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Krista Storey, general manager of the Orillia Opera House, spoke on behalf of her table after brainstorming sessions about how to better the structure, marketing, and visitor services of Orillia's tourism industry.
Packet and Times
The Orillia and area tourism industry is in need of a collective voice - that was the general consensus at a meeting of the minds Thursday.
Between 40 and 50 people showed up at the tourism town hall at the Best Western Mariposa Inn to brainstorm better approaches to tourism, marketing and visitor services.
The Orillia and Area Hotel Association arranged the meeting to open dialogue in an effort to identify a more unified, co-ordinated approach to tourism in the region.
Coun. Pete Bowen said he has heard things aren't as good in the tourism industry as they could be.
He said he was pleased with the turnout - with respect to both the number of people and the variety of tourism trades they represented.
Bowen said stakeholders agreed to continue discussion about how everyone can adapt to deliver and develop tourism "to a higher degree."
There is a consensus and a desire to "get better at what we're doing."
"Tourism is a big business and we need to acknowledge" that and help it grow, he said.
"Everyone agreed we should have an overarching destination marketing organization (DMO)," he said. "We agreed to continue the conversation and get together again."
Some people felt Ontario's Lake Country should continue to play the lead role, with a few efficiencies and redundancies ironed out, while others thought a different umbrella group should be developed.
"The city should take the lead role, structurally," said Ralph Cipolla, a local businessman and former city councillor.
Dan Landry, economic development manager for the city, said he thinks Orillia needs a better highway presence in the form of a tourism centre.
"Let's get them to stop and learn about here," he said.
Landry said the next step is to process the information - validate and refine it - "check the egos at the door" and determine how far stakeholders are willing to go to make this happen.
"Whether it's an evolution of what's already there or something brand new," Landry said the umbrella organization needs to represent the different facets of the industry and the region.
Landry said the tourism industry should wipe the slate clean and let go of what hasn't worked in the past.
"You cannot get different results by doing the same thing," he said. "What are we (the royal we) willing to do today to do things differently?" he asked, noting this is one of the questions that needs to be tackled.
