HomeMy WebLinkAboutCS 09-24
Report to
Executive Committee
Report Number: CS 09-24 Date: May 6, 2024
From: Laura Gibbs Director, Community Services
Subject: Community Visitor Plan -File: A-1440-001
Recommendation:
1. That Council endorse the Community Visitor Plan, as set out in Attachment 1; and
2. That the appropriate officials of the City of Pickering be authorized to take the necessary actions as indicated in this report.
Executive Summary: The purpose of this report is to seek Council’s endorsement of the Community Visitor Plan. The Community Visitor Plan is the first tourism plan for the City of Pickering. It will serve as a guide to city staff, local business, tourism attractions and regional
partners in welcoming visitors to Pickering and offering them an opportunity to enjoy all our city
has to offer.
The Community Visitor Plan was developed in partnership with Central Counties Tourism and supported by Durham Tourism. Pickering will become the eighth municipality to develop and implement a Tourism Plan in the Region.
The Community Visitor Plan (Attachment 1) is a four-year plan (2024 – 2027) that includes five core objectives: Enhance, Welcome, Develop, Distinguish, and Support; and includes 45 action items. The Community Visitor Plan was developed by a Tourism Steering Committee, led by Central Counties Tourism. The Committee included representatives from local
businesses, attractions, residents, and city staff, and addressed the challenges and opportunities for visitor readiness across five key categories: attractions, businesses,
infrastructure, customer service, and marketing/promotion.
Relationship to the Pickering Strategic Plan: The recommendations in this report respond to the Pickering Strategic Plan Priorities: Champion Economic Leadership and Innovation; Advocate for an Inclusive, Welcoming, Safe & Healthy Community; Advance Innovation & Responsible Planning to Support a Connected, Well-serviced community; and Strengthen
Existing & Build New Partnerships.
Financial Implications: Future budgetary implications to support the implementation of the Community Visitor Plan will be considered through subsequent budget submissions.
CS 09-24 May 6, 2024
Subject: Community Visitor Plan Page 2
Discussion: The purpose of this report is to seek Council’s endorsement of the Community Visitor Plan.
1. The Community Visitor Plan Vision
The vision of the Community Visitor Plan, as developed by the Tourism Steering Committee is
that the City of Pickering, its businesses, organizations, and residents actively share their pride of the community with visitors year-round, making it a welcoming destination so that they will return time and again.
2. Pickering’s Visitor Economy is Growing
In 2022, tourists contributed $3 billion dollars across the Central Counties (York, Durham, and Headwaters regions), with 13 million overnight visits (Central Counties Tourism, 2023). Pickering will see an increase in visitation as development projects, attractions, and new
businesses open, drawing more visitors to Pickering – some for the first time. In 2022, the City
Centre area welcomed over 340,000 visitors, while the Bay, along the Waterfront Trail,
Beachfront and Alex Robertson Park had over 100,000 visitors (Central Counties Tourism, geo-fence data, 2023). Assisting and nurturing local businesses and tourist industry attractions in welcoming these visitors will showcase Pickering as a tourist destination for future tourism
opportunities.
3. Development of the Plan
Staff from Community Services and Economic Development Departments met with Central Counties Tourism and Durham Tourism to review Tourism Plans from Durham Region
municipalities and plan the process. Pickering’s Visitor Plan was facilitated by Central Counties Tourism and the cost associated with development of the plan were paid for by Durham
Tourism.
Staff formed an internal working group with participants from Community Services, Economic Development, Parks, Engineering, Bylaw Services, and Public Affairs & Corporate Communications that met and contributed throughout the development of the plan. Staf f, with the support of Central Counties Tourism, identified attractions, tourism providers, and tourism
agency representatives to participate in the Tourism Steering Committee.
Central Counties Tourism led four facilities workshop sessions with the Steering Committee
over six months in 2023. The four facilitated sessions were interactive with clear objectives to
support the development of the plan.
Session One: The Steering Committee discussed the value of the visitor economy as an economic driver, job creator and contributor to the residents’ quality of life and
identified key tourism assets attracting people visit Pickering and started to define success for Pickering.
Session Two: The Steering Committee ranked the tourism assets and reviewed the
current visitor landscape in Pickering including: attractions, businesses, infrastructure, customer service, and marketing/promotion.
