Projects & Initiatives

Ontario’s Highlands Tourism Organization

www.ohto.ca

Fall 2011

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About UsThe Ontario’s Highlands Tourism Organization (OHTO), also known as Regional Tourism Organization 11 (RTO-11), is one of 13 Regional Tourism Organizations created by the Ontario government to increase tourism to the province. The OHTO covers a large region, which includes the counties of Frontenac, Haliburton, Hastings, Lanark, Lennox and Addington, and Renfrew.

The OHTO’s mandate is to build and support a competitive tourism region through marketing and product

development. The OHTO functions in partnership with established and recognized tourism organizations, municipalities and entities within the region to move forward in a spirit of cooperation and collaboration.

The OHTO operates as a membership based not-for-profit organization, and it was founded in October 2010.

Marketing InitiativesMarketing Strategy

Welcome to Ontario’s Highlands

The OHTO completed the development of a detailed marketing strategy in the spring of 2011. This exercise provided research based insight into how the Region can be best promoted as a tourist destination. Based on the findings in this strategy, the OHTO has launched “Ontario’s Highlands” as the new consumer brand name for the Region. This name does not replace existing sub-regional brands (such as ComfortCountry, Land O’ Lakes, Ottawa Valley), but will work as a complementary unifier to strengthen marketing efforts and create regional recognition among consumers.

One of the singularly unique aspects of the region that was discovered through the marketing strategy is that it is relatively unknown as a tourist destination. This is supported through data collected by the Ontario government which perennially ranks Ontario’s Highlands as the least visited region in the province. This obscurity enables its promotion as an unknown entity, one that is waiting for discovery by potential visitors. It has all the experiences and attractions that tourists seek, and yet excitement can be generated by having the familiar in a new setting while also suggesting an unspoiled, pure experience. To capitalize on the unknown theme and at the same time to build awareness of the region, the Ontario’s Highlands will be promoted with the slogan “Come to know us.”

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What We Offer

The Ontario’s Highlands is a rural region with tourism assets that fall into two main categories: Outdoor Adventure and Arts, Culture and Heritage. Within these categories, there are several market-ready, experience-based tourism products that serve as strong attractors to potential visitors. By focusing Ontario’s Highlands consumer marketing efforts primarily on promoting these key experiences, rather

than focusing efforts solely on promoting the brand, the

OHTO can

both attract visitors to the attractions that are ready to sustain the visit, as well as effectively streamline marketing dollars to encourage visits by those who are already interested in the activities that the region has to offer. These experiences are: Arts, Culture & Heritage; Cycling; Festivals & Events; Fishing; Golf; Motorsports (ATVing, motocross, and/or boating); Paddling (flatwater and/or whitewater); Snowmobiling; and Winter Adventure (skiing, snowshoeing, dog sledding, etc.) This list of experiences is based on what is market-ready at present; however, there is

room for adjustment and expansion in the future.

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Target Markets

To effectively promote the experiences that can be found in Ontario’s Highlands, they must be marketed to the demographic and geographic markets that are the most interested in them. Research has indicated the primary and secondary demographic markets for the Ontario’s Highlands are Active Adults and

Mature Adults. Families have been identified as a tertiary market, potentially focused on in the future as regional experiences and infrastructure improve to address the needs of this demographic.

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Primary Market: Active Adults

• Adults aged 25 to 54.

• Travel alone, with their partners, or in small groups, without children.

• Their trips are typically long weekends with friends visiting cities or affordable places in the countryside.

• They live in close proximity to the Ontario’s Highlands region, hailing from Toronto, Ottawa, and Kingston.

• They enjoy music festivals and outdoor activities such as whitewater rafting.

• Their fast-paced lives can get stressful, and many feel a need for escape and rejuvenation in a peaceful setting.

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Secondary Market: Mature Adults

• Seniors aged 55+.

• Travel as a couple.

• They are active seniors who are looking to get in touch with nature, and are not tied down by kids or jobs.

• They want to connect with nature and enjoy outdoor activities.

• They live in suburbs of larger cities geographically close to Ontario’s Highlands, such as Toronto and Ottawa.

• They like a simple and stress-free experience of the type that can be found in rural Ontario.

• They travel frequently and close to home throughout the year, including the shoulder seasons of spring and fall.

• They are more likely to stay overnight than other demographic groups.

