CBRE crafts a tourism vision for Niagara‑on‑the‑Lake

“It’s taken over a year to get to this place,” Godfrey says, noting that they accounted for input from a wide range of NOTL stakeholders. The goal was to create a strategy that expands the breadth of what NOTL is perceived to offer, and in doing so enhance the sustainable growth of tourism businesses, overnight visits, and spending in NOTL.

“Cultural experiences involving arts, culture, heritage (including Indigenous experiences), and theatre often seem to be missing when people think about Niagara-on-the-Lake. The truth is there is way more than meets the eye, whether it’s biking excursions, the Shaw Festival, golfing, green spaces, gardens or great retail.”

Four Pillars

The strategy involves four priority areas or pillars. One is Governance and Destination Management, where the objective is to develop a sustainable tourism ecosystem with clear organizational roles, responsibilities, and dedicated resources. It is important clear roles and responsibilities are filled to implement the tourism strategy with adequate financial support, and to ensure the visitor experience is streamlined.

Another pillar is Product and Experience Development, which entails enhancing what’s best about NOTL, defining a series of Experience Corridors, and capitalizing on new development to broaden NOTL’s market base. The Experience Corridors will incorporate various access roads to NOTL, such as Highway 55, Lakeshore Road, Niagara River Parkway and York Road.

The third priority area in the NOTL strategy is Visitor Infrastructure and Investment Attraction. “Everything to do with transportation or parking infrastructure has to be thought of in terms of how it will impact visitors, and thereby benefit residents and businesses,” says Godfrey. “We also want to activate the waterfront and elevate the offerings beyond what’s there currently, along with new opportunities for the Niagara District Airport, which is located within Town boundaries.”

Destination Marketing is the fourth pillar of the strategy. This involves developing the tourism vision further and making it the basis for NOTL’s outward facing brand. “The idea is to lead with destination experiences and then talk about the year-round visitor attractions.”

The tourism strategy describes and defines where NOTL wants to be as a destination over the next decade. The CBRE team conducted robust research and analysis and took input from a variety of stakeholders to arrive at their recommendations.

“It means the strategy has a better likelihood of being implemented,” she says.

“And it’s not just where we want the destination to be or what we want it to look like; it’s also where the industry has to be. There needs to be a leveraging up of businesses to make this happen, but the community will benefit from it.

“This is a wonderful place to visit and to live. We want to ensure that NOTL’s natural beauty is maintained, and its tourism is guided by a sustainable vision that is the result of a collective understanding of what’s needed for NOTL to thrive.”

The strategy provides a baseline to build off.

“It’s meaningful because of the significance of NOTL to Canada,” she says. “People seek this place out internationally, but it needs to evolve beyond its history. There is so much untapped potential in this town, and we are really hoping this strategy unlocks it.”