Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail News

An Ezine Produced by the Waterfront Regeneration Trust

February 2004

In this issue:

• New Waterfront Trail Maps
• The Second Annual Developing Toronto’s Waterfront Conference
• Resources for Economic Development and Tourism Divisions
• Summer Position at the Trust
• Join us at the Toronto International Bike Show

Attachments:
WRTsummerjob.doc

New Waterfront Trail Maps

Since printing the Waterfront Trail Mapbook in 1999 there have been several changes to the alignment of the Trail including the eastern extension from Belleville to Brockville. The Trust would like to reflect these new changes in new maps of the Trail. Thanks to the cooperation of our municipal partners the Trust has been conducting meetings over the past month to collect updates on the route alignment and Trail amenities. These updates will be used to create new TrailHead signs as well as to produce electronic maps that will be available to download and print from our website. Stay tuned later this spring for the launch of our new website.

The Second Annual Developing Toronto’s Waterfront Conference

Last Friday the Strategy Institute hosted a two-day workshop on topics from every industry involved in waterfront development including urban planning, brownfield redevelopment and tourism and leisure. Marlaine Koehler participated as a presenter in the Tourism stream of the conference. She discussed the Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail’s contribution to “green tourism” experience and how the Trail fits into current tourism trends—most notably the increasing recreational cycling/touring sector.

Eco-tourism and trails are still not perceived as tourism products by the Ministry of Tourism. The tourism product list described in the presentation made by Ministry representative James Lynn identified: Wine and Culinary, Festivals and Events, Spas and Wellness, Cultural and Sport. The Trust indicated in its presentation that our goal is to see the Trail recognized as a significant provincial tourism product.

Other presenters included James Lynn from the Ministry of Tourism, Duncan Ross from the Tourism Department of Economic Development Culture and Tourism for the City of Toronto, Brian Jameson from the Green Tourism Association.

Resources for Economic Development and Tourism Divisions:
www.tourism.gov.on.ca
http://compro.2ontario.com/tourism

James Lynn from the Ministry of Tourism’s Investment and Development Office stressed in his presentation the significant contribution tourism makes to our economy. It is a sector that is growing but needs investment and coordination to ensure that communities maximize the potential of their tourism and investment assets. To assist communities the Ministry has developed a number of resources available on-line at www.tourism.gov.on.ca to municipalities working to attract investment and tourism to their communities. These include:
Premier-ranked Tourism Destination Framework: a comprehensive audit of tourism resources and assets that evaluates the destination from a tourism marketing perspective. The City of Hamilton, Niagara Falls, Prince Edward County and City of Mississauga are in the process of completing their audit. The Ministry provides staff to assist with this appraisal.

Tourism Research Program: provides strategic information, research and analysis to identify trends, strengths, weaknesses, challenges and opportunities for the tourism industry in Ontario. The program:

• produces the Travel Activities and Motivations Survey (TAMS). This study has excellent data to help identify tourism trends and develop market profiles. It will be updated for 2006.
• prepares studies on various issues that affect tourism such as SARS and the Iraq War
• economic modelling (special requests for analysis can be fulfilled—eg. World Youth Day
• provides staff to develop workshops to suit specific needs in a region or for an organization. Marlaine will followup on this to see if the Waterfront Partners would benefit from one of the workshops.
• Issues a quarterly newsletter
• Manages the Tourism Establishments and Stakeholders database

Other highlights from his presentation include:
Tourism is a significant economic driver – nationally and provincially:

• In 2001, 43% of visitors to Canada came to Ontario contributing 37% of Canada’s tourism revenues.
• Tourism is Ontario’s 7th largest export industry
• In 2001, tourism directly generated $19.4 billion in expenditures and generated $3.1 billion in provincial revenues
• Tourism accounts for nearly 500,000 direct and indirect jobs and leads all sectors in providing youth and seasonal employment opportunities.

Contact information:
Larissa Deneau
Tourism Research Officer
t. 416 325-8287
e. larissa.deneau@mczcr.gov.on.ca
Investment and Development Office

Established in June 2003, this office is:

• Developing tourism investment promotional material and a tourism investment website at the Ontario Investment Service.
• Developing an database of the top global tourism investors
• Compiling regional tourism investments opportunities to promote internationally
• Responding to tourism investment inquiries, leads and opportunities
• Participating at international conferences and marketplaces
• Hosting the Ontario Tourism Investment Symposium

For more information on this office and to see the terrific tools they have developed visit http://compro.2ontario.com/tourism for investment cases. Contact the Ontario Investment Services office at 1 800 819 8701 to receive your password. On the site you’ll see the OIS Community Profiles and the Regional Investment Opportunity Template.

The IDO will be hosting Ontario’s Tourism Investment Symposium on March 29th, 2004 in Toronto at the Royal York Hotel. This will be a private forum to present municipal investment opportunities to leading hospitality executives.

Summer Position at the Waterfront Trust

This summer the Trust will be hiring a summer student to incorporate changes to our E-library section of our website as well as to administer Trust promotional activities. As in previous years the Trust will be applying for a grant from the Labatt’s People in Action Program. To view the job description view the attachment “WRTsummerjob.doc”

Join Us at the Toronto International Bike Show

This year the Trust will staff a booth at the Toronto Bike Show from Friday March 5th to Sunday March 7th. We’ll be selling Mapbooks and giving out our new brochure that highlights six weekend trip itineraries on the Waterfront Trail. Hope to see you there!

For more information on the Bike Show visit www.bicycleshowtoronto.com.

Cheers!
Vicki Barron, Executive Director;
Marlaine Koehler, Program Director;
and Nikki Rendle, Editor Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail News

The Waterfront Regeneration Trust
372 Richmond Street West, Suite 308
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 1X6
Tel: 416-943-8080
Fax: 416-943-8068
Email: nr@wrtrust.com
www.waterfronttrail.org

Purchase your copy of the Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail Mapbook at Mountain Equipment Co-op (400 King Street West) and Sporting Life Stores in Toronto (1-877-772-2262 to find a store location near you).

Thank You to our Supporters!:

• CIBC
• The Lake Ontario waterfront municipalities, conservation authorities and community groups
• The Eastern Lake Ontario­St.Lawrence Waterfront Working Group
• MapArt
• Niagara Freewheelers Bicycle Touring Club
• Regional Niagara Bicycling Committee
• St. Lawrence Cement Tilley Endurables
• The Trust would also like to thank the Canadian Ontario Infrastructure Program (COIP) for its generous support of the 51 projects that comprise the Lake Ontario Waterfront Investment Program.