Rideau Heritage Route report at UCLG

Posted Feb 16, 2012 By Jill Hudson

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EMC News - An expanded presence - from one end of the Rideau Canal to the other - is the plan for the Rideau Heritage Route Tourism Association in 2012.

This was one of the key messages delivered by Anne Marie Forcier, Executive Director of the association (RHRTA), in her annual report at the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville (UCLG) meeting on Feb. 9.

She noted there are new regions that the Rideau Heritage Group falls in - North Rideau, Central Rideau and South Rideau. She looks upon this as an opportunity. "Once these areas are developed and fine-tuned, working well at developing products and marketing - we can benefit from three times the exposure," said Forcier.

In terms of partnerships, RHRTA has founding members including UCLG, municipalities and Parks Canada. It has project partners including the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports. The Ontario Marketing Partnership and CFDC's have become their partners. At the grassroots level, RHRTA works with the tourism businesses within Leeds and Grenville as well as Ottawa and Kingston tourism.

"There is a benefit to the entire corridor working together because we're able to leverage a lot of those activities that are happening. When they go internationally with Ottawa and Kingston we're part of that mix because we have put together a team that actually links to two communities for travellers," explained Forcier.

In terms of RHRTA funding for 2012, its base funding from 12 municipalities adds up to $53,000. She said that amount may not seem like a lot of money with all of its activity but this base amount becomes a leverage amount.

"We leverage it with projects with different grants and different associations and cooperative programs and certain years we are able to leverage it seven to eight times its original amount," said Forcier. "It is critical that the base amount stays very consistent. It looks good when we are applying for federal and provincial grants that they see the municipalities are working together."

The RHRTA is at its fifth phase of business development.

"We are spending time enhancing our strategic alliance and really working on development. We are continuing with our marketing program that is attending trade shows, marketplaces, our publications, our website, our cooperative advertising and our familiarization tours. Our signage program is still the largest directional signage program, getting people from Kingston to Ottawa."

The route currently ends in North Grenville - in Kemptville at the boundary. Forcier announced at the UCLG meeting that Ottawa is now on board.

"But I am very pleased to announce today you are the first to hear this - we had some very positive meetings with the City of Ottawa with the mayor and the deputy mayor last Friday and they really want to see it complete by this summer because we impressed on them that this is the fifth year of the UNESCO designation for the Rideau Canal and yet Ottawa still has not signed their portion of the route. They are taking that on as a project and they are wanting to make it happen for this tourism season. So, they are taking on that cost to linking our signage and linking to get in and out - so they are looking at perhaps a circle tour but for sure a link that brings visitors all the way down to the By-town museum, to the current signage."

The association has five kiosks on-site in different locations - Kemptville (North Grenville), two in Smiths Falls, one is going up in Rideau Lakes and one in Seeley's Bay. Forcier said this creates branding and consistency for visitors - the unmanned kiosks have brochure racks that communities are responsible for filling (with maps, etc). Last year was the first year they were up and running. Rideau Lakes' kiosk is going up this season.

Forcier excited shared with the United Counties what she calls, "free ink" - which consists of articles written by newspapers and magazines that promote the area.

"We were able to track $1.3 million of free editorial - so we call that free ink. It's coverage that we get not by putting an ad in a magazine but by getting coverage by those writers that come to our destinations, experience it, get excited about it and write to their readers about their experience," said Forcier.

She noted the focus in 2011 was on visitors much closer to home.

"It's exciting to be the poster child of China for this region. When we talk domestic - those are people who can hop in a vehicle fairly quickly - for a weekend trip or a summer get-away or a fall touring get-away - we can impact more people when we focus domestically. We are not losing the international - they're coming already because of the UNESCO designation."

Rideau Heritage's strategic direction for 2012 is to engage people through social media. The organization is looking at a new website. She said internet users like to be interactive.

"We are stepping up to that task and really want to be in that marketplace," said Forcier, adding RHRTA will continue to develop its on-line presence with blogs, Twitter and Facebook notices. "We are looking at using that for visitors who have questions about our destination."

She stated the association has an interactive section which focuses on cultural adventures. Last year it received a grant from the Cultural Strategic Investment Fund - that has created interesting theme itineraries - such as antique shops. It maps all the sites - using Google technology.

"You are able to go in and see where they all are and map your itinerary. What it also does is it indicates places to stop to visit culturally - museums, heritage sites, where you should stop to eat, where you should stay overnight. We are driving visitors in an itinerary-based way to really experience the destination," described Forcier.

RHRTA works with Parks Canada, Ministry of Tourism (MTC&S), Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership - OTMP, The Great Waterway Region, Travel Media Association of Canada and Ottawa Tourism & Kingston Tourism. It also has a reciprocal arrangement with tourism offices throughout the region.

The Rideau Canal was one of 36 natural and cultural sites reviewed for inclusion on the World Heritage List by the UNESCO session. In 2007, The Rideau Canal became the first Ontario location and the 14th Canadian location to be named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.




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