To the editor:
I attended the town hall meeting at the Italian Hall last Wednesday, Oct. 4 to hear about Frank Pullia’s and other assembled members of the city and their plan for economic growth.
In the two hours I heard very little at all about specific plans and or a strategy to boost tourism and immigration to the city.
There was a brief mention of the city’s billboard ad campaign at Porter airport in Toronto and talk of the attractive city website.
I put forth, after living in Thunder for 35 years and then relocating to Winnipeg for 21 years that the city should focus their marketing efforts instead on Winnipeg at 730,000 and Manitoba at 1.3 million people.
Thunder Bay scenic attractions such as Kakabeka Falls, The Marina, Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, Mount McKay, Ouimet Canyon, Terry Fox Memorial and Old Fort William are places that an entire family would want to experience and are all but non-existent in Manitoba.
A concerted billboard ad campaign in Toronto is very expensive and if not the best city in which to promote Thunder Bay, then officials will be left after the ad campaign with the same problem.
Based on what I have seen the most logical place for the bulk of tourism and immigration to emanate from is Manitoba.
I told the assembled board Wednesday of the thousands of railroad workers that were essentially forced to relocate to Winnipeg in the 90’s and now are retiring.
What better people potentially to consider moving back to Thunder Bay than those workers and their families?
Now what is needed is a concerted marketing effort promoting the city to those workers and all other residents of Manitoba.
Dan Zupansky,
Thunder Bay