CS 09-24 May 6, 2024
Subject: Community Visitor Plan Page 3
Session Three: The Steering Committee identified and evaluated Pickering’s tourism readiness to understand the challenges and opportunities that exist to achieve success
and reviewed the results of the community survey.
Session Four: Finally, the Steering Committee aligned the final vision for success and
the objectives, goals and actions items for the Pickering Community Visitor Plan.
In 2024, the draft Community Visitor Plan was reviewed and discussed by the internal staff working group, Cultural Advisory Committee, Waterfront Visionary Advisory Committee, and Accessibility Advisory Committee. Staff from all City Departments were also invited to provide
comments on the Community Visitor Plan through two workshops held in Spring, 2024.
D. Community Consultation
Staff led community consultation to inform the development of this Plan. As Central Counties Tourism and Durham Tourism provided recent and relevant data on visitation trends in Durham
Region, including hotel stays and economic impact, City staff focused community consultation on resident sentiments on visitation to Pickering. The survey was available from June 1 to
September 6, 2023, and 85% of respondents were Pickering residents.
The survey was available on LetsTalkPickering and was advertised through social media, a
news release, eNewsletters, postcard distribution at events, and digital signage. Staff also facilitated the survey at community events throughout the summer. The survey includes contributions from 429 households.
Community Consultation resulted in the following findings:
• Pickering’s Waterfront is considered our most popular tourist destination, followed by parks and trails.
• Pickering’s Waterfront, events and shopping are the most likely reasons for people to visit Pickering.
• Parking was cited as the biggest perceived barrier to tourism in Pickering.
Survey results are included in the Community Visitor Plan in Appendix VII.
E. Core Components of the Plan
The work of the Tourism Steering Committee resulted in the identification of five core
objectives for 2024 – 2027: Enhance, Welcome, Develop, Distinguish, Support. Each of these objectives has associated goals and action items assigned to City departments. This plan will have Pickering joining neighbouring municipalities, regional, and federal partners supporting the importance of visitor economy.
City Staff are seeking endorsement of the Community Visitor Plan and authorization for staff to take the necessary actions.
CS 09-24 May 6, 2024
Subject: Community Visitor Plan Page 4
Attachment:
1. Community Visitor Plan
Prepared By: Approved/Endorsed By:
Original Signed By Original Signed By
Krystal Roberts Laura Gibbs MBA, MSc. Manager, Cultural Services Director, Community Services
Approved/Endorsed By:
Original Signed By
Fiaz Jadoon. Director, Economic Development & Strategic Projects
LG:kr
Recommended for the consideration of Pickering City Council
Original Signed By
Marisa Carpino, M.A.
Chief Administrative Officer
Attachment 1 to Report CS 09-24
COMMUNITY VISITOR PLAN
2024 – 2027
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that the City of
Pickering resides on land within the
Treaty and traditional territory of the
Mississaugas of Scugog Island First
Nation and Williams Treaties signatories
of the Mississauga and Chippewa
Nations. Pickering is also home to many
Indigenous persons and communities
who represent other diverse, distinct, and
autonomous Indigenous nations. This
acknowledgement reminds us of our
responsibilities to our relationships with
the First Peoples of Canada, and to the
ancestral lands on which we learn,
share, work, and live.
2
Foreword
A Message from Mayor Kevin Ashe
Pickering's central location in the GTA and
wealth of attractions strengthens our burgeoning
reputation as an exciting and vibrant tourism
destination. With our 2024-2027 Community
Visitor Plan, we're not just opening our doors;
we're rolling out the red carpet for visitors from
near and far. This plan isn't just a roadmap; it's
a commitment to enhancing, welcoming,
developing, distinguishing, and supporting every
aspect of our dynamic community. Together, we're shaping Pickering into a premier
destination that captures hearts and creates lasting memories for all that visit here.
Kevin Ashe, Mayor, City of Pickering
3
Foreword
A Message from Central Counties Tourism
It was an absolute pleasure to facilitate the development and finalization of this
incredible plan. I came into the process with high hopes and was not
disappointed. The City of Pickering has long recognized the value of the visitor
economy and has been working with Central Counties Tourism for years to help grow
their capacity to welcome and engage visitors. The working group that formed the
backbone of the planning process was one of the most well-versed of any community
we have worked with, understanding the principles of destination development and the
current needs within the municipality to take the visitor economy to the next level.
