Our area got a lot of positive attention this year, and the city’s Tourism Manager is hoping for more improvement next year.
Paul Pepe points out Thunder Bay was showcased in programs like the Amazing Race and PBS’s Discovering Canada. He says if the city had paid for that amount of promotion in an advertising campaign, it would have cost $3.5 million. Pepe notes we could finish the year with a total of $4.5 million worth of media promotion from a number of outlets.
The tourism official adds the city also saw a slight increase in the number of visitors, including travellers from the U.S. He’s hoping to increase that number in the new year, even though he points out the city is shying away from billboard campaigns across the border.
“We are identifying new opportunities for enhanced strategies and campaigns into the U.S. market, into the Minnesota market. This year, we’re working with Destination Ontario on a major campaign partnership right now, that will launch early in the new year.”
Thunder Bay will also be one location of a pilot program to help start new tourism businesses.
“It really provides funding and mentorship to entrepreneurs to help enter the tourism industry,” Pepe explains.