Tertiary/Future Market: Families

• They live near big and medium sized cities like Barrie and Whitby.

• They are seeking a break, relaxation, change from their regular pace that can be found in rural settings such as the Ontario’s Highlands region.

• They enjoy outdoor activities like cycling, hiking, rafting and swimming.

• Holidays are generally frugal, and they are looking for value for money.

Geographically, the primary markets for these demographic groups as they relate to Ontario’s Highlands are the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), specifically metro Toronto and Durham, and Ottawa. The province of Quebec has been identified as

a secondary market. Other potential geographic markets have been identified as local residents and their visitors, as well as seasonal residents, which consists primarily of cottagers.

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Digital Assets

The digital audience is an essential element of today’s tourism marketplace. Whether looking up last minute information on the go, or researching potential destinations for a trip before it happens, it is essential to have online information available for the traveller. Both the Active Adult and Mature Adult markets heavily rely on digital media to make their travel decisions, whether

through traditional websites, social media, or travel-specific mobile applications. To be considered by these travellers as a destination, Ontario’s Highlands must be able to be found on all these channels. Focusing on digital assets has the additional benefits of allowing the OHTO to be more targeted, and to track the success of campaigns in real time.

Ontarioshighlands.ca

The Ontario’s Highlands consumer destination information website is located at ontarioshighlands.ca. It is organized in a unique and intuitive way that is an embodiment of the OHTO’s marketing strategy. The website is divided into unique “microsites” that highlight the ten experiences that are the key attractions of the Ontario’s Highlands region. This website will provide a wealth of resources for visitors, giving them a robust user experience that encourages them to share aspects of the site on social media, and allows for repeat visitation. The key features of the website are:

• Blogs: The ontarioshighlands.ca website will feature blogs from people who actively enjoy some of the many attractions that the Ontario’s Highlands region has to offer, who are a mix of local residents, small business owners, and frequent travellers to the region. These bloggers give an authentic voice to the things that there are to see and do in the region, to attract potential visitors. Blogging positions are always available. If you are interested, please submit (1) your topic selection, (2) a sample blog post, and (3) a bio describing your connection to the Ontario’s Highlands region and why you chose your selected topic, to leah.piltz@ohto.ca

• SEO: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an important aspect of any website. Having a website that has taken SEO into consideration allows the site to have a higher ranking on search engines, such as Google, generating more traffic to the site. The OHTO has hired Search Engine People, Canada’s largest search marketing firm, to optimize ontarioshighlands.ca.

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TripAdvisor Regional Landing Page

The OHTO has partnered with TripAdvisor to create an Ontario’s Highlands regional landing page, with secured sponsorship of this page for one year. This page will act as another means to help visitors discover what there is to see and do in Ontario’s Highlands, while also allowing them to see what other travellers have said about businesses and attractions throughout the region.

This partnership allows Ontario’s Highlands to have relevance as a tourist destination on the number one travel website in the world. Additionally, being listed on TripAdvisor improves the search ranking of the website for Ontario’s Highlands and its members.

• VacationPackages: Ontarioshighlands.ca will offer vacation packages to visitors, with the ability to book securely online. A vacation package is an easy way for visitors to purchase their travel, taking the headache out of planning a trip. Packages typically include a combination of accommodations, activities, or services that are sold together to offer convenience and/or value. Package listings are offered for free to OHTO members.

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Mobile App

The OHTO was the first Regional Tourism Organization (RTO) in Ontario to launch a mobile app, which is available for Apple devices including the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. The mobile app is a full-featured resource to be used by visitors to the area, giving them a unique, fun, and interactive portable way to access local destination information. It can be downloaded for free in the App Store by searching for “Ontario’s Highlands”.

The mobile app is equipped with several features to assist travellers to Ontario’s Highlands, including an easy-to-browse business directory with the ability to search by “things to do” and “shop, dine, stay”; comprehensive business listings with useful information including phone numbers, websites, maps, and more; exclusive special offers for local businesses and attractions; a “nearby” feature so that visitors can find the things that are closest to their present location; interactive maps; a customizable itinerary; and general regional information.

The next few months will see the addition of more features, including Postcards, where visitors can share local photos with their friends and family through social media and email, and a News & Events page, highlighting regional weather forecasts, an events calendar, and the Ontario’s Highlands Twitter feed.

