas ofthe New Credit First Nation, the County of Brant and other regions as appropriate to leverage opportunities andcreate a broader context.2. Encourage continued growth of the local cultural sector by integrating economic development strategies withmunicipal cultural planning.__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________www.discoverbrantford.com page 13 519. 751.9900