THUNDER BAY – Canada’s low dollar has been a boon for the local tourism economy.
City tourism manager Paul Pepe reported a 7.1 per cent increase in visitors from the United States in 2015 compared to the previous summer.
Pepe highlighted the low dollar's benefit as the centerpiece of the tourism department’s update to City Council on Monday. Beyond the American market, he said the low Canadian dollar is keeping Canadians north of the border.
“Canadians are exploring Canada more. They’re staying closer to home. The Winnipeg market is exploring us more. Our Ontario market is coming up here and exploring us more but also it’s a great value for the U.S. market,” Pepe said.
“Particularly for a lot of Americans who have never been here before or haven’t been here for years. It’s a chance for them to discover Canada all over again. The Canadian currency is really the heart of that story.”
The Canadian Dollar was worth 0.76 cents in USD on Tuesday, the same value it held a year ago but far lower than the 92 cents USD it was worth on July 26, 2014 or the 97 cents USD it was worth on that day in 2013.
With those markets in mind, Pepe vowed to continue the nine-year effort to market Thunder Bay as the “premier outdoor destination,” wherein tourists use the city as a base camp for wilderness experiences.
That approach is leading to growth markets in ice climbing and winter fat tire biking but it’s also beginning to bear fruit for the service industry.
“These are people who stay in urban hotels, they do their grocery shopping, they rent cars, they rent gear and explore,” he said.
“What we’re seeing more and more of is, you’re seeing them at the bars, restaurants and lounges. The urban city does benefit quite greatly.”
Next year’s outreach will piggyback on 2015’s $2.7 million in “earned media value,” travel journalism and public relations content that doubles as advertisement for the region’s attractions.
Closer to home, Pepe is looking forward to honing the production last year’s project that created 30-second videos, all shot by local videographers and scored by local musicians that highlighted local perspectives.
The city paid filmmakers $2,500 for videos and screened them before every single movie that aired at Silver City movie theatre throughout the summer of 2015.
“The first one came out and people said, ‘that’s not here.’ When people realized it was here, they started sharing it virally,” Pepe said.
“We’re going to focus much more on digital and shorten them down to 15 second spots and Instagram them. Instagram right now is globally the most influential tourism-related social media there is. We’re looking at getting these things out there, then we’ll re-release them.”
