Tourism group working on recovery road map
Gordon Orr believes it is Windsor and Essex County residents that will eventually pull the area’s business and tourism industry out of the darkness created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CEO of Tourism Windsor, Essex, Pelee Island (TWEPI) said the group has worked to put together a three-step plan for recovery in the area.
“What gives me hope is we’ve suffered crises before, whether it be 9/11 (in 2001), SARS (in 2003) or the Great Recession (in 2008),” Orr said. “Each time, the landscape changed and the industry has always prevailed. That sort of history gives me hope.”
With many still fearful to venture out of their home, Orr knows it won’t be easy, but his organization and 75 stakeholders have created a three-step plan for the next six months.
With Ontario starting Phase 1 of reopening, the local group looks to respond, restart and recover. For stakeholders, the biggest questions are when businesses can open, what are the protocols and what access is there to personal protective equipment.
“We want to give some reassurance we have a plan going forward to get us out,” said Orr, who knows things could still change. “We’re still very much in the respond phase and hopefully in a measured way to see how the public and financial crisis flattens. We’ll follow the lead of the public health officials and, as it starts to open, we’ll start to market.”
But in the first step of the plan, the focus is getting the local community to contribute to the local economy. The group already has been working on that concept with ideas like Takeout Tuesday, which has nearly tripled in size, Wine Order Wednesday, focused on local wineries, and Fill Up Friday, aimed at the local craft breweries.
“We know consumer confidence is going to be key and we’re going to be hyper-local,” Orr said. “They’re going to be anxious to get out, but not to go out and travel. People are not going to be travelling. Windsor and Essex County people will want to stay in Windsor and Essex County.
“Local industries need the help the most, from small businesses to large retail stores, before we can safely welcome outsiders.”
No date has been set for the second step of the process when the restart phase will focus on drawing tourists from Southwestern Ontario. The group’s Best of Windsor Awards ceremony, which had been set for March 25, will be announced at that time and the visitors guide, which has already been printed, will be released.
At the recovery phase, the group will branch out to the Greater Toronto Area and Michigan and Ohio.
“I think that will be more of a challenge,” Orr said. “As a border community, we know Michigan is still a hot spot and has been hit economically. All indications show we are marketing with hyper-local (to start), then Southwestern Ontario and then the GTA and, at an appropriate time, start looking at Michigan and Ohio. It’s too big a market to ignore.”
Few businesses have escaped the impact of COVID -19 and even Orr said his bureau was forced to lay off 60 per cent of its staff for more than two months and reduce hours for others.
“YQG stands strong when we stand together,” Orr said. “We’re all in this together. We realize this is no easy fix and hopefully it’s temporary because the longer it goes on, the tougher to restart and rebound.”