Spurred by meetings with Northern private and public leaders, northwestern communities are concentrating on increasing tourism numbers by using
branding tools and developing kiosk areas where visitors can obtain Ontario tourist information.
Tourism has been a key economic engine for the northwestern communities and a push is now on to bring Americans to the Great Canadian Experience. The number of American tourists has gone down in recent years and surrounding communities are exploring ways to bring tourists numbers back up in Ontario.
Since the new customs facility has become fully operational, the northwest region has noticed a significant drop in visitors crossing the border. In 1999, an estimated 25,994 Americans crossed the border compared to 10,435 in 2004. It used to be visitors going to Canada would approach customs on the bridge, and once passed could easily access the tourist centre. However that changed when customs moved its facility to a location before the tourist centre. So when visitors clear customs, they do not think of going back past customs once again to access the tourist information centre.
“It appear that the tourist information centre building is on the other side of the border,” Tannis Drysdale, Fort France councillor says.
“This is not just a visibility issue, it becomes an issue of American perception.”
With the region’s attempt to build a tourism gateway, they need that facility as an anchor. Therefore, the region would like to see it moved to a visible location easily accessed from customs. They have been discussing this issue with past and present governments since 1999 and have been met with a lack of interest on various levels from the Ministry of Tourism and Recreation.
