Huron Tourism : RTO Presentation

Huron, Perth, Waterloo, Wellington

COLLABORATION

Marketing Mission ¨  More compelling ¨  More experiences to

draw people ¨  More often, for longer

stays and from farther away

Ontario Tourism Picture Sobara Report: ¨  Need to be competitive internationally

n  Falling behind

¨  Huge area and diversity = difficult to cohesively brand

¨  Goal to double tourism in 10 years

Remarkable Outcome… ¨  Set up RTO’s (13) ¨  Incubator model – encourage raw entrepreneurship and see what evolves and thrives ¨  Adequately funded for capability ¨  Make voice of industry – volunteer board ¨  Decentralized (regional focus!)

RTO4 How did we get here?

¨  Regional consultations ¨  4 counties/7 DMO’s ¨  Key Recommendations:

¨ More packaging ¨ More partnering ¨ More marketing

Goal + Strategy ¤ Grow tourism receipts by 25% over three years. By… ¤  Increasing overnight visits/length of stay. ¤ Making it easy to buy and easy to sell:

n Packaging n Central experience-based portals + e-commerce n Edgy, targeted communication campaign

Niagara Falls ¨  #1 DG ¨  Do what? ¨  Visitation

DG Themes

1.  Heritage Towns 2.  Theatre/culture 3.  Outdoor 4.  Motor Sports 5.  Agri-culinary

Lead Components ¨  Many km’s of warm water beaches =sunsets ¨  Stratford Festival, Drayton’s 4, Blyth ¨  African Lion Safari ¨  St. Jacobs, Mennonite and Amish experiences ¨  Heritage towns and Inns including Elora, St Jacobs,

Stratford and Bayfield

Lead Components ¨  Nationally significant Grand River >settlement, fishing ¨  Langdon Hall ¨  West Montrose covered bridge (1 of 2 in ON) ¨  Mtn biking top trails ¨  The #1 Cdn motocross event - Walton ¨  Rolling pastoral scenery

RTO4 Product Packaging and Storytelling

¨  +/- 40 packages ¨  Essentially experiential rather than destination

focussed ¨  The message = Come to this area for a really great

experience/stay ¨  Emotion=involvement, immersion, interaction

Theatre  

Stra)ord  (5)  

Drayton  (3)  

Signature  Fes8vals  (4)  

Outdoors  

Beaches  (3)  

Camping  (3)  

Birding  (1)  

Fly  Fishing  (2)  

Mountain  Biking  (3)  

Road  Cycling  (3)  

Heritage  Towns  

Amish  Mennonite  

(2)  

Heritage  Inns  (6)  

Heritage  Towns  (4)  

Signature  Heritage  Tour  

(1)  

Heritage  Tour  Route  (1)  

Agri-­‐Culinary  

Savour  Stra)ord  (2)  

Motorsports  

Walton  Motocross  (1)  

RTO4 Booking Engine

¨  You must be online…Most travel research and many purchases are done online

¨  Region-wide tie in to DG’s and bundling ¨  Making easier to buy – easier to sell ¨  All heavy lifting done through RTO4

Entry Points

Consumer

Activity Property Microsite

Single Supplier Package

DMO Local Package

RTO Region Package

Marketing $

RTO4 Meridian Reservation System

Communication Programme

¨  New markets/ farther reach ¨  Highly targeted ¨  The offer of really great experiences ¨  Change the way people think about and book travel

> creative, raw, new ¨  Well funded

Accomplish

¨  Goal: 25% increase in receipts ¨  Develop the Tourism Market with deeper, more

compelling experiences to draw more people, more often, for longer stays and from farther away

¨  M e a s u r e ! ¨  Track, refine, repeat

RTO4 Inc.

Thank you!