Tourism Board Takes Action; Appeals to Queen’s Park

The Haliburton County Tourism Board is about to do everything in its power to help to unite the County within one tourism region. Despite the lack of detail available at this point about the impact that splitting Haliburton County as a tourism
destination will have by the province’s creation of 13 new tourism regions, the County Council is being quite vocal in their desire to see the county remain intact regardless of what region they’re in. And the Tourism Board is prepared
to back the Council all the way. Last Friday morning the board held an impromptu meeting in the county council chambers to discuss a strategy. The result?
The board will be asking all of its stakeholders to write letters to the Minister and Deputy Minister of Tourism with copies to MPP Rick Johnson asking that the County be realigned as a whole with one region, preferably Region 8, which includes traditional tourism partners; Kawartha Lakes, Peterborough and
Northumberland. Economic Development & Tourism Director Bob Smith brought the board members up to date on the county’s activities since the McGuinty government failed to meet the expectations of a large number of stakeholders across the province, despite promises of consultation and assurances that
Haliburton would indeed, be aligned with established partners. Instead, the province has partnered Algonquin Highlands with Region 12 that encompasses Muskoka, Nipissing and Parry Sound, while the remainder of the county has been aligned with Region 11 encompassing the Ottawa Valley. Smith said that he had held a number of discussions with Assistant Deputy Minister Kurts, who
has carried the ball during most of a process that was intended to strengthen the tourism industry in Ontario. Smith said he had voiced concerns about the potential loss of Haliburton’s identity and the cost of sending representatives to meetings in two separate regions further stretching already limited resources. Smith said that he echoed a variety of concerns being heard loud and clear by County Council and tourism stakeholders. “So far Kurtz will not compromise, saying that is simply the way it’s going to be.” According to Smith, Kurtz gave assurances that regardless of the splits that had been made with the establishment of new regions, all areas will receive the same marketing attention. Smith also advised that the $40 million dollar annual budget for the province will remain at the regional level with no funding coming down to the local level. While each region will receive a minimum allocation of funding, they will be topped up likely based on a ‘heads and beds’ determination. Smith also advised the board that the County Council had sent
letters asking that the County be aligned with Region 8. He said the four lower tier municipalities have promised to follow suit. According to Smith, despite requests for proposals, one organization will be recommended by each region, expressions
of interest will be submitted by March 1st and that organization will likely be appointed as the Regional Tourist Organization, and marketing agent for the region.
Smith said, “We will be meeting with the Minister again in March to stress our desire to remain in one region. We don’t want to lose our ‘Haliburton Highlands: a Work of Art’ identity.” Sally Moore said, “It could be that not enough pressure has been applied. We have an opportunity to actively participate and apply the pressure as tourism operators in the county. We’re all affected. With as many voices from the Haliburton Highlands as we can gather, whether tourism operators or just people that live in the area, we can unify the county.” In response to comments by John McDonald that the second issue was which region Haliburton
should be in, Tourism Board Chairman Dave Bishop said that he didn’t think that the regional alignment would change and that the only hope was to ensure that Haliburton was not split into two regions. The group discussed the rationale to be offered to the Minister showing the inherent value of remaining together, including financial, political, socio-economic, geographic and the importance of the arts community in Haliburton. It was agreed that the fact that many stakeholders had been left out of the consultation process should be stressed. Bishop said, “We have a week to get this done and I’d like to see some action as early as this afternoon.” Moore stressed the importance of maintaining ‘Haliburton Highlands’ as a branded identity. McDonald asked what the reaction had been from Algonquin Highlands, and Smith responded that the general feeling at the political level was that any efforts to partner with Muskoka in the past have been dismal. Despite Bishop’s comments that they may not have any success with choosing their
region, the board did discuss what region they felt would be the best alignment for the County. It was generally agreed that there were more traditional marketing partners to the south, that the Ministry offering the greatest amount of assistance was OMAFRA out of Lindsay and there is an existing partnership with the Workforce Development Board that serves Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland and Haliburton. Moore then said, “Let’s look at this from the perspective of our visitors. Most of them come out of the Golden Horseshoe or the GTA. I believe that Region 8 [which includes the Kawartha Lakes, Peterborough, and Northum berland] is the one for us. It is the closest market to Toronto and the most important to us.” It was also generally agreed that most visitors travel up Highway 35 right through Region 8. Amy Brohm, Tourism & Marketing Coordinator said that marketing had been taken out of Region 8 because of a lack of branding. “There’s no specific identity that brings us together, so much of the funding will be used for branding. Brohm commented that there may be some
commonality with Regions 11 and 12 as all have a focus on outdoor activities, the arts and being cottage country. Smith, however, reminded Brohm that the board had to consider the Economic Development and Tourism Committee’s desire to be affiliated with Region 8. Bishop agreed, saying, “There is a history that we should follow.” He commented that a number of people feel that they will not be accepted socially by Muskoka and spoke of the huge waste of economic dollars and time that would be lost by having to re-establish ties in the east rather than the south including various maps and promotional projects that have been developed. He also
commented that emphasis should be placed on the partnerships that had been established on trail development that draws a considerable number of people from the south. “We don’t want all of our hard work to become a huge wash,”
Bishop said. Kim McBrien mentioned the tie between the Haliburton School of Fine Arts as a wing of Fleming College which further strengthens ties with Region 8.
Smith referred to a concern of County Council that if aligned with Region 11 much of the marketing initiatives would be focused on the Ottawa Valley and Quebec and that Haliburton would be lost. He also advised the board members that Mayor
Ric McGee of the City of Kawartha Lakes would prefer Haliburton to be in Region 8 and that McGee would be writing to the Minister expressing those sentiments.
The board members agreed that Smith should prepare a letter for signature by Bishop as their chair. An e-mail will be sent out to all of the arts and tourism related stakeholders detailing the general theme that the board is following and asking that individual letters of concern be sent to the Minister. Moore said, “The letters, while following a common theme should be tailored to the needs of each business.” Another argument that the board members felt would be viable
was the fact that the Ministry’s priorities are attracting tourism investment and that investment in Haliburton as part of Region 8 would be more likely. Wrapping the discussion up, Bishop said, “I’m happy that we’ve had the opportunity to sit down and create a plan of action. We all believe that we have the potential to make a change and that is the most important component to start with.” When asked to comment on the Board’s decision to conduct a letter-writing blitz, Dysart Reeve Murray Fearrey voiced concern with the timing, knowing that the government is poised to make decisions on the RTOs early in March. He also said, “The Board
is doing what it thinks it has to do to protect its identity and to continue with existing associations. We have to start somewhere and at least the government will hear loud and clear that we’re not happy with things as they stand now.”