OHTO members are listed for free in the mobile app, through the profile information managed at ohto.ca.

Video Project

The impact of video in the digital realm is undeniable, and statistics show that it’s growing in importance each year. Online video is a very effective marketing tool for tourism because it allows the potential visitor to view the place or experience before they go, influencing their travel decisions. A video that resonates with viewers makes the region one that is more attractive to visit. For the past several months, the OHTO has been working with Crowe Productions to produce a series of videos to promote both the Ontario’s Highlands as a tourist destination and the OHTO as an organization. These videos

will be available on the Ontario’s Highlands YouTube channel, at http://www.youtube.com/ontarioshighlands as well as on ontarioshighlands.ca and ohto.ca, sub-regional partner and member websites, and various social media channels.

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Online Advertising

The focus of online advertising initiatives by the OHTO will be to generate visits to the experience pages of ontarioshighlands.ca from the target consumer markets, and to encourage them to visit the region and purchase online packaging wherever possible. The goal is to move them from “lookers to bookers.” Where appropriate, visitor information will also be voluntarily captured for future communications and engagement.

The opportunity to maximize reach with available dollars will be through highly targeted online efforts including ongoing Search Engine Marketing (SEM) such as Google AdWords, social media

advertising such as Facebook Ads, email marketing, and advertising on targeted online networks and niche websites.

Social Media

Social media is a growing communications platform for Canadian organizations and institutions, with 8 out of 10 citing some form of social media presence. There is a continued growth of unique visitors to social media sites with Facebook being the largest site with a 7% increase in the last quarter of 2010, bringing their total visitors in Canada to over 20,000,000 for

this time frame. The OHTO has a presence on Facebook, as well as

the other significant social media sites Twitter and

YouTube.

The OHTO will continue to use these sites to market the region, posting attraction and accommodation information, packaging and promotional offers, photos, evens, and videos. The use of these sites offers the OHTO an opportunity to engage with an interested audience, with minimal investment. Best

practices will be used to encourage likes and followers on all sites. The OHTO will actively engage in participating on DMO and partner sites as well, as these are also opportunities to reach an interested audience with Ontario’s Highlands marketing messaging. Social media sites will be linked to all microsites, and be featured in all OHTO marketing initiatives.

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Product DevelopmentProduct development is a vital and increasingly important part of tourism development. Successfully identifying, developing and enhancing the tourism products available to visitors and locals increases the diversity and appeal of Ontario’s Highlands as a destination, attracting more interest in the Region, increasing visitation and encouraging higher spending.

Tourism product development involves thoroughly examining our region and its opportunities to meet the needs of the target markets visiting Ontario’s Highlands. In March 2011, the OHTO completed the Premier-ranked Tourism Destination Framework and it identified the following priorities:

Recreational Geology Development Project

The Recreational Geology Development Project is a product development initiative that was recognized early on as having enormous potential for generating tourism visitation to the region. This unique product offering has gone through the development phases of identifying resources, creating new tourism destinations, and enlisting the help of major public institutions to forge lasting relationships, and development opportunities throughout the region. New projects are still being proposed, and the OHTO is always on the lookout for more ideas. Here’s a sampling of what the OHTO has been working on over the past several months:

The OHTO has protected 8 mineral collecting locations as public destinations, restored the geological collection of the Perth Museum and will soon be helping to put it back on public display. The Bear Lake Diggings is getting a face lift; identifying new areas of interest to the collector while tidying up old ones. Interpretive materials are being produced for significant points of interest, and the OHTO is connecting-the-dots to create geological-themed walking, cycling, and

driving tours. They have helped the Bancroft Mineral Museum achieve its goal of a new, permanent home, and assisted in the creation of a hands-on archaeological pit at the Algonquin Way Cultural Centre in Golden Lake.

In the near future, the OHTO will be releasing their findings and recommendations in a regional development strategy, and conducting information sessions to help members make the most of local opportunities, and regional development. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to contact Michael Bainbridge, Recreational Geology Project Coordinator, at geology@ohto.ca if you would like to know more about what the OHTO is doing in your area, or have suggestions for new ways to experience the region’s unique geology.

