The Municipality of Grey Highlands, Grey County and the Regional Tourism Organization 7 (RTO7) are looking to team up to create a regional strategy for outdoor recreation.
“I think we all agree that the outdoor assets that we have, especially around outdoor experiences and outdoor adventure, are probably our primary advantage. If we want to be able to capitalize on the opportunities that best suit our community, we need to focus our efforts,” said Michele Harris, director of economic development for the Municipality of Grey Highlands.
The outdoor adventure strategy project would focus on creating a comprehensive, regional plan for outdoor adventure tourism, such as vertical climbing, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, hiking and cycling.
The project would look to identify key tourism experiences that build on the natural assets in the region and provide an overview of the current tourism infrastructure, partners and market channels.
“Within the last year, we are getting requests constantly from trails groups wanting us to invest as a municipality in bridges and parking lots and upgrades to properties, many of which we don’t own,” Harris said. “We need some direction on this.”
The strategy would also identify the best potential areas for long-term investment and outline an action plan.
Currently, the project is seeking funding support from Grey Highlands ($5,000), Grey County ($10,000) and RT07 ($15,000).
“By partnering with Grey County, and RTO7 (Bruce-Grey-Simcoe), the municipality has an opportunity to ensure a holistic approach is being taken around tourism development, and that opportunities to move visitors across the area to various locations are encouraged, resulting in less burden on certain sites, and a safer and more engaging tourism experience for visitors,” Harris continued.
The project would also be seeking in-kind support from Grey Sauble Conservation Authority, Ontario Parks, Bruce Trail, Friends of Kimberley Forest, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.
Project representatives will be applying to the Tourism Economic Development and Recovery Fund (TEDRF), a provincial cost-sharing funding program designed to provide non-capital funding to projects that encourage the development of innovative new tourism products and experiences, and drive private sector tourism investments and workforce development.
“Should we be successful in additional funding, this becomes a $60,000 project for a municipal investment of $5,000,” Harris explained. “And, from a tourism perspective, tourists do not know municipal boundaries. We need to look at this holistically.”
At the council meeting held earlier this month, Grey Highlands council accepted the proposal and authorized staff to work with the County and RTO7 to develop the outdoor tourism strategy.
The municipality's $5,000 portion of the funding will be drawn from the 2020 Economic and Community Development budget allocation.
