NOSTA needs focus from government.

The president of the North of Superior Tourism Association (NOSTA) is optimistic about the of the local $636 million industry.

But Tim Lukinuk says uncertainty over government funding and questions over the tightening of the American border is making life for NOSTA's highly professional staff more difficult than it needs to be.

"It's the uncertainty over the border that is the big concern," he says, adding it is much more difficult to market on both sides without being able to really plan for the future.

"Close to 40-50 per cent of our visitors are American," he explains. "So if 50 per cent of your visitors are anxious about crossing the border for whatever reason, it can have a pretty big impact on your economy."

The Association is trying to take the uncertainty at the border in stride with marketing initiatives that stretch into nearby Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, according to NOSTA vice-president Iain Angus. But without more predictable support from the provincial and federal governments, the job becomes more difficult.

"I think one of the main weaknesses is the provincial and federal focus on where the large population centres are in southern Ontario," he says. "I just looked at one Web site today that markets Canada and it's got a whole lot of packages for Toronto and Niagra, but none for Northern Ontario."

He understands the size of the tourism industry in that region, but stresses the industry in northwestern Ontario is a much larger portion of the economy as a whole.

"It is even more important to us," he says. "We don't have the dollars by ourselves, either as an association or in partnership with our members, to make the kind of marketing impact in our target states that we need to."

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Funding currently comes in the form of piecemeal grants for specific projects, making it difficult to maintain staffing levels. That's a concern for Lukinuk, who argues it is NOSTA staff that make things work as well as they do. Without sustainable core funding, NOSTA directors are forever concerned about the long-term viability of their organization.

"It makes our lives extremely difficult where one year we have resource to do things and the next year we don't," he says. "We need to maintain our professional staff. We've found that's the real key to this. We need high-level employees that can deliver these products. They go to trade shows, they are good salespeople; they know how to talk to our clients."

Lukinuk is careful not to paint NOSTA as a charity case.

"We try to use those government dollars whenever we can to leverage. The travels associations and NOSTA doesn't just survive on government money, which comes and goes. We have a very strong membership base lately, we're up over 225 and growing. The Lake Superior Circle Tour, for example, is 100 per cent private sector dollars. That's a vision we have long-term is to be truly self-sustaining."

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The Circle Tour is a prime example of what can be accomplished through partnerships and a plan. Working together with officials in the "near states" Lukinuk mentioned above, NOSTA staff have generated an 86-page colour, glossy book called the Lake Superior Circle Tour Adventure Guide. The book and complementary Web site highlight events and attractions in cities and towns surrounding the lake, and features geographically grouped information, a map of the lake and its key locales and lots of colour pictures and information.

About 80,000 copies of the guide are circulated.

"We have an excellent distribution arrangement, where literally thousands of our books are in the hands of the tourist information offices stateside, where our market is," says Angus. "That does two things: it reduces our costs and it expands the exposure. We're offering a higher quality product, which makes it worthwhile for the players to join to get more bang for their buck."

The tour has been promoted since the highway circumnavigating the lake opened in the late 1960s, but there is a lot more that needs to be done, according to Lukinuk.

Motorcycle enthusiasts, for example, represent a potential niche market.

"There is a reasonable amount of motorcycle groups touring around the lake during the summer. I think that's an opportunity if we did some targeting with a seven-day motorcycling trip."

Product development is a big focus at NOSTA.

"One proposal is the Great Lakes Heritage Coast," says Lukinuk. "It's basically a highway corridor that starts at the U.S.-Canada border at Pigeon River and goes right to Midland or thereabouts. It's trying to theme and brand and develop products all along the coast."

Another proposal is the Lake Superior Drive, more or less the stretch between Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay.

"We've been trying to develop plans, strategies and promotions to encourage people to drive the Canadian section," he says. "They, obviously, can be Canadians or Americans, but we're quite proud of the Canadian section, so we want to promote the attractions and whatnot along the lake."

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He is proud with good reason. Last year, the Canadian Tourism Commission, in conjunction with Toyota, did a national campaign plugging the "Top 13 Drives in Canada." The Lake Superior Drive was one of them.

That distinction gave the area mention on a Web site, a television spot and two million copies of a promotional book Toyota promoted, in no small part by putting copies in every Esso station between Vancouver Island and Newfoundland and Labrador.

"We've been trying to build on that profile with our own promotions."

All this isn't to say NOSTA is obsessed with the lake.

"We've also been doing a lot for our members that aren't on the lake," says Lukinuk. "We're trying to promote the entire region with a strong emphasis on angling and the outdoor adventure. We've done a map and we've been working with the province to go to numerous trade shows naturally over the last three years driving support for the entire region, not just Lake Superior."

There are hoards of music festivals, local fairs, fishing tournaments, blueberry blasts and the like in the towns surrounding Thunder Bay, and Lukinuk wants to use every one of them to drive visitors further out into the region.

www.nosta.on.ca

By CRAIG GILBERT

Northern Ontario Business