Tourism strategy plan laid out for councillors

Council has approved an important step for the future of Niagara-on-the-Lake tourism, as the community expands and contends with growing pains and travel in a post-pandemic world.

A tourism strategy committee is being formed this winter, which it has decided will consist of Councillors Wendy Cheropita and Maria Mavridis, Niagara-on-the-Lake residents, local tourism business operators, and a representative from Tourism NOTL.

The composition of the tourism strategy committee was approved at the general committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21: the municipal project liaison Kathy Weiss and a hired consulting team are in charge of leading the process.

This strategy, along with a master plan and action plan, will lay the groundwork for how the town wants to approach attracting visitors while keeping tourism sustainable and beneficial for everyone who lives and works in the municipality.

“You’ll end up with a high-quality publication at the end of the year,” said Rebecca Godfrey, senior vice-president of CBRE Tourism Consulting. She gave a presentation outlining the team’s current timeline for creating these plans for the town.

This included five recommendations presented for council to vote on, including the structure of the strategy committee. Committee members will be responsible for providing key insights into how the town should attract tourists, representing different areas of life and work in Niagara-on-the-Lake and pooling their perspectives.

Godfrey presented the team’s recommendation for the following committee structure: one member of town council, five tourism business owners, two local residents, and a member of Tourism NOTL, a branch of the NOTL Chamber of Commerce.

However, during a discussion between councillors on who should occupy its seat in the committee, two names emerged: Cheropita, nominated by Lord Mayor Gary Zalepa, and Mavridis, who put forth her own name for consideration.

“It would be my honour to contribute,” Cheropita said.

Both Cheropita and Mavridis have experience with tourism-related businesses in Niagara: Cheropita worked for five years as the Wine Council of Ontario’s director of marketing, building tourism in the wine industry, and currently works as a strategic planning consultant for business development, while Mavridis has operated family businesses in the Heritage District for over two decades, including Corks Restaurant & Wine Bar on Queen Street.

The two councillors were given the opportunity to speak on why they should be the one to fill this seat at the table.

“I have actually built tourism strategies,” Cheropita said. “It’s all about collaboration, it’s all about working with a multi-faceted stakeholder group and making sure that we can come up with consensus.”

Mavridis highlighted that she has been working in Niagara-on-the-Lake since she was 12 years old, and said she believes she can maintain objectivity on the committee even while being a current business operator.

“I have been here for over 30 years and have pivoted through many ups and downs in this town: SARS, 9/11, the market crash, COVID – and we survived,” she said. “I’d be excited to sit and work with the CBRE, the town and residents to ensure that we come up with the perfect strategy.”

Both were well-received by council members: “I’d like to see what both candidates have to do on the committee,” said Coun. Sandra O’Connor.

Council members voted unanimously on a strategy committee that has two councillors, four tourism business operators, two local residents, and one Tourism NOTL representative.

They eliminated one of the five spots for a business operator, with the idea Mavridis would provide representation both for the municipality and the business sector, and to keep an odd number of seats at the table, more ideal for decision-making.

Then, they voted in favour of electing both Mavridis and Cheropita to the two available seats.

Godfrey’s presentation went over the five phases of the Tourism Strategy project, with the team currently in the first phase: consulting with stakeholders such as the strategy committee and other business owners, tourism groups, agricultural operators, residents, municipal staff and council.

At this stage in the process, the team expects to be conducting interviews, two online surveys, focus groups, a workshop, and more.