Austin has been with the chamber for over a year helping to establish funding and partnerships for this initiative. She has been instrumental in developing relationships, educating our stakeholders and administering this project.

Funding has been secured from the Town of Huntsville and the Township of Lake of Bays, from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion, Muskoka Futures and private community partners. Additional funding at both the provincial and federal level continues to be sought.

Renwick, our newest team member, brings great enthusiasm for our communities. She has spent much of the last year with Assante Wealth Management, but many of you may recognize or remember her from the Algonquin Theatre.

Renwick will focus on our external marketing efforts and forming relationships with new stakeholders to help sustain this initiative for the future.

The Huntsville and Lake of Bays event tourism committee’s mission is to attract and retain sport and cultural events during the shoulder season, with minimal local facility and environmental impact.

Why? As stated by committee chair John Cowan: “Huntsville/Lake of Bays is embarking on the largest co-ordinated event this community has undertaken since the Paralympics.  The task of bringing all segments of our community together and working to build our local economy is a monumental feat and is the envy of the majority of communities across this country.”

Cowan has lived and worked in our community for 15 years, having moved from southern Ontario because the community had a pioneering spirit, and also because of its geography. “The communities of Huntsville/Lake of Bays have a strong history of forging ahead with new ideas to make themselves unique compared to other tourist destinations,” said Cowan.  “There is tremendous pride taken by the residents of their communities.”  

Huntsville and Lake of Bays have successfully hosted the Muskoka Triathlon, the pond hockey championships and the inaugural Ontario Paralympic Winter Championships, to mention a few.

Our communities are now known in the sport circles as a superior location to host. In the past year, we have been receiving numerous requests to host sport events and conferences. Our community volunteers have the skill sets to bring forward these events.

The demographics are favourable for hosting events as the retiree population is geared to participate in local events.  

“Setting aside, the ‘warm and fuzzy’ nature of our communities, we are in need of acting on this quickly,” said Cowan. “Huntsville/Lake of Bays is in direct competition for the tourist dollar with every other place in the world. We are part of the global economy and we are in need of thinking outside of the box in luring the tourist to spend their time and money in our communities. Our community has just begun to realize the magnitude of event hosting.“

“Events like the Paralympics and the Ironman triathlon bring people here to do something,” said Kelly Haywood, general manager of the Huntsville/Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce. “We are focusing on events with a low environmental impact, like cycling, canoeing and cross country skiing, which use the natural surroundings we are so proud of here. We’re focusing less on our facilities because places like the Centennial Centre are already at maximum capacity. We won’t displace our residents to bring in a hockey tournament, for example.”

The external marketing committee, chaired by Jeff Suddaby, and the events tourism committees have a well-planned road map that will generate a favourable boost to our local economies.

Suddaby and committee have been developing plans and creating partners for well over a year. The external marketing committee will focus on developing campaigns that surround the events that have been solicited.

“The objective of our earned media campaigns will be to draw traffic to the initiative’s tourism website: www.huntsvilleadventures.com,” said Suddaby. “This provides every chamber member an opportunity to take advantage of our efforts and sell themselves.”

As we all know, Ontario is one of Canada’s most beautiful provinces, and Muskoka is one of the province’s most beautiful areas. But with such a bounty of beauty, Muskoka needs another good reason for visitors to come and discover its attractions.

With tourism the largest industry in the district, the Huntsville/Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce board gave the matter a great deal of thought – about two years’ worth – and identified event tourism as the ideal way to bring people to Muskoka.

Co-operation from the community as well as the town is vital to event tourism, as most events need many local volunteers.

Part of the plan is to educate residents about the benefits of event tourism for their community and the far-reaching effects of tourism on the area’s economy.

“We are grateful for the immense support and hard work done on the new plan by board president Simon Bevan, the chamber board members, chamber staff members Chantelle Armstrong, Danielle Clarke and Trish Kruusmagi, John Finley of the Huntsville economic development, Jennifer Schnier, Lake of Bays community and recreation co-ordinator, the marketing committee and the event tourism committee,” said Haywood. “These people are

extremely committed to developing this initiative and making a mark for Huntsville and Lake of Bays in Ontario.”

For more information on Huntsville and Lake of Bays events tourism and community marketing, contact Austin or Renwick at the chamber of Commerce. 705-789-4771 or kate@huntsvillelakeofbays.on.ca, helena@huntsvillelakeofbays.on.ca.