Tourism Outlook 2010?
Well 2009 sure was a tough tourism year for Northern Ontario outfitters. Based on the inquiries we received in our inquiry system urban tourism had a good spike in the spring, fishing was down about 50%, and hunting was down about 40% over recent years.
Also over the fall I have been talking to several key people in the tourism industry to try to see what the experts think 2010 is going to look like for Tourism. Below I will share with you what these key people are thinking and what they are advising their advertising clients.
If your like most outfitters you had a pretty slow year in 2009 and maybe even saw a pretty bland year back in 2008. You probably have found that US Sports Shows are not yielding the way they 
used to do, and I am sure you have nothing good to say about the US exchange rate.
Following Your Customers
Your customers are using the internet more and more, and where they are interested in switching lodges it has been a great way for them to shop around.
As a long time business owner like you I know that nothing beats direct contact with a new potential client. I close more deals and satisfy more customers over the phone than I ever could via the web or even in person. The Internet is however a great way to share infomation with them at a reasonable cost. For instance if you have invested in upgrades to your facility in 2009 you may want to show that off.
What's the Inside Scoop at Travel Manitoba
My buddy at Travel Manitoba thinks this comming year is going to be like last year. He listed off a wide range of Sports Shows that TM was doing but said outfitters may want to think hard about which ones offer best value. After all the price of each show keeps climbing and the 3K to play would have to yield 15k just to cover the average outfitters cost of advertising. It's really hard to motivate a market that just isn't buying.