The end result is a community visitor plan that is unique to Pickering – layered with
goals and objectives built on each other to incrementally move the needle closer to
achieving “tourism success” for the municipality. Our promise to the City of Pickering is
that we will be your partner each and every year as you develop and implement the
actions and tactics to deliver on the goals and objectives. With each success, Pickering
becomes a more vibrant community, attracting new visitors, residents and businesses.
The City of Pickering should be proud of what they have already achieved in terms of
growing the visitor economy and excited about the successes that lie ahead as this plan
gets implemented.
Best regards,
Chuck Thibeault, Executive Director
4
Contents
Executive Summary 7
Vision and Mission 10
Introduction 11
The Planning Process 12
Tourism in Pickering 13
The Plan – Objectives and Goals 16
The Plan – Action Items 18
Objective One: Enhance 18
Objective Two: Welcome 20
Objective Three: Develop 21
Objective Four: Distinguish 24
Objective Five: Support 26
Acknowledgements 30
Glossary 31
Resources 33
Appendix 34
I – Why Tourism?
II – Tourism Organizations
III – Pickering Tourism Assets
IV – Visitation Data
V – Visitor Market Profiles
VI – Visitor Readiness – Gap Analysis
VII – Community Survey Results
VIII – Committee Engagement
5
Frenchman's Bay
6
Executive Summary
The City of Pickering is ideally located. It is about 40km from downtown Toronto along
the northern shore of Lake Ontario and is easily accessible to visitors from the major
401 and 407 highways, GO trains/buses, the Waterfront Trail and by boat at
Frenchman’s Bay. This provides easy access to the over 7 million people living to the
west and an incredible opportunity to be the overnight location for people travelling from
the east to visit the GTA including downtown Toronto.
Currently, the Bay, along with the Waterfront Trail, Beachfront Park, Beachpoint
Promenade & Alex Robertson Park, offers a scenic escape for over 100k visitors
(traveling 40+km one-way) per year who enjoy a variety of activities including boating,
biking, hiking, picnics, summer concerts in Millennium Square, as well as shopping and
dining options in the charming Nautical Village.
A short distance away is Durham Live, Pickering’s new premium entertainment district
and home of the Pickering Casino Resort which has a 275-room hotel, multiple
restaurants, a state-of-the-art concert theatre, and a large gaming facility. The area
promises to be a major entertainment hub with future growth that includes a first-of-its-
kind in Canada Porsche Experience Centre.
The city centre area, which welcomed over 340K visitors in 2022, is home to the
Pickering Town Centre (PTC), a destination shopping mall. The PTC, along with the
waterfront, and northern Pickering, make up the majority of the city’s main attractions.
The Seaton Community is being developed as one of the Canada’s largest residential
and commercial areas. It also serves as an entry point to the Seaton Hiking Trail, which
runs along beautiful West Duffin’s Creek through the community of Whitevale and
neighbours the Rouge National Urban Park.
Greenwood is another area under development with a new 44,000 sq. ft. Pickering
Heritage & Community Centre, located on the site of the Pickering Museum Village,
anticipated to launch in 2026.
7
With the current number of attractions and abundant development, Pickering is poised
to see significant growth in visitors, helping business success throughout the city and
growing both the vibrancy of the community and community pride.
This 2024-2027 Community Visitor Plan is the first such plan for the City of Pickering. It
will serve to guide the City of Pickering staff, along with local tourism stakeholders and
regional partners in welcoming more visitors to enjoy all that Pickering has to offer. This
plan was developed by a steering committee with representatives from local
businesses, attractions, outdoor assets, residents, and city staff. This committee
assessed the challenges and opportunities for ‘visitor readiness’ across five key
categories: attractions, businesses, infrastructure, customer service, and
marketing/promotion. The work of the steering committee resulted in the identification of
five core objectives for 2024-2027: Enhance, Welcome, Develop, Distinguish, Support.
Each of these objectives has associated goals and action items and will serve as the
roadmap for the 2024-2027 Community Visitor Plan.
