Tourism a fast-growing industry.

Open a conversation with Paul Pepe about tourism and his voice instantly takes on a different timbre; an almost childlike excitement and enthusiasm for a subject that is close to the heart.

"(Tourism is) definitely an exciting topic. I love to talk about it," says Pepe, the northern development tourism advisor for the Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines. "As an outdoorsy-type myself, as someone who likes fishing, canoeing and kayaking, I can really see the potential for its growth."

Next to forestry and mining, no other industry in the North employs as many people, perhaps as much 35,000 people or more in the North of Superior tourism area alone. And while hunting and fishing have traditionally accounted for the bulk of tourism in the North, with summer being the peak season for tourism activity, this trend is starting to change, says Pepe.

More and more people are coming north in the winter for snowmobile touring and ice fishing.

"We're seeing the winter market certainly start to grow," he says.

Ecotourism and adventure tourism is also a segment that is starting to see an increase in activity, says Pepe. The Rossport Islands on Lake Superior North Shore, for instance, is considered one of the top 10 sea-kayaking areas in North America. Wabakimi, a massive wilderness park that has recently been enlarged, is gaining "a lot of attention" throughout North America and the world as a premier outdoor destination.

The Great Lakes Heritage Coast initiative is drawing attention to Lake Superior, as is the National Marine Conservation concept that would create a giant marine conservation area between Thunder Cape and the Slate Islands, he says.

"We have these initiatives bringing attention to the region and how they're going to contribute to the development of ecotourism in the region is pretty substantial," he says.

Pepe says he is encouraged by the amount of co-operation that is happening under the auspices of the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership (OTMPC) and the various tourism associations, such as the North of Superior Tourism Association (NOSTA), the Northern Ontario Native Tourism Association (NONTA) and the various municipal governments, including Thunder Bay and Wawa and others.

"We're seeing a lot more momentum growing," he says. "Traditionally, everybody sort of worked on their own plans. What we're seeing now is more people are leveraging their plans and their dollars and realizing they can go a lot further working together. The energy and excitement is incredible. We are meeting as groups every day working on ideas. It's good to see everybody working together, working with the outside communities, making them feel part of a region."

The slowdown from last year's Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic, along with Mad Cow and the U.S.-Iraq war decreased tourist crossings into places like Pigeon River at the Minnesota border only by about five per cent in total.

"It wasn't impacted because of the product we have here; it's hunting, fishing, ecotourism, it's clean, it's green," Pepe says. "Especially the fishing. For many, it's almost a religious experience. They're traditionalists, coming up every year for fishing and it's something they continue to do. As for the ecotourism, people want to get away from it all and they know here, it's quality, it's accessible and there's not the stress of travelling a great distance."

The region has the advantage of being within a day's drive of 35 million people in the Midwest United States, he adds.

"We have a huge market to the south of us and a lot of people are looking for those getaways," he says. "Their lives are getting more hectic and the availability of natural resources near to them is diminishing. They're looking to get away, so they come here."

The Lake Superior Circle Tour has been a boon for Wawa, which relies on tourism as its fourth-largest industry, an industry that brings in more than $60 million in revenues from May to October every year.

Co-operation throughout the Lake Superior region is key to the success of any community hoping to build its tourism industry, says Lori Johnson, director of leisure services and tourism in the Township of Michipicoten and the Town of Wawa.

"I think, in the past, communities have tried to build their own industry as strong as they can," Johnson says. "More and more, we're discovering that we need to develop relationships as a region to be successful. We need to pool our resources if we're going to be successful in developing our tourism products and new markets."

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"We're seeing a lot more awareness of what we have and marketing more strategically," says Pepe. "The City of Thunder Bay has been putting out some really good marketing material in the last couple of years and packaging the local product together. We're building on what we have. We have great theatres, great culinary experiences, a casino and great hotels."

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He says the recent development of a regional tourism advisory council is an important one because it brings everyone to the table, each with their own skills, knowledge, experience and information.

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"It's in its infancy at this point, there's no doubt about it," says Pepe. "But I think having a strong, co-ordinated effort working within the industry really will help. It will build on the strengths of the product we have here and (build) an understanding of who our clients are. That's really the key."

Kathy Ball, development officer with the tourism and economic development office of Thunder Bay, says tourism is the second-largest employer in the city, and is an industry that generates about $35 million per year.

Approximately 1.4 million people visit Thunder Bay annually, with cultural and nature experiences topping the list of attractions that draw people to the area. These attractions include concerts and shows at the Magnus Theatre and Thunder Bay Community Auditorium, as well as the Summer in The Park series of concerts at Marina Park.

"We are working on a marketing campaign to draw in more visitors," she says.

That campaign involves leveraging more than $600,000 and perhaps as much as $1 million in funds provided by the city and its industry partners to increase advertising in key markets, particularly the United States.

Statistics for 2001 and 2002 indicate 5,880 people were employed in the tourism industry in Thunder Bay. These numbers include accommodations, restaurants and clubs, as well as amusements and recreational services.

Michael Yuan, a professor of tourism at Lakehead University, sounds a cautionary note, however, saying the region and all of Northern Ontario needs even more focus to properly develop a strategic plan. What is lacking is sufficient information and research to provide a basis for its next stages of development and a realistic strategic plan.

One of the things lacking to do that research is sufficient funding.

"Tourism knows no boundaries ... the province needs to develop a strategic tourism plan and the regions need to develop their strategic development plan to fit in with the provincial plan," Yuan says. "The municipalities then need to develop their strategic plans to fit in those plans. None of that will happen until there is good tourism data to base decisions on. Everybody needs to have some responsibility in doing that research."

A study of the spinoffs that result from the operation of the Fort William Historical Park in Thunder Bay indicates it brings in more than $8 million in tourism revenues to Thunder Bay and $27 million to the northwestern Ontario region.

Fort William Historical Park is a "living history" attraction in Thunder Bay that brings in more than 100,000 visitors to the area every year, says the attraction's communication officer Marty Mascarin.

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"It's very unique because of its great size and variety of components," says Mascarin, adding Fort William is a reconstruction of an old fur trade outpost of the early 1800s. "The average fur-trading post might have a couple of buildings, but this place was huge. One fur trade company executive referred to it as the most metropolitan location in this part of Canada at the time."

"Fort William is a very significant component of the regional tourism industry," he says, adding it has been listed by the Toronto Star travel section as one of the top 10 historical sites in Canada. Attractions Canada also declared it one of the best-developed outdoor sites in the country.