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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-08-31im� � ar1-rol CLARINGTON TOURISM ADVISORY COMMITTEE Notes of Discussion August 31, 2021 9AM Teleconference Members Present: Fred Archibald, Chair Petra Schwirtz Laura Holmes Christine McSorley Rita Smith Marsha Carbon Bonnie Wrightman, CBOT Councillor Ron Hooper Regrets: Amy Verwey Evan King Staff: Ashlee Kielbiski, Temporary Tourism Coordinator and Staff Liaison Jessica Ward, Tourism Programmer 1. Call to Order o Meeting was called to order 9:04 AM 2. Adoption of Agenda Moved by, Rita Smith, seconded by, Christine McSorley That the agenda for August 31, 2021 be adopted. Carried 3. Approval of June 8, 2021, Meeting Minutes Moved by, Petra Schwirtz, seconded by, Christine McSorley: That the meeting minutes of June 8, 2021 be approved. Carried 4. Pecuniary Interest/Conflict of Interest o N/A 5. Update on Summer pop ups o Thank you to members who volunteered time to assist at the events o Over three hundred surveys were completed over the four popups, seeing approximately 1,000+ people o Feedback received was overwhelmingly positive. Many residents were introduced to new aspects of Clarington, and many visitors were in Clarington for the first time. o Many visitors from Quebec, the GTA and a handful from England, Ireland who were visiting friends and family who live in Clarington o Providing the Canadian flag for community members to sign to recognize our Canadian Olympic atheletes in Tokyo was received positively. We received feedback that people came specifically to the Clarington Farmer's Market after seeing on Facebook that their was a flag to sign. o Positive feedback on `Clarington is Home' t-shirts. o We used the popups as an opportunity to repurpose the Canada Day pancake breakfast bags, and residents very much appreciated it, as they were looking forward to the breakfast bags and there were many inquiries. o Survey results indicated people overwhelmingly want to receive tourism information via Facebook and email. o We are starting a resident/visitor newsletter to connect with this audience and share all that Clarington offers on a seasonal/monthly basis o TAC suggests two emails per month instead of one long one. TAC suggests timing of emails be related to key tourist interests such as apple picking, pumpkin picking, Christmas o TAC advises that harvest time is central to ever culture on earth. This is a great time to promote Clarington 6. Fall Plans: Marketing, Pop Ups, Gates Open Pop Ups: Based on the success of the summer pop ups, we are reaching out to local farms that offer PYO apples/pumpkins o Archibald's and Pingles have confirmed o Our goal is to survey true visitors at these locations o We will survey to gather data, provide local information, and hand out branded reusable Clarington bags. Gates Open: waiting on confirmation from Durham Tourism and Durham Farm Fresh on which Clarington farms are participating. o We will offer our assistance — perhaps pop up at a location or two. o TAC support will be needed o Update: this event has been cancelled due to increasing COVID numbers and Durham Region Health requirements Marketing: as lockdown was lifted and the world started opening up a bit, we started looking at ways to bring tourists into town while also continuing to connect with our community To reach the Toronto market: o We placed an advertorial in Adamo Nest lifestyle condo magazine. The recipients of this magazine have at least 1 or 2 vehicles, enjoy travel and day trips. The ad also ran in all condo elevators for one month o Placed an advertorial in Horizon magazine. This also included a short video at Yonge and Dundas Square and on the Gardiner Express Way. o Collaborated with a Toronto influencer @tofinest to explore Clarington, create content and do a social media giveaway. ■ Businesses highlighted were Pingles, Roam Coffee, The Toasted Walnut, and Food Truck Alley. The video created received over 60,000 views on social media in the first week The Weekend Route: We collaborated on a dedicated route, "Apples, Corn Mazes and Sweet Treats." We are working to bring Destination Ontario to Clarington to capture content for their website and for us to use as well. 7. Roundtable ■ Back to school is hard on kids and hard on families. A focus on getting away from screens and into nature. Clarington has so many options to get off your tablet/screens. ■ New residents in Clarington are asking Facebook community groups where the best x,y,z are found in Clarington. Need to push them to our website and social networks ■ What is the best way to communicate with new residents? ■ The popups introduced people to aspects of Clarington that they were unaware of. ■ People are spending their money at restuarants and enjoying patios. ■ Courtice waterfront — people are very excited about the expansion ■ Bowmanville BIA hosted a sidewalk sale and saw so many people come out and support the local businesses. People are excited to get back out ■ Clarington saw over 20 businesses start in 2020 during the pandemic. This year, 25 have opened. Seeing diversity in the new businesses. The community is commenting positively that they can find some products in Clarington now when before they had to drive to Toronto. There were some closures, but not as many as expected. ■ New cannibas businesses have brought 250 new jobs ■ Seeing many new customers who are new to Clarington. Many new customers driving from all over GTA. ■ Farms have been favoured during the pandemic because they are outdoors and have lots of space. People have felt very safe to experience the farms. ■ Geissberger cider not has a hard cider ■ What is the economic benefit to bringing in all these new people/visitors. How can they best support the economy ■ Opportunity at Tooley Mills park once the trail is complete ■ Potential new survey questions: Are you likely to come back to Clarington? What else are you likely to visit? How much do you spend on average? 8. OBIAA Update, if available o Significant funding is/has being made available during COVID19. Rather than the BIA and Municipality both put in applications, is there a way to do one together. 9. Date of next meeting: • Date to be confirmed and Ashlee Kielbiski to send information early October 10. Motion to adjourn Moved by Christine McSorely, seconded by Petra Schwirtz. Carried. The meeting concluded at 10:36 a.m.