8
Pickering Museum Village Log Barn
9
Vision
The City of Pickering, its businesses, organizations and residents actively share their
pride of the community with visitors year-round, making it a welcoming destination so
that they will return time and again.
Mission
10
Introduction
The visitor economy has a significant contribution to the health of businesses across
Canada, Ontario, Central Counties and Durham Region. In 2022 tourists contributed
$83B in spending across Canada and across the Central Counties (York, Durham and
Headwaters regions), there were 13 million (M) overnight visits and a total of $3 billion
(B) in spending. In 2019, pre-pandemic, the tourism industry in Ontario generated
revenue of over $38B and in the 14 key cities and towns across Durham Region, 6.4M
visitors were welcomed and contributed an estimated $692M in spending (see Appendix
I). These numbers reinforce the importance of the visitor economy and the importance
of this plan.
This three-year (2024-2027) Community Visitor Plan outlines the City of Pickering’s
objectives, goals, and action items to achieve its ‘Vision’. With this plan, Pickering joins
its neighbouring municipalities, along with its regional, provincial, and federal partners in
taking a proactive role in supporting the visitor economy (see Appendix II).
This plan was developed by a steering committee comprised of a diverse group of
representatives from Pickering’s tourism-related businesses and organizations, along
with local residents, City of Pickering staff and representatives from the Region of
Durham. The process was facilitated by Central Counties Tourism.
Frenchman's Bay
11
The Planning Process
This plan was developed with feedback from four facilitated sessions and surveys with
the steering committee, as well as a community survey.
The four facilitated sessions were interactive with clear objectives to support the
development of the plan.
Session One: The group discussed the value of the visitor economy as an economic
driver, job creator and contributor to the residents’ quality of life and identified key
tourism assets attracting people visit Pickering and started to define ‘Success’ for
Pickering.
Session Two: The group ranked the tourism assets and reviewed the current visitor
landscape in Pickering including: attractions, businesses, infrastructure, customer
service, and marketing/promotion.
Session Three: The group identified and evaluated Pickering’s tourism readiness to
understand the challenges and opportunities that exist to achieve ‘Success’ and
reviewed the results of the community survey.
Session Four: Finally, the group aligned the final ‘Vision’ for success and the
objectives, goals and actions items for the Pickering Community Visitor Plan.
12
Tourism in Pickering
Tourism Assets
Pickering has a number of businesses, attractions and events that drive visitation.
According to research collected, the top reasons people visit Pickering are for the
Casino, Waterfront / Nautical Village, Pickering Town Centre shopping, parks/trails,
dining/restaurants and cultural sites, such as Pickering Museum Village. Events were
also highlighted as one of the top drivers of visitation including Pickering Casino
Concerts, Winter Nights City Lights, Winter Wonderland at Millennium Square, and the
Waterfront Concert Series, among many others (see Appendix III).
It was noted that Pickering is well-poised for future growth in visitation having a
number of visitor assets in development including the new Pickering Heritage &
Community Centre, waterfront enhancements, and further development of the Durham
Live Entertainment District (new Porsche Experience Centre).
13
Visitation
Geo-fencing research was completed for 2022 for the areas of Pickering Waterfront
East, West, and the City Centre. The research showed within these areas there were
over 450k visits, which contributed to an estimated annual visitor spend of over $40M
in the City Centre area and over $10M at the waterfront (See Appendix IV).
For those visiting the Waterfront East area, it was found that the majority could be
categorized in the Central Counties Tourism (CCT) visitor profile segments as ‘Family
Fun’ (35%) and ‘Adventure Seekers’ (28%) and this was consistent with the
Waterfront West and City Centre areas. These two segments have high potential for
growth and could be key target markets to increase visitation (See Appendix V).
Visitor Readiness - Gap Analysis
The steering committee was asked to assess Pickering’s visitor readiness and identify
the challenges across the key tourism asset categories: Attractions, Businesses,
Infrastructure, Customer Service, and Promotion.
Opportunities were then identified to address the challenges and this formed the basis
to develop the objectives and action items for the plan. The opportunities were
organized into five key pillars: Enhance, Welcome, Develop, Distinguish, and Support
(See Appendix VI).
14
Pickering Museum Village Blacksmith Shop
15
The Plan - Objectives and Goals
OBJECTIVE ONE: ENHANCE
Develop new visitor products / experiences to attract more visitors with more
reasons to visit and come back.
