North Bay is applying a full-court press toward chasing down opportunities in sports tourism.
The city made major upgrades in its recreational facilities and is searching this fall for a consultant to devise a sports tourism strategy to pinpont what events provide the best fit for North Bay.
In taking a more targetted approach, Ian Kilgour, the city's parks and recreation director, said it can be a waste of time and money for the city to pursue events it has no chance of ever hosting.
“If you go chase everything, you're not going to be too successful.”
The Canadian Sports Tourism Alliance (CSTA) considers this market as the tourism industry's fastest growing segment in generating $3.6 billion across Canada annually.
It's not known how much economic activity sports tourism generates for North Bay by way of overnight stays and spinoffs to local business, but the city is starting to compile that data.
“We have developed a survey that's going out to all sporting groups so we can start to track that information,” said recreation coordinator Melinda Fry.
“By this time next year, we'll know,” added Kilgour.
Since 2011, Fry has been pitching North Bay to national event organizers at various industry “speed- dating” functions while scoping out what other communities are doing.
“Baby steps at first, but we've spent the last year going after events and sporting activities pretty aggressively.”
From a venue perspective, North Bay has plenty going in its favour. Fifty-eight-year-old Memorial Gardens, the city's flagship arena, has undergone a $12-million interior renovation and exterior facelift to host an Ontario Hockey League franchise that recently transferred from Brampton.
But Fry would like to stuff the Gardens' schedule with more competitive men's and women's hockey tournaments, ringette, and curling bonspiels.
“The renovations have included some additions to the facility that will allow us to host conventions, meetings and concerts in the summer months,” said Fry, with expanded seating capacity, private suites, and a licensed lounge overlooking the main arena space.
Two years ago, the city opened the Steve Omischl Sports Complex, an $11.7-million tournament magnet with three FIFA-certified soccer fields and three ball diamonds.
Kilgour gave credit to city councillors for approving these new and improved facilities with an eye on attracting events.
“There was definitely a community need,” said Kilgour, “but council also had foresight to see if we built the proper facilities, we would be able to attract sports tourism.”
When Fry unveiled the improvement plans for Memorial Gardens at a CSTA event last April, many event organizers were “pleasantly surprised.”
For the city's size (population 54,000), facilities and accommodations, Fry said North Bay is capable of pursuing anything up to a national level.
But she's also thinking about events most communities wouldn't go after like lacrosse and archery.
“We choose sports that we can host here and we've followed up on leads over the past several months. We expect to make announcements over the next six months.”
This past August, the city hosted a provincial baseball championship and is set to accommodate the World Ringette Championship over the Christmas-New Year's holidays.
The Canadian Mixed Curling Championship comes to town in November 2014, which could be a stepping stone event to attract something larger.
“It's a chance to showcase what we can do in North Bay,” said Kilgour.
Both Kilgour and Fry expect the four-laning of Highway 11 south to Toronto to bring more exposure for the city. That shortened three-hour drive is being emphasized in their sport marketing material.
The city has also launched a sports and meetings website in conjunction with local hoteliers and sports groups to spotlight where to eat, stay, play, and what support and incentives are available from the city and local organizations.
