D.2 Georgian Triangle Tourist Association First Quarter Update Deputation to The Blue Mountains Council May 6, 2013
GTTA Board of Directors 2013 GTTA Board Directors Darrell Reeder, Joseph Lawrence House B&B, Collingwood Jay Worsley, Collingwood Sue Nicholson, Collingwood BIA, Collingwood R.B.Waind, The Blue Mountains Mylisa Henderson, Scandinave Spa, The Blue Mountains Linda Proudfoot, Pretty River Valley Country Inn, The Blue Mountains Linda Service, Scenic Caves, The Blue Mountains Kevin Lloyd, Councillor, Town of Collingwood Michael Martin, Councillor, The Blue Mountains Sandra Meagher, Collingwood
GTTA Mandate The Georgian Triangle Tourist Association will lead and develop partnerships aimed at promoting our regional tourism destination. Our Region includes 5 Municipalities (Collingwood, The Blue Mountains, Wasaga Beach, Meaford and Clearview Township) located in Grey and Simcoe Counties
Who We Are and What We Do The GTTA considers Visitor Services/Communications as its main functions. 1. Visitor Services and Communications 2. Volunteer Industry Driven Board of Directors 3. Collaborative and Fiscally Accountable 4. Best in Class Visitor Centre Operations/Accredited Staff 5. Developed Brochure Distribution System 6. Creators of the SGB Regional Strategic Destination Plan 7. 2 year Business Plan/Action Plan 8. See and Do Visitor Guide 9. Enhanced Media 10. Best-in-Class Mapping
IF NO ONE IS HERE TO WELCOME OUR VISITORS AND NO ONE IS HERE TO COMMUNICATE WHAT OUR REGIONAL EXPERIENCES ARE, MARKETING, PRODUCT AND EVENT SPENDS ARE IN VAIN. PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT MARKETING/ EVENTS GTTA: THE ONLY REGIONAL CONCIERGE SERVICE FOR OUR VISITORS
#1 GTTA Strategic Pillar Education and Training of Front-line Staff Ensure that all front line staff in the region are prepared to answer questions & guide visitors to our experience to ensure the visitor experience is exceptional All front-line GTTA staff accredited with professional certification as Tourism Visitor Information Counsellors through Canadian Tourism Human Resources Council Goal of increasing GTTA Visitor Centre visitation by 10% in 2013 from year previous. Raise awareness of the new Visitor Centres in Craigleith and Collingwood Implementation of a Regional Visitor Ambassador Program for front-line staff in 2013
Visitor Services Focus Effective January 2013, the GTTA entered into a contract agreement with The Blue Mountains for Visitor Services at our Regional Information Centre in Collingwood and at the Craigleith Heritage Depot. Currently the GTTA is operating the Craigleith Heritage Depot 7-days a week Mon Wed 12:00-4:00 pm Thurs- Sun 10:00 4:00 pm
Craigleith Heritage Depot The GTTA has contacted all Blue Mountains Tourism-related businesses to ask that they bring in their brochures for distribution at the Craigleith Heritage Depot The GTTA is preparing a Business Database to use for our Ambassador Program implementation (possible BR&E use as well) The GTTA has updated our Regional web-site to include Blue Mountains Events and experiences The GTTA has been creating Stories for Social Media and a new Blog.
2013 First Quarter Successes Completion of the 2013 Regional See and Do Guide Completion of a new regional map New Cycle and Stay Product development including a New Cycle and Stay Map for summer. GTTA Delegation to ON Tourism (OTMPC) to discuss opportunities to leverage our regional product/experiences GTTA is working with the Ministry of Tourism to build Tourism collaboration and cooperation (2 Board sessions with MTCS field rep)
2013 First Quarter Successes Web-site development in progress, including an interactive on-site map New GTTA Blog to be introduced for summer 3 RTO7 proposals submitted by GTTA Ongoing Ambassador Program development Social media presence growing with our Twitter presence surpassing 1500 followers
GTTA Research 13,000 Visitor Intercept Surveys were completed last year @ our Regional Visitor Centre in Collingwood. This information helps us understand Visitor psychographics and demographics Grey, Bruce, Simcoe 18% Southwestern Ontario 17% Greater Toronto 31% Visitor Origin Central Ontario 2% Ottawa & Eastern Ontario Northen Ontario 2% Niagara Falls & 2% Region 1% Other Provinces USA 4% 5% Other Intl. 12% 6% Greater Toronto Southwestern Ontario Grey, Bruce, Simcoe Central Ontario Niagara Falls & Region Ottawa & Eastern Ontario Northen Ontario Other Provinces USA Intl. Other
GTTA Research What are our Visitors Looking for at our Visitor Centres? (13,000 Intercept Surveys) Attractions 24% Maps/Directions 42% Events 11% Restaurants 6% Other 17% Trails 13% Accommodations 4% Maps/Directions Attractions Events Restaurants Trails Accommodations
GTTA Research Visitor Demographics (13,000 Intercept Surveys) Age of Visitors 45-54 17% 25-44 28% 54-64 28% -24 12% Other 15% 65-74 12% 75* 3% -24 25-44 45-54 54-64 65-74 75*
GTTA Research Length of Stay (13,000 Visitor Intercept Surveys) 2 Night 17% 1 Night 10% 3 Night 6% Day 28% Length of Stay 4 Night 3% 5 Night 2% Other 34% 6 Night 2% 7 Night 11% Resident 21% Day 1 Night 2 Night 3 Night 4 Night 5 Night 6 Night 7 Night Resident
Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success. Henry Ford