July 11, 2016
1418
Kincardine's visitor information centre will be moved back to Highway 21 next spring.
In committee-of-the-whole Wednesday night (July 6), council agreed that the centre should be relocated to the highway, with satellite operations in the downtown area.
Two years ago, council ended its lease for the tourist booth in the building just north of KFC on Highway 21, and moved it to 777B Queen Street, just north of Pharmasave in downtown Kincardine, where it shares office space with the Kincardine Business Improvement Area (BIA), the Kincardine and District Chamber of Commerce and the Penetangore Regional Economic Development Corporation (PREDC).
Council also entered into a three-year lease for that space, which ends April 30, 2017.
In her report to council, clerk Donna MacDougall said that since the tourist booth was moved to the downtown, the number of people using it has decreased, as has the number of phone calls.
In 2010, there were 6,133 visitors; in 2011, 5,627; in 2012, 5,551; in 2013, 5,466; in 2014, 3,926; and in 2015, 3,647.
The same decrease has occurred for phone calls, from 2,302 in 2010, to 1,279 in 2014, and 1,158 in 2015.
MacDougall said comments from visitors reflect the difficulty in finding the downtown centre, and in accessing parking there.
There are various options to consider for a highway location, she said, including the original office which was vacated in 2014; and partnerships with Canadian Tire, Sobeys, local hotels, and the Kincardine Airport.
Staff recommended the visitor information centre be located on Highway 21 with satellite operations in the downtown area, preferably at the Kincardine Arts Centre which is owned by the municipality.
Deputy mayor Jacqueline Faubert said her concern is for the tenants of the arts centre who have said there is not enough room in the building to house a tourist booth. However, once Phase 3 of the renovations were implemented, perhaps something could be worked out, she said.
Her recommendation is to maintain the Welcome Centre downtown, with perhaps a satellite municipal office located there.
Councillor Andrew White agreed, saying tourism information should be on the highway and downtown, but the municipality should not be renting space in both places. The downtown location should be at the arts centre, he said.
Councillor Laura Haight said it was always the tourism manger's intent to have a satellite tourist office downtown, with a rack of brochures in the arts centre and Bluewater Summer Playhouse staff trained to provide information to visitors.
"The numbers speak for themselves," she said. "Since moving to the downtown, the number of visitors to the centre has decreased. As a municipality, we are more than just the Kincardine downtown core. We have the Bruce Power Visitors' Centre and Inverhuron Provincial Park. Our community goes beyond municipal borders.
"I'm keen on looking at something on the highway for a tourism office, with a satellite office for serving the downtown."
Haight added that the lack of air-conditioning in the downtown office, on a sweltering summer day, is a real problem.
Faubert cautioned the use of the numbers in the report as the only benchmark for moving the tourist booth out of the downtown core.
"There are many other factors here," she said. "Our Canadian dollar is not doing very well. People are destination-travelling and going on-line to plan their trips. We should consider these new ways of travelling. I'm not sure about spending money on an information centre on the highway. We could have the tourism staff work here at the municipal administrative centre."
Mayor Anne Eadie said people in her sons' age group are using their cell phones to check destinations and plan their vacations. People also use maps and information at hotels and local businesses.
"I think the washrooms at the visitors' centre are the bigger attraction," she said. "I would like staff to consider what is the most cost-effective option for locating the tourist booth on the highway - perhaps a multi-location option?"
She would also like to maintain the downtown presence, located in the arts centre.
Haight agreed that the majority of vacation planning is now done on-line, but people still want to pick up brochures when they arrive at their destination, to discover what else there is to see.
Faubert said the brochures are good because they are tangible material. So, the tourism staff should beef up these items at the local hotels and motels, rather than considering larger office space, she said.
"That's what our tourism staff does every Friday," said Haight. "They're taking brochures to the hotels and motels."
Committee-of-the-whole agreed to relocate the visitors information centre to Highway 21, with a satellite operation in the downtown area.
That decision will come to the council table for final approval this Wednesday (July 13).
Written ByLiz Dadson is the founder and editor of the Kincardine Record and has been in the news business since 1986.
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