Goal 1: Engage tourism stakeholders to develop new tourism products /
experiences.
Goal 2: Develop new municipally-led tourism products / experiences.
Goal 3: Solicit more group tourism events / tournaments.
OBJECTIVE TWO: WELCOME
Nurture a welcoming environment and pride-of-place with residents and
businesses.
Goal 1: Educate on / communicate the importance of the visitor economy.
Goal 2: Nurture pride-of-place with Pickering residents and business owners.
OBJECTIVE THREE: DEVELOP
Encourage development of visitor-friendly infrastructure.
Goal 1: Provide seamless transport to, from, and within Pickering.
Goal 2: Attract new accommodation providers.
Goal 3: Provide on-site visitor facilities.
Goal 4: Maintain, support and grow the outdoor trail network.
Goal 5: Provide on-site visitor information.
16
OBJECTIVE FOUR: DISTINGUISH
Establish a unique presence in the market for Pickering, attracting visitors to
explore all there is to see and do.
Goal 1: Build foundational marketing assets to promote Pickering as a
destination.
Goal 2: Implement a communication plan to differentiate Pickering and promote
the unique visitor experiences.
Goal 3: Promote Pickering as Inclusive, Diverse, Equitable & Accessible (IDEA).
OBJECTIVE FIVE: SUPPORT
Source the required resources to effectively manage Pickering as a visitor
destination.
Goal 1: Source funds and advocate for continued investment in the visitor
economy.
Goal 2: Recruit a team to champion and implement the Community Visitor Plan.
Goal 3: Elevate the profile of the visitor economy as a municipal strategic priority.
Goal 4: Collect visitor data to measure success, understand areas for
improvement, and to inform marketing.
Pickering Casino Resort
17
The Plan - Action Items
OBJECTIVE ONE: ENHANCE
Develop new products / experiences to attract more visitors with more reasons to
visit and come back.
TIMING RESOURCES COST*
$ low,
$$ mid,
$$$ high
DEPARTMENT
RESPONSIBLE
ACTION
-
-
-
Goal 1: Engage tourism stakeholders to develop new tourism products/experiences.
1.1.1. Host networking events to
encourage collaboration
among businesses /
organizations for product
development
1-2 per
year
City of Pickering
Central
Counties
$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
Support:
Community
Services
1.1.2. Collaborate across
municipalities to provide
regional tourism experiences
e.g. participate in municipal
leadership meetings and
networking
2024-
2027
City of Pickering
Durham
Tourism,
Central
Counties
$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
Support:
Community
Services
1.1.3. Engage businesses to develop
new tourism products
/experiences /events e.g.
multi-stakeholder routes /
“trails”, IDEA events, multi-
faceted creative industries
events
2024-
2027
City of Pickering
Central
Counties
$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
& Community
Services
(*Estimated Cost $-low=Under $10,000, $$-mid=$10,000 to $50,000, $$$-high=Over $50,000)
18
Goal 2: Develop new municipally-led tourism products / experiences.
1.2.1. Continue to host festivals /
events that are unique to
Pickering e.g. Fall Fling &
Winter Wonderland
2-4 per
year
City of Pickering $$$ Lead: Community
Services
1.2.2. Support development of new
waterfront / Nautical Village
experiences e.g. lifejacket
rentals & kayak launches
2024-
2025
City of Pickering $$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
& Community
Services
1.2.3. Develop new municipal
tourism routes / “trails” through
collaborations / partnerships
e.g. Indigenous Art Trail, Film
Set Locations Tour
2024-
2025
City of Pickering
Invest Durham
DEI
$$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
& Office of the
CAO
1.2.4. Develop and/or partner to
create infrastructure to support
shoulder season experiences
e.g outdoor skating & event
spaces.
2024-
2027
City of Pickering $$$ Lead: City
Development &
Operations
Support:
Community
Services
Goal 3: Solicit more group tourism events / tournaments.
1.3.1. Collaborate with local and
regional stakeholders to bid-on
/ host more sport tourism
events (align with the
Recreation & Parks – 10 Year
Plan)
2024-
2027
City of Pickering
Durham
Tourism
$$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
Community
Services &
Operations
1.3.2. Invite more visiting school
groups from neighbouring
schoolboards to existing
attractions e.g. Pickering
Museum Village, and
Claremont Nature Centre etc.
