Tourism Sarnia-Lambton (TSL) is aiming to ramp up its marketing efforts in 2024 in order to attract more world class events to the region.
Executive Director Mark Perrin made the comments in a presentation to Lambton County Council on Wednesday morning.
He said rather than sponsoring so many events, they're looking to better promote them to get more people into the area.
"In the future, we're looking to give less support but instead help with the marketing of these events," said Perrin. "We realize that a lot of these events do not market outside of our region. One of the most important things TSL can do is provide assistance and our marketing expertise to promote and market all of these great things happening in Lambton County. We want to ensure they're being noticed across the region, up to 500 kilometres and plus away."
Perrin said they're looking to expand the community's reach through ad campaigns in larger centres.
"We have a great campaign now, working directly in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)," he said. "There are billboards on Gardiner Expressway, and downtown Eaton's Centre. Many of our local attractions are now featured on these screens, in video and in different promotions that we are doing."
Perrin said they're also increasing their presence in publications like the Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, and Detroit Free Press and other magazines in the United States.
They're also focusing on attracting more visitors from Illinois, Chicago and Indiana.
He said some of the focuses of 2024 are the Petrolia 150th anniversary celebrations, updating facility guides, and business directories.
"Soon, we'll also be announcing an event that will bring the world to Sarnia-Lambton," he said.
Afterwards, Perrin was challenged by Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley.
"Roughly 10 years ago, this chamber gave a huge boost in funding to TSL," said Bradley. "It was on the basis of the development of tourism infrastructure, bricks and mortar to attract people. In those days, they wanted to see the development of a tourist attraction, a year-round attraction in Sarnia-Lambton. There were a number of proposals floating around but none of the municipalities have the skills to advance that. TSL was given the money to try and find ways to attract. How are those efforts going?"
Perrin said instead of bricks and mortar, they've been focused on bidding and bringing different attractions to the region.
"With those events, we're using spaces that we have available around the county," he said. "I think TSL would be more than happy to sit down with municipalities and talk infrastructure. Infrastructure is something from a tourism standpoint that we are lacking. When I came on board, I recognized right away that we should get the municipal accommodation tax going so that we could create infrastructure funding for municipalities."
A municipal accommodation tax is in place for municipalities including the City of Sarnia.
Perrin said 2023 had its share of success stories, including hosting the Canada vs. USA women's hockey rivalry series.
He notes many businesses continue to recover from the impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, so there hasn't been a lot of recent growth.
He's optimistic the trend can turn around in the near future.