“It’s been a challenging, eventful past year,” Alberta’s Lakeland Destination Marketing Association president Fred Alexandruk told members at the April 28 annual meeting. “We’ve celebrated some victories and welcomed new members.”
The challenging part, Alexandruk said, was that the 2010 visitors’ guide arrived too late to be fully effective. “But that is history. I thank the board member who simply said, ‘It’s time to move on, start fresh and keep on going,’ so we did.” The 2011 guide arrived on schedule and in time for the earliest trade shows.
This year’s priorities include an attempt to persuade the MD of Bonnyville, who until last year was longtime members of the association, to return to the table. Alexandruk said the City of Cold Lake “is still out. I hope their fortunes improve.” He also plans to “maximize what each community has to offer. Not everyone wants to camp and fish.” Lakeland’s trade show display “needs a facelift, with new pictures and designs,” he added, “and we need to develop a policy manual for the board of directors.”
The Lower Athabasca Regional Plan is on Lakeland’s horizon, Alexandruk said. “The second draft is just out,” and among its proposals is the designation of an area as Lakeland Country, which would be “an iconic tourist destination” with a list of things this would include.
“It’s worth a look at. We need to become involved as a DMO. There’s a lot of opportunity for input, and the private sector will be encouraged to lead development. There were significant changes from the first draft, some I like, some I want to think about.”
Marianne Price noted that the Riverland Recreational Trail Society had also discussed the Plan at their AGM.
“One of the things that jumped out of the second draft was that on the land around Wolf and Siebert Lakes, a lot of the green had disappeared. It’s now white, which means private land, probably because of the oil company leases.” She added that Riverland member Jerry Bidulock met with cabinet Ministers Mel Knight and Ray Danyluk regarding the plan.
“At least now the draft refers to trails and tourism. We got their ear, but we still need to be at the table this does affect the areas where we go to recreate.”
A meeting of Riverland members held at Ashmont after the AGM brought out “a fair group,” Price said. “We’re striking a committee and will be very much at the table and involved in the plan. With the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance, too, we need to have our say.
It’s the blueprint for the next 50 years.”
Cindy Guay from Alberta Central Tourist Destination Region (TDR) was at the meeting to discuss co-op marketing opportunities. Seventeen proposals were received from Lakeland in the past year, with one cancelled, and 16 going under Lakeland’s umbrella. “Some of them were new projects, most of them were enhanced,” she said. “Self sufficiency as a project is important. A project has to grow itself. To gain impact, you must build on and improve. Co-op dollars are available to help you do that.” This year, the TDR provided $26,000 in funding, with some projects coming in under budget and the shortfall reallocated. From this, she noted, Lakeland received $3,900 in administration fees, up substantially from previous years.
Marianne Price gave a power point presentation on the DMO and the Iron Horse Trail, noting that one of the objectives is “to encourage people to be tourists in their own back yard.”
A gap analysis has just been completed. “It’s a big report and a lot of information, a lot of direction for the region. They’re planning a formal roll-out in September.”
Northeast Alberta HUB has three reports out, which are “very significant and timely.” Travel Alberta has a new birding brochure.
The Town and County of St. Paul have partnered at trade shows in Sherwood Park and Fort McMurray. Lakeland has attended or will attend eight major trade shows, plus cold Lake, at a total cost of $19,000, which is reduced to half through partnerships, Price said,
“There is real value there. We generate a lot of interest and increase the traffic to our website.”
Other marketing and education initiatives were also outlined, and in one case, she said, the two are combined as “we’re sending out our guides through the schools this year.”
Becky Paul talked about her blog, noting, “I used to do it every week, now every second week. It gets a lot of hits. I will be doing some video and we’re talking about Facebook and Twitter.” Also, this year, Paul said, “We’re going to take Lakeland’s website to WOW!”