Tourism “guru” gives town tips

By Bruce Hain Innisfil Journal Feb 26, 2011 

INNISFIL – Unlocking “The Power of Tourism” was the theme of a morning workshop held at Town Hall Thursday.

Hosted by the South Simcoe Tourism working group, the keynote speaker was Dan Taylor, EDO for Prince Edward County, east of Toronto. In the past 10 years, Taylor has helped spearhead a rural renaissance and tourism explosion in the region now noted internationally for its architecture, wineries and special events.

During that period, tourism in Taylor’s county has grown from $35 million a year to more than $100 million.

The key to developing tourism is discovering a “magic formula” Taylor told his audience of municipal politicians and staff, representatives of chambers of commerce, economic developers and businesspeople.

“I honestly believe I stumbled across a magic formula that worked for us and could work for you,” Taylor said. “The first step is deciding what type of tourist business you’re in and move forward. Carve out a niche in the marketplace, look at the assets you have with a new lens, put a solid foot forward and stand for something. You have to put all your ‘fiefdoms’ aside. Collaboration is the key.”

Nothing succeeds like hard work and emphasis on elements such as branding, product development and “market, market, market,” he urged.

“Celebrate your successes – then repeat, do it over and over again.”

A well-organized tourism group should “seek out low-bearing fruit first”, Taylor said.

In South Simcoe’s case, this tree is represented by the Greater Toronto area.

“Collaboration (between communities and interests) is the easiest concept but the hardest to implement. The challenge is bringing the various groups into the fold. Think of yourself as a single entity.”

A selling job also needs to be done with local residents to persuade them of the many benefits of increased tourist visits.

In the area of branding, a region must “create a picture in someone’s mind”, Taylor recommended. “South Simcoe needs to do this and offer tangible experiences to visitors.”

The use of media, of all types, is a critical component of any far-reaching plan.

“Co-operate with your local media and share your information and invite them to events,” Taylor said. “Be your own third-party media and tell your own stories through web sites, blogs, Facebook and Tweeting. It’s also important to mine information from your visitors to learn their likes and dislikes. Get their email addresses and target the message”.

Coun. Rod Boynton noted Innisfil’s tourism strategy emphasizes the recreational water aspect of the community and asked Taylor if a similar program was in place in Prince Edward County.

“It was already taken care of,” Taylor replied. “It came down to business priorities. We emphasized special events and our shoulder seasons.”

Innisfil CAO John Skorobohacz was curious to know how Taylor’s region has become a more attractive place not only to visit, but also to live.

“In the knowledge economy, people want to live in nice places,” Taylor replied. “Economic development officers used to knock on doors to get factories. Now ‘quality of place’ is the mantra. It attracts knowledge workers. We’ve used tourism as a soft sell that helps us build our base of professionals.”

Deputy Mayor Dan Davidson noted most of Innisfil’s shoreline is privately owned and a good percentage of farmland is owned by developers. He wanted to know how this could be adapted to increasing local tourism.

“Get all the stakeholders in a room and just talk,” Taylor suggested. “See if there is a willingness and an interest to explore opportunities. Build the demand and product and the investment from the private sector will come.”