One of the less than humorous observations about rural and off the beaten track locations like Manitoulin Island’s communities is that, being in something of a permanent recession, we don’t even notice when one goes by. But that, of course, is hardly true.
For one thing, the Island has been growing significantly—as proven by each year’s outsized increases in municipal assessments—building it seems is going strong, albeit not as strong as has been the case over the past couple of years, yet still strong.
Developers vote their confidence in a region with their dollars, and judging by the new builds and renovations aimed at the hospitality industry, that confidence is growing.
Also, due to the rough waters churning through the tourism sector south of the border, the future looks bright for in-house tourism, as domestic and international tourists seek out more hospitable locales in which to spend their vacation dollars. These two things might be related.
Certainly, the tariff threat cannot be good news for those Island businesses that manufacture goods and provide services outside our nation’s borders, but the vast bulk of Manitoulin’s economy looks somewhat more inward and depends highly on summer residents and tourism to maintain the availability of goods and services.
The Manitoulin Hotel and Conference Centre has upped the Island’s game even more by offering new and exciting entertainment options, in addition to providing an attractive venue for conferences from across the province. As word gets out about these developments, Manitoulin’s lure is set to grow even stronger.
Speaking of lures, The Expositor does its part to attract visitors to the Island with its two tourism-oriented sister publications—‘This is Manitoulin’ and ‘Manitoulin Magazine.’ The first is, literally, a “tourism lure” magazine featuring stories and advertisements specifically designed to highlight what Manitoulin has to offer the discerning tourist. Each year, The Expositor targets a region of the province with delivery of the glossy magazine-style publication to household doorsteps (40,000 copies this year will show up in Markam mailboxes). Another several thousand are distributed both locally to tourism operators, and to welcome centres and tourist information booths across the province.
The second, ‘Manitoulin’s Magazine’ which will be out shortly, is aimed more at tourists once they arrive on our shores. This newsprint-style publication details the events and opportunities that might be of interest to visitors who are already here.
Once tourists are here The Expositor itself plays a role in retention—acting as an unofficial MLS, with local realtors offering a more permanent possibility with homes to settle in or cottages in which to summer.
But the most important factor of all when it comes to tourism is attitude, that is a friendly one, and Manitoulin Island has that in abundance. It is said that every cloud has its silver lining, and for our Island that lining may well be in welcoming those domestic Canadian tourists, and international tourists, not to mention Americans fleeing the tension engendered by order of The Donald in their own nation.
While Canada may not be for sale, and certainly has no interest in becoming the 51st state of the union, Americans and their tourism dollars will always be welcome and in these troubled times, that is one very shiny silver lining.
So, hunker down ye Haweaters and First Peoples alike—together we will not only get through these challenging times, but the signs point to a prosperous tomorrow despite the doomsayers.