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Product Development Framework and Facilitation

Building on the success of the Recreational Geology Development Project, the OHTO has recently contracted the consulting services of the Economic Planning Group of Canada (EPG) to facilitate a product development process to apply to the experiences of Trails and Waterways and Arts, Culture, and Heritage. The EPG will be collaborating with stakeholders

connected with these experiences to identify the initiatives that will have the greatest impact on increasing visitation to the area. These task teams will be guided through a process to develop a specific action plan to implement in the spring of 2012. If you are interested in getting involved as a task team member please contact stephanie.hessel@ohto.ca

Customer Service Training

After identifying a need for stronger customer service in the region as a way to attract and retain visitors, the OHTO partnered with Disney Institute to bring its world-class customer service training to tourism stakeholders in the area. The customer service training was presented as one-day seminars that were held in Hastings, Madoc, Perth, and Renfrew on March 7 to 10 to sold-out audiences. Through this training, the OHTO was able to offer local businesses the opportunity to benefit from the knowledge and expertise of Disney

Institute facilitators, who offer a unique hands-on, interactive style of training that engages participants. Disney Institute offers customer service training to a variety of industries, but it was chosen by the OHTO because of its specific experience in the tourism industry. Due to the success of these seminars, the OHTO is looking into additional business development programs that could be offered to the region. If you are interested in specific customer services programs delivered to your area please contact stephanie.hessel@ohto.ca

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Industry InitiativesOHTO Member Website at ohto.ca

Recognizing the need for a platform to effectively communicate with their membership, the OHTO’s industry website at ohto.ca was the first website completed by the organization, which launched in early March. This website is an invaluable industry resource, and it has been well received for both its design and functionality. ohto.ca serves as the main method of registering for OHTO membership, where members can access and update their information in one convenient location. Information managed at ohto.ca is automatically updated on the consumer site at

ontarioshighlands.ca and in the Ontario’s Highlands mobile app. The website also allows industry visitors to keep up to date on the latest news in the News Feed, including information about recent projects, as well as access to press releases, industry research, job opportunities, and much more. This industry website will continue to be enhanced to offer our members the information and resources to support their business.

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ohto.ca

Tourism Starts with You

Recognizing that most people who live in the area may not consider it as a tourist destination, the OHTO set out to change this attitude with their highly successful spring campaign called “Tourism Starts with You”. People were encouraged to share the attractions and experiences that they love about Ontario’s Highlands at tourismstartswithyou.com, and every submission counted as an entry into a contest to win an iPad 2. The winning entry was selected at random from over 570 submissions received throughout the campaign, which ran until June 30. Lynda Larsen-Baldry from Kanata won the contest with her submission of her

favourite regional experience: whitewater rafting on the Ottawa River.

The contest for the iPad 2 may be over, but submissions of favourite experiences and attractions are still encouraged at the Tourism Starts with You website. Past entries can be viewed, which include everything from Movies Under the Stars in Smiths Falls to the Marmora Mine in Marmora and the Forest Festival in Haliburton. Select entries will also be featured on our consumer website at ontarioshighlands.ca

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Increase Your Visibility: Keep your member profile up-to-date

The OHTO continually offers members value-added benefits, such as packaging opportunities, invitation to industry events, and special offers from partners. However, one of the primary ways that members can use the OHTO to increase their visibility is through the free member listings at ohto.ca, ontarioshighlands.ca, and on the mobile app. Members are encouraged to keep these listings up-to-date so that visitors have the most accurate information about the business.

Top 3 tips for improving your member profile at ohto.ca:

1. Upload photos: The OHTO allows all members to upload five photos that showcase their business. The more photos that you provide, the more enticing your business will look for customers. Make sure photos are high quality, and depict favourable features.

2. Upload a logo: A logo will help customers identify your business. It also provides customers with a visual point of reference when they are driving through the region looking for your location.

3. Add an offer for the mobile app: Including an offer in the mobile app helps attract customers to your business, as businesses with offers have heightened prominence within the app.

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Have ideas about how to increase tourism in Ontario’s Highlands? We want to hear from you!

Ontario’s Highlands Tourism Organization 9 International Drive, Suite 129 Pembroke, ON K8A 6W5T: 613-629-6486 (1-855-629-OHTO) F: 613-629-6488info@ohto.ca www.ohto.ca http://ontarioshighlands.cahttp://facebook.com/ontarioshighlandshttp://twitter.com/OnHighlandshttp://youtube.com/ontarioshighlandsOur

Partners