The South Georgian Bay Tourism Association announced it is ceasing operations, citing an "abrupt" end of financial support from municipalities at the beginning of this year.
Member municipalities, including Collingwood, Wasaga Beach, and The Blue Mountains, say they want to go in a different direction.
A news release issued Oct. 23, announced the non-profit organization is folding.
The organization's operational budget was funded through annual contributions by five member municipalities: Collingwood, The Blue Mountains, Wasaga Beach, Clearview Township and Meaford.
"In January 2024, the five municipalities mentioned above abruptly withdrew their financial support from South Georgian Bay Tourism. Municipal staff members subsequently resigned from their board positions," states the news release.
However, the tourism board chair, Valerie O'Brien, confirmed in an interview with CollingwoodToday that both Collingwood and The Blue Mountains did provide funding to the organization for 2024.
Staff from Collingwood and The Blue Mountains have also confirmed the towns sent funding to the organization this year.
According to the tourism board, Collingwood contributed $22,000 in 2023, and $10,000 in 2024. The Blue Mountains contributed $20,000 in 2023 and $10,000 in 2024.
Meaford, Wasaga Beach, and Clearview sent the tourism organization $17,000, $15,000 and $17,000 respectively in 2023, and no money in 2024.
O'Brien said the board is "disappointed" to announce the end of the tourism organization, noting the group just celebrated its 45th anniversary at the end of last year.
"We had a pretty great sense of moving forward with the organization," said O'Brien. "There was no indication at that time that there would be any change with funding from the municipal partners."
She said the board knew the municipal representatives had a meeting late last fall, but she assumed they were looking at ways of working together to enhance the support of regional tourism.
Municipal representatives on the board last year included Tim Hendry, manager of communications and economic development for The Blue Mountains; Johannah Griggs, the manager of economic development for Collingwood; Amanda Murray, the manager of parks and recreation for Clearview Township; Katelyn Monsma, economic development officer for Wasaga Beach; and Krista Storey, manager of cultural services for Meaford.
Hendry confirmed there was a meeting last fall with the municipal reps.
"Come January, they let us know that they were looking at their budgets and planning to make some changes with their participation," said O'Brien. "The five representatives all indicated that they would be resigning from the board and that some of them would be eliminating funding immediately."
Griggs told CollingwoodToday in an email that she tendered her resignation with the tourism organization's board on Jan. 17, 2024 at a board meeting.
Her letter of resignation noted Collingwood's work to explore a municipal accommodation tax and a comprehensive tourism strategy and action plan in 2024, and that both would impact Collingwood's decisions on investing the revenue from the accommodation tax.
Griggs also said there was a proposal brought to the South Georgian Bay Tourism board of directors in 2023 by the organization's executive committee suggesting the removal of municipal representatives from the board so the organization could be "purely industry-led."
"Staff felt that with the reduction in funding and the organization's interest in having an industry-led board of directors, it was appropriate to step down from the board at that time," said Griggs.
She also confirmed the town sent $10,000 to South Georgian Bay Tourism in 2024, and told the tourism organization that future funding commitments couldn't be confirmed "given the changes in the tourism landscape" and pending decisions made through the tourism master plan and municipal accommodation tax.
The Blue Mountains Mayor Andrea Matrosovs had a similar response to South Georgian Bay Tourism's news release, explaining the town is working through a formal tourism and marketing strategy.
"Tourism is a vital industry and economic driver for our local community, and our commitment to the industry and local operators is unwavering," said Matrosovs in an emailed statement.
Both Collingwood and The Blue Mountains are exploring a municipal accommodation tax, which is a levy (about 4%) on overnight accommodation bills, including hotels, B&Bs and short-term rentals. Wasaga Beach is also looking into the concept.
Legislation allowing municipal accommodation tax requires that 50 per cent of the revenue must be given to a non-profit tourism organization.
"The association had anticipated being a key recipient of municipal accommodation tax funding, given its 45-year history as the direct marketing organization for the regional tourism sector," stated the news release from South Georgian Bay Tourism.
According to O'Brien, the tourism organization followed up on the resignations and funding reduction by requesting a meeting with the member municipalities.
"It's still unclear to the board of South Georgian Bay Tourism why the municipalities chose to stop supporting small tourism businesses through our work," said O'Brien.
O'Brien claimed only Collingwood and The Blue Mountains responded to the request, and that meetings with Collingwood left the board feeling optimistic for a way forward.
"It was our hope that, at the very least, there could have been a change for the association in the future, where we could take our resources and all of the investment that's been made in the organization ... to become the destination marketing organization for the town of Collingwood," said O'Brien. "However those conversations did not materialize the way we would have hoped."
Griggs confirmed the Town of Collingwood did participate in discussions about refocusing South Georgian Bay Tourism's work to be specific to Collingwood, but that plan would include removing the existing board of directors and electing a new one exclusively made up of Collingwood tourism industry representatives.
"Staff sought a legal opinion regarding the proposal and was advised that there were risks associated with potential unrealized liabilities as well as higher costs to the municipality compared to establishing a new not-for-profit organization," said Griggs.
She said the town will continue to work with the Downtown Collingwood business association (BIA), Tourism Simcoe County, Bruce Grey Simcoe Regional Tourism Organization 7 and Destination Ontario to promote tourism in Collingwood.
Hendry confirmed The Blue Mountains is working with the same organizations plus Grey County, Blue Mountain Village Association, the South Georgian Bay Small Business Enterprise Centre and Community Futures South Georigan Bay to support local tourism businesses.
"Through carefully reviewing our tourism partnerships, it was determined that the best path forward was to adjust our annual contribution to South Georgian Bay Tourism and release our seat on the board of directors to allow for greater industry representation," said Hendry.
Sandra Watts, the director of communications for Wasaga Beach explained in an email to CollingwoodToday that Wasaga withdrew from the organization because "we just didn't see the value and there was no clear way for the town to measure the impact of South Georgian Bay Tourism on local businesses or tourism."
"Going forward, we are investing in developing our own assets, tourism website and visitor guide, and visitor marketing campaigns," said Watts, adding the town continues to work with the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Destination Ontario, Regional Tourism Organization 7 and the County of Simcoe to promote Wasaga Beach.
South Georgian Bay Tourism had one full-time staff member, the executive director, and would also draw from grants for programs (not operational funding).
O'Brien said without municipal funding, the organizations treasury has run dry and "without a renewed commitment from the municipalities," there's no continuing.
The board of directors included O'Brien, who is on staff at Theatre Collingwood, Ian Smith of Spy Cider House and Distillery, Ashleigh Levoy, vice president at Georgian Bay Hotel, Guy Laporte, co-owner of Craigleith Manor Bed and Breakfast, John Belknap of Penny's Motel and Apres, and Jennie Elmslie, owner of Free Spirit Tours.
O'Brien said the board is feeling "disappointment, definitely."
"I think that the board members all were strong advocates for tourism in the region ... and we believed that this organization would continue long after all of us were finished our tenure as volunteers," said O'Brien. "So it is disappointing that we have to close operations."
The Township of Clearview and Municipality of Meaford did not respond to requests for comment by publication time.
