Connecting communities with Georgian Bay touring route.

Sudbury is looking to further expand its reach into the international tourism market through a proposed Georgian Bay touring route.

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Initiated three years ago as a potential tourism development between various municipalities along the coast of Georgian Bay, the project was officially adopted by the province following an initiative that gathered a number of tourism destinations into a single cohesive and marketable unit.

As one of the world's 20 largest lakes, Georgian Bay features more than 2,000 kilometres of shoreline and more than 30,000 islands.

"You can't drive around Georgian Bay without going through Sudbury," says Ian Wood, coordinator of tourism and marketing, City of Greater Sudbury.

"That's to our advantage, because even though we're not located on the bay, we certainly have lots of connections with Manitoulin Island and other communities. We see this as another opportunity to entice people to come through Sudbury."

The proposed route would pass through Sudbury, Pointe-au-Baril and Parry Sound before passing through Midland, Wasaga Beach, Thornbury and Owen Sound. It would then travel up the Bruce Peninsula to Wiarton before crossing through Manitoulin Island and Espanola, closing the loop at Sudbury.

The project recently received $45,000 from the province to hire a consultant to identify what opportunities the touring route might hold for the various member communities, and to develop a plan to move the project forward. More complete funding for the project is expected from the various communities' upcoming fiscal budgets.

"A number of us around Georgian Bay have been talking on and off on how we could work together, but this provides a framework for us to come together at one table and form a project steering committee," says Wood.

Sudbury is the largest city on the tour, and stands to be ideally positioned to act as a sort of full-service regional centre with Dynamic Earth and Science North, as natural stopovers for visitors.

According to the most recent numbers from the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Sudbury saw 1.37 million visitors in 2004, providing $175 million in direct spending, with a local economic impact in $218 million.

By participating in the route, the city can expect to appeal to three separate markets: touring families, motorcycle touring, as well as the recreational vehicle travel market.

Having identified these areas, Wood says the city is seeking to evaluate them and determine what work needs to be done in cooperation with various local businesses to cater to their needs. For example, hotels may wish to consider providing lockup services for motorcycles, or to provide better online advertisement of opportunities where riders may drive directly to their hotel door in order to keep an eye on their vehicle.

Wood says one advantage of the route is how it is entirely contained within Ontario, rather than being a tourism route that must be "shared" with the United States. This becomes of particular importance when building the route's branding image in long-term efforts to draw people to the area from the United States and beyond.

"For me, the importance of this initiative is to create a reason to come to Sudbury that reaches beyond the province and the country," Wood says. "If we can build something iconic where the name 'Georgian Bay' can convey an essence to someone in another country, then I think it may mean a significant amount of business to the city."

By NICK STEWART

Northern Ontario Business