Francophone tourism has potential for Welland
Welland’s French heritage could mean tourism opportunities for the city.
Mayor Frank Campion hopes to make the city a popular stop for Francophones from throughout North America who are interested in retracing their roots.
“The opportunities are huge,” said Campion, who returned last week from the second Francophone and Francophile Cities Network meeting held in Lafayette, a city of 120,623 in southwestern Louisiana.
That meeting, he said, focused on tapping into the tourism potential of North America’s Francophone population of 33 million people.
“There were a lot dynamics associated with it because the French really migrated through Canada down to Louisiana, the Acadians, coureur de bois, and the Metis,” he said.
Campion said he will be working with the local French community finding ways to promote local French heritage, as interest grows among people studying their genealogical heritage.
Genealogical tourism, he said, is “becoming a big thing, particularly in Europe, but it’s gaining a lot of ground in North America.”
A large number of Frenchspeaking people made Welland their home during the past few centuries, helping to build the Welland Canal, as well as the city surrounding it. That part of Welland’s history could provide a link to thousands of French-speaking people throughout the continent.
“People would be interested in saying, ‘Well, my grandfather or my great-great-grandfather built the canal or worked on the aqueduct,” Campion said.
It’s an example of personal connections to the city that could bolster tourism to Welland, if it’s promoted to people from municipalities that are part of the Francophone Community Network.
He said the Met is Nation of Ontario is also very active in Welland, and could play a part in helping promote Welland’s Francophone history.
Meanwhile, local attractions such as the monument recently unveiled at Sacre Coeur Church, could also help entice tourists to visit the city.
“It’s something where people will come back and say, ‘Wow, that’s part of my history.’ It’s located in the heart of French Town in Welland, and we have French street signs. It’s the historic French community where people lived,” he said. “That’s the type of thing we’re hoping to promote within the network.”
While being part of the network provides Welland with opportunities, Campion said “it’s up to us now to figure out the mechanics of what we should be promoting on the tourism side, which we’re doing, as well as looking at some of the economic benefits that might come out of that.”