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30 - The Oakville Beaver, Friday April 20, 2007 www.oakvillebeaver.com Oakville faces stiff competition for tourism dollars By David lea OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF With competition like the Grand Canyon and the Great Wall of China, Oakville needs to think bigger and better to keep those tourist dollars rolling in. This was the sentiment laid down by Ontario Deputy Minister of Tourism, David Lindsay, at an Oakville Chamber of Commerce CEO Reception last Monday. "The baby boomers are getting older, they're retiring. Their definition of leisure time activity is different now than when they were raising their kids. There is a huge wealth transfer taking place, they have more disposable income than their parents ever did," said Lindsay. "The tourists of today are looking for a different experience. A lot of people want to see an African safari. They want to see the Serengeti. They've got it on their life's list to see the Great Wall of China. They want to see the Pyramids. It's kind of hard to compete in that kind of market." Lindsay says this trend has shrivelled Canada's appeal as a tourist destination, falling from the second most popular destination in the 1950s to the eleventh and twelfth most popular destination today. "In the '50s, the rest of the world accounted for less than three per cent (of tourist destinations). There weren't a lot of people going to Vietnam. There weren't a lot of people going to Phuket, Thailand. There weren't a lot of people going to Mexico or Cuba," said Lindsay. The terrorist attacks of 9/11, SARS and a strong Canadian dollar also aided Canada's downward spiral as a tourist destination. International visitors are not the only ones who have been affected by this trend because a strong dollar is also causing Canadian tourists to look out- side their borders for vacation destinations. To counter this Lindsay advocates giving tourists more bang for their buck in the areas of restaurants and entertainment. "We've got to reinvest in our infrastructure, we've got to upgrade the skills level of our employees. So, flipping hamburgers is not something someone from the Jamie Kennedy restaurant business wants. They want to have a highly skilled, highly competent culinary artisan that they can hire to attract those baby boomers and young urban professionals that have disposable incomes." Hosting unique events that capture global attention is another method Lindsay advocated to compete in the tourism market, pointing to Toronto's Chinese Lantern Festival as an example. "This is the only one of its kind that happens in North America and last year, their first "In the `50s, the rest of the world accounted for less than three per cent (of tourist destinations). There weren't a lot of people going to Vietnam. There weren't a lot of people going to Phuket, Thailand. There weren't a lot of people going to Mexico or Cuba." David Lindsay, Ontario Deputy Minister of Tourism year running it, they made $3 million," said Lindsay. "It is an authentic cultural experience from the Chinese community and I predict that the Chinese Lantern Festival at Ontario Place will be like Caribana 10 years from now. The Chinese communities of San Francisco, Chicago and New York will start coming up to Ontario to see the Chinese Lantern Festival." The need to keep Oakville present in the minds of tourists is as pressing as ever as one survey states that tourists pump over $88 million into Oakville's economy each year. "Toronto and the GTA is a very populous area so on a percentage basis only three per cent of our economy is dependent on tourism but that's 91,000 employees," said Lindsay. "Tourism is a big employer, it tends to be young people. First job opportunities, summer job opportunities." Lindsay's presentation was well received by Oakville's business leaders provoking deep thought on ways to improve Oakville's tourism industry. "It was a very good topic to bring to the business community and raise the issue of tourism in Ontario as well as the Oakville market," said Karen Hewson, Director of the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Chair of the Oakville Tourism Partnership. "I think the minister did state a lot of the challenges and hopefully that inspires people to think about what we can do to correct those challenges as opposed to saying, `It's too many challenges, we can't overcome those.'" As Oakville celebrates its 150th anniversary, Councillor Alan Johnston notes there is no shortage of things for tourists to see and do in the city-sized town. "We've got harbours. We've got the waterfront. We've got restaurants. We've got downtown Oakville, downtown Bronte with all their great stores." Look for the Every Kilowatt Counts Booklet. The savings are electric. Your Electricity Savings Booklet is coming soon to your home. It's full of electricity-saving tips and instant rebate coupons. Like twenty-five dollars off ENERGY STAR ®- qualified ceiling fans and three dollars off compact fluorescent bulbs. Be on the lookout for your book. And start saving. Think green. Go orange. From water-saving showerheads to environmentally friendly fertilizers, The Home Depot ® has over 1,000 Eco Options products and great ideas that make it easy for you to improve your home. And the environment. SM everykilowattcounts.com © 2007 HOMER TLC, Inc. All rights reserved. , homedepot.ca/EcoOptions