Tourism silos not working, alliance needed

Re: 2 for 1: St. Catharines and Lincoln take tourism to another level, April 15

I congratulate St. Catharines and Lincoln municipal councils for deciding to partner in tourism promotion. But this is a mere drop in the bucket in what should be taking place.

Tourism in Niagara is a David and Goliath situation, with Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake overshadowing what I like to refer to as the “Other Niagara,” that being the remaining 10 municipalities, who each are individually vying to promote their small piece of Niagara in a silo type of environment.

Are tourists able to comprehend or care whether they are in West Lincoln or Grimsby, etc.?

A logical solution would be for Niagara Region to resurrect the tourism department that once existed and again promote the whole region. Sadly, that is not likely to happen.

The alternative is for the 10 outsiders to form a “The Other Niagara” tourism alliance and publish along with a web page a magazine-type publication that would highlight the many attributes of each domain. It would be similar to what the region used to publish and it would be a bonus if the two Goliaths joined the alliance. This publication was a hot item in years past when Tourism Niagara had a booth at the Toronto Bike Show.

At present, if I were considering a vacation in the Niagara region, I would need to study a map and research 12 individual municipalities.

It is time Niagara breaks away from the silo mentality and promotes the whole region as one vacation area.

Paul Pattison, St. Catharines