Chatham-Kent tourism is continuing to recover in the post-pandemic era, municipal officials say.
Chatham-Kent tourism is continuing to recover in the post-pandemic era, municipal officials say.
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Council received a staff update at Monday’s meeting about the department’s efforts and latest visitor trends.
Environics analytics, provided by the Southwest Ontario Tourism Corp., show Canadians logged 610,930 trips to Chatham-Kent last year, staying an average 2.3 nights per trip.
Ninety-two percent of those trips were made by Ontarians, the staff report said. This is down 13.6 per cent from 2022. But the municipality is on track to see a 1.4 per cent increase this year.
During this period, logged Americans 112,748 trips to Chatham-Kent with an average of 3.2 nights per trip.
The local tourism department migrated to economic development in spring 2023, said Shannon Paiva, tourism development supervisor.
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“A merger meant changes to our budget, our staff complement, and that gave us the opportunity to reimagine tourism services, goals and achievements,” she said. “Despite some things being put on hold for now, we knew we had to remain committed to following the keys to success in our tourism playbook.”
Key takeaways from the report include the following trends:
- When Americans visit, they’re generally staying longer
- Trips by Quebecers are a distant second to Ontarians at three per cent
- July and August are the busiest months for trips to Chatham-Kent, followed by December for Canadians, and October for Americans
“Free Spirits” are the top traveler segment coming from Ontario:
- Find “highly gratifying” shopping
- Most social of all types of travelers
- Confident risk takers
- Consider themselves “happy and full of vitality for life”
- Higher-than-average income
- 37 per cent have children.
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“Upward bound: is the travel segment coming from the US:
- Upscale middle-aged families
- Dual income earners with newer homes
- Above-average technology users (use mobile for shopping, booking appointments, social networking)
- Research and buy online frequently
- 59 per cent have children.
Tourism in Chatham-Kent is a $64-million industry, according to 2019 figures – the most recent available – from Statistics Canada’s national travel survey.
The local department’s responsibilities include assisting, attracting and developing tourism assets and marketing.
A September Statistics Canada report showed tourism spending in Canada grew 0.7 per cent in the second quarter of this year, following a 1.4 per cent increase in the first quarter.
Paiva encouraged the public to follow Visit CK on its social media channels, and visit www.visitck.ca
“You are all CK tourism ambassadors yourselves,” she added.
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