2024-
2027
City of Pickering $ Lead: Community
Services
19
OBJECTIVE TWO: WELCOME
Nurture a welcoming environment and pride-of-place with
residents and businesses.
ACTION TIMING RESOURCES COST DEPARTMENT
RESPONSIBLE
Goal 1: Educate on / communicate the importance of the visitor economy.
2.1.1 Promote and communicate the
importance of the visitor
economy with residents, staff,
and council etc. e.g. & tourism
campaign, share success
stories of local businesses
2024 -
2025
City of Pickering $ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
2.1.2. Roll-out a tourism ambassador
training program for front line
workers, seniors, high school
volunteers / school clubs etc.
2024-
2027
City of Pickering
Central
Counties
Tourism
$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
& Community
Services
Goal 2: Nurture pride-of-place with Pickering residents and business owners.
2.2.1. Implement programs to
encourage business owners
and front-line employees to
explore Pickering
e.g. Host industry
familiarization (fam) tours
and/or implement a reciprocal
admissions program for local
attractions.
2024 City of Pickering $$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
Support:
Community
Services
20
2.2.2. Develop and push out email
communications to the
resident database to promote
all that is happening in
Pickering.
2024 City of Pickering $ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
& Office of the
CAO
Support:
Community
Services
OBJECTIVE THREE: DEVELOP
Encourage development of visitor-friendly infrastructure
ACTION TIMING RESOURCES COST DEPARTMENT
RESPONSIBLE
Goal 1: Provide seamless transport to, from, and within Pickering.
3.1.1. Improve transportation
infrastructure by advocating
across municipal departments
and with developers e.g.
busing, walking paths
Explore opportunities to
coordinate transportation
across the region/ province.
2024-
2027
City of Pickering
Roads Dept.
Durham Region
Developers
$$$ Lead:
Engineering
Services
3.1.2. Explore / promote
transportation alternatives for
events/ peak visitor times e.g.
public transit, alt
transportation rentals e.g.
trolley, bus, bike, scooter
2024-
2027
City of Pickering $$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
& Community
Services
Support: City
Development
(Sustainability)
21
3.1.3. Explore new parking solutions 2024-City of Pickering
e.g. support event organizers 2027 Durham Region with parking options, shuttles
(Go, DRT), active
transportation, by-law
allowance for street parking
etc.
$$ Lead:
Engineering
Services
Support:
Economic
Development &
Strategic
Projects,
Community
Services &
Operations
3.1.4. Implement a way-finding 2024-City of Pickering
strategy to promote road-side 2027 Central and online navigation e.g. Counties signage, Google Maps, short
message service (SMS) App
etc.
$$ Lead:
Operations
Support:
Economic
Development &
Strategic
Projects,
Corporate
Communications,
Community
Services &
Region of
Durham
Goal 2: Attract new accommodation providers.
3.2.1. Encourage development of
more visitor accommodation
options e.g. publicize hotel
and visitation data to show
business opportunity
2024-
2027
City of Pickering
Central
Counties
$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
Goal 3: Provide on-site visitor facilities.
3.3.1. Advocate for a new purpose-
built event space for larger
events
2026 City of Pickering $$$ Lead: Community
Services
Support:
Operations,
22
Engineering
Services & City
Development
3.3.2. Improve availability of 2024-City of Pickering
washroom facilities for visitors 2027
e.g. Build year-round facilities
(portable or permanent) in key
visitor areas and / or open
existing facilities year-round.
$$$ Lead: Operations
& Engineering
Services
Goal 4: Maintain, support and grow the outdoor trail network.
3.4.1 Support current trail strategies 2024-City of Pickering $ Lead: Operations
including winter maintenance /
grooming
2027 Durham Region
TRCA
Support:
Engineering
Services
3.4.2. Improve trail connectivity to
the core commerce areas e.g.
signage / apps
2024-
2027
City of Pickering
TRCA
$$ Lead:
Engineering
Services
Support:
Operations
Goal 5: Provide on-site visitor information.
3.5.1. Implement a solution to
provide on-site visitor
information e.g. Partner with
others (e.g. Casino, Go-
transit, Town Centre, TRCA) to
implement self-serve
information kiosks in central
locations and/or procure a
mobile tourism trailer
2025 City of Pickering
Businesses
$$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
Support:
Corporate
Communications
23
OBJECTIVE FOUR: DISTINGUISH
Establish a unique presence in the market for Pickering,
attracting visitors to explore all there is to see and do.
ACTION TIMING RESOURCES COST DEPARTMENT
RESPONSIBLE
Goal 1: Build foundational marketing assets to promote Pickering as a destination.
4.1.1. Build a dedicated Tourism
Website to house visitor
information (event listings,
business & attraction
information etc.)
2025-
2026
City of Pickering $$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
Support:
Community
Services
4.1.2 Explore the opportunity to add
and manage dedicated social
media channels and digital
information e.g. Facebook,
Instagram, Google etc.
2025-
2026
City of Pickering $ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
& Community
Services
Support:
Corporate
Communications
4.1.3 Advocate for Tourism
Promotions on current digital
signage, and investigate
installing digital signage in
Pickering that is dedicated to
Tourism
2024-
2026
City of Pickering $$$ Lead: Corporate
Communications
& Community
Services
4.1.4 Collect visitor contact
information at events / online
to build visitor contact
database
2024-
2027
City of Pickering $$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
& Community
Services
24
Goal 2: Implement a communication strategy to differentiate Pickering and promote
the unique visitor experiences.
4.2.1. Implement a paid-media
communications strategy
(social media, print, PR,
influencers) to promote
unique experiences e.g.
businesses, waterfront /
Nautical Village, Casino,
Pickering Museum Village.
Ongoing City of Pickering
Central
Counties
Durham
Tourism
$$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
& Office of the
CAO
Support:
Community
Services
4.2.2. Develop and promote
bundled/ package
experiences that feature
attractions and businesses
together (trip ideas-places to
eat, stay, and play)
2024-
2027
City of Pickering
Businesses
$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
4.2.3. Produce and distribute visitor
content/ trip ideas for regular
distribution to visitor contact
database.
2025-
2026
City of Pickering $ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic
Projects,
Community
Services
Support: Office
of the CAO
Goal 3: Promote Pickering as Inclusive, Diverse, Equitable & Accessible (IDEA).
4.3.1. Implement marketing that
represents the diversity of
visitors to Pickering (age,
financial status, abilities,
cultures etc.)
Ongoing City of Pickering $ Lead: Corporate
Communications
Support:
Economic
Development &
Strategic
Projects & Office
of the CAO
25
4.3.2. Spotlight businesses, events,
attractions, and individuals
etc. that represent the IDEA
community in Pickering. e.g.
Indigenous Artists,
LGBTQ2S+ business owners
etc.
Quarterly City of Pickering $ Lead: Office of
the CAO
Support:
Economic
Development
& Strategic
Projects &
Community
Services
OBJECTIVE FIVE: SUPPORT
Source the required resources to effectively manage
Pickering as a visitor destination.
ACTION TIMING RESOURCES COST DEPARTMENT
RESPONSIBLE
Goal 1: Source funds and advocate for continued investment in the Visitor Economy.
5.1.1. Advocate for a municipal
budget to support tourism
development
2024 City of Pickering $ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
& Community
Services
5.1.2 Continue to apply for grants to
support municipal tourism
initiatives
Ongoing City of Pickering $ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
& Community
Services
5.1.3 Provide tourism stakeholders
with channels to source
information about grant
opportunities and “grant
Ongoing City of Pickering
Central
Counties
$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
26
writing” training e.g. CCT,
TIAO
& Community
Services
5.1.4. Explore the feasibility of a
Municipal Accommodation Tax
(MAT)
2025 City of Pickering $ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic
Projects,
Corporate
Services &
Finance
5.1.5 Explore ideas to raise funding
for tourism e.g. Tourism
Investment Expo
2027 City of Pickering $$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
& Community
Services
Goal 2: Recruit a team to champion and implement the Visitor Plan.
5.2.1. Hire dedicated tourism staff to
implement against the Visitor
Plan e.g. Canada Summer
Jobs, college internships and
co-op programs
2025-
2026
City of Pickering $$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
5.2.2. Recruit a Tourism Panel