COBOURG –
They say tourism is a multi-million-dollar business, and that’s certainly proven true for Cobourg.
According to Ministry of Tourism figures, Northumberland County experiences an annual 1.1 million visitors who spend $142 million that supports 600 tourism-related businesses.
A press release from Cobourg communications co-ordinator Ashley Purdy says that the town accounts for almost half of those visitors — almost 500,000 visitors, to be exact.
Purdy provided further Cobourg statistics:
• Some $23.7 million is spent annually by tourists, of which close to $14 million is spent in retail and restaurant businesses.
• Almost 300 jobs are created through tourist spending.
• Tourism activity accounts for $15 million in wages and salaries.
Tourism co-ordinator Erin Wannamaker is especially pleased with the results of new initiatives that focus more on the downtown — “like the Passport To Culture which encourages people to visit those establishments in the downtown core like the Art Gallery and the Sifton-Cook Centre.
“We located Love Locks centrally, close to the downtown. The Street Pianos program has been fun, keeping people all within that area,” Wannamaker added.
“These are some of the new programs we are introducing, and we will continue to do that to encourage people to come down.”
The visitors and tourist dollars come to the town through transportation, accommodations, food and beverages, meetings, events and attractions, Purdy listed in the press release.
Cobourg also benefits from proximity to the Greater Toronto Area and its multi-million population, Wannamaker said, and it’s important to position the town as a year-round destination that can offer a variety of unique experiences in terms of outdoor recreation, heritage and cullture, festivals and events, arts and entertainment, shopping, spas and wellness.
“People are travelling closer to home, going on shorter getaways. We are in a really good location from the GTA,” she stated.
The press release cited national figures from a special 2011 report on the Canadian tourism industry: the so-called visitor economy includes $78.8 billion in total economic activity, and a total of 1.6 million jobs are supported through tourism spending.
“The flood of visitors really do contribute to the local economy and bring value to Cobourg,” Purdy commented.
The Downtown Vitalization initiative recognizes the importance of the tourism sector, business development officer Kevin Narraway said.
“We want to let people know tourism is important, and it’s an aspect we have to grow and make sure we have a good product, because it’s a big benefit to downtown businesses,” Narraway said.
“With all we do well, we could probably do better with tourism and spending, and downtown will be a focus going forward — trying to make sure events and tourism strategies really beneft the businesses downtown, that the visitors find the shops they are looking for and the things that are unique in terms of service or business offerings,” he listed.
“We want them to have a unique experience when they come to Cobourg that they’ll go back and tell their friends about.”
cecilia.nasmith@sunmedia.ca
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