Two councilors gave advice to the consultant behind the city’s tourism strategy earlier this week – saying that unless it was presented to the council in a certain way – it would likely not be approved by local government.
The tourism strategy committee approved the plan on Monday – before it heads to the council for final approval.
Couns. Maria Mavridis and Wendy Cheropita are council representatives on the committee – both gave the rest of the committee, as well as consultant Rebecca Godfrey of CBRE Tourism Consulting, a heads-up that some council members have shared expectations of what they want to see when to be presented to local politicians later this month.
“Niagara-on-the-Lake is an extraordinary wine destination known for its natural beauty and unparalleled cultural experiences,” reads the strategy vision approved by the commission.
At the end of the hour-long discussion, it was agreed that the strategy would reorder what is prioritized when it comes to cultural aspects of what the tourist town has to offer – but there was also discussion about the need to highlight heritage assets – and possibly reduce the focus on Niagara-on-the-Lake being a winemaking and tasting destination – especially when Godfrey and her team appear before the joint commission on March 19.
The strategy has a budget of $170,000 — with $100,000 of that amount covered by a grant, city spokeswoman Mara Minor said.
Cheropita said it consists of “really rich data and research that has guided the discussions” since the commission’s inception.
But she also hears feedback that the strategy focuses too much on the local wine industry rather than the city’s heritage identity.
“I think we need to address that,” she said during Monday’s commission meeting, adding that the city’s history is something she also believes should be “front and center.”
Godfrey said she was “happy to focus on those elements and make sure that comes through in the presentation.”
Mavridis cautioned that she’s received similar feedback from councilors — that the strategy as it’s laid out should focus more on Niagara-on-the-Lake’s legacy — serving as Upper Canada’s first capital is one example she says should to be emphasized more.
“We need to put a little more emphasis on that side because we think we’re going to get a little pushback from the council,” she said.
“If it goes to the council like that, it will just be put back,” she added.
Mark Torrance, vice president of Peller Estates, also serves on the committee. He questioned why it had previously been agreed that the wine industry would be the leading corner of the strategy – before Monday’s discussion it looked like it should be otherwise.
“It started with wineries – now it’s slipping away,” he said, adding that he agreed the city’s history was vital to the strategy – and that he was not opposed to it being a major component of it.
“I just feel like there’s some change going on,” Torrance said.
Commission chairman Andrew Niven said the city’s heritage assets were definitely part of the strategy – but perhaps not “highlighted as strongly” as they could be.
“I don’t think we’re neglecting the winery perspective — we’re just adding more of the cultural side,” Niven said.
Apart from the re-prioritisation of the cultural heritage aspects of the strategy, several other minor revisions will be made before the final version is presented as a result of the recommendations made at the meeting.
But Godfrey insisted there was no need to make any further changes to the report.
“We are fully committed to highlighting the importance of all aspects” of what Niagara-on-the-Lake has to offer, she said.
Another direction given was to replace one photo in the strategy with one that didn’t make the tourist area look “overcrowded,” which was suggested by committee member Vlad Haltygin, who also recommended a photo of Niagara-on-the- lake ambassadors to be included.
Chris Dube, reporter for the Initiative for Local Journalism, Niagara-on-the-Lake local
