Tourist association planning for the future

Jeff Green | May 06, 2010

Sustainability has a green connotation these days, but for the Land O'Lakes Tourist Association (LOLTA) it also has to do with survival.

The 67-year-old association, which boasts 223 member businesses in Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Counties and the Municipality of Tweed, has been able to maintain a $200,000 annual budget over the past several years thanks in part to its role as a delivery agent for a series of Rural Economic Development (RED) projects, most recently for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).

The current two-year RED program that LOLTA is running is an accessible wilderness program, which provides a 40% rebate for marketing programs by member businesses that have invested in accessible infrastructure. In addition to providing benefits for members, the RED program provides $50,000 each year to the tourist association.

Ken Hook is the General Manager of LOLTA, and it is no coincidence that he was hired just after the Accessible Wilderness Program was confirmed last year because without the program his position could not be funded. “The writing is on the wall,” he reported to members of LOLTA at their Annual General Meeting at Rivendell Golf Club last Thursday, April 29. “There will be no replacement for the funding when it runs out in two years. We need to make changes.”

Hook's proposals include increasing membership fees, from $165 in 2010 to $185 in 2011 and $195 in 2012. The number of members in the association increased by over 50 last year and the goal is to increase it by 50 this year as well to bring in more money. Advertising costs in the popular tourism magazine and guides that LOLTA produces are also slated to go up.

The association is directly supported by Lennox and Addington County and member municipalities in Frontenac County, and Hook proposed that an increase in the funding they provide be sought.

In terms of cost cutting, a $5,000 decrease in the $20,000 office budget is planned.

If all the measures are implemented, LOLTA would see a $60,000 improvement in its bottom line by 2012 when the Accessible Wilderness funding runs out. “Hopefully, at that point we will no longer be dependent on having a government funding program on the go at all times,” Hook said.

Other highlights from the past year for LOLTA include the development of the first comprehensive paddling guide ever produced for the region, which will be available soon, and a wholesale rebuild of the Travellandolakes website.

Shaun Levy and Bryna Jones from Engine Communications of Belleville brought members a sneak peek of the new site, which will be going live later this month. The site has a new look, and is designed to make the information that is already included in the existing website easier to find. The website includes profiles of member businesses, tourist opportunities in the region, a calendar of events, and booking information.

The new site promises to greatly improve the online booking option, make the calendar of events more complete and dynamic by making it easy to identify events by the day, the week, category or location.

The site is designed to be accessible to blind people and has other accessibility features. It is also available, simply by clicking on one of the flags on a banner at the top, in over 50 languages.

Bryna Jones outlined how a blog feature and incorporating Facebook and Twitter will bring the Land O'Lakes into the brave new world of marketing through the use of social media.

An enhanced members’ section of the site will also enable members to take better advantage of the marketing potential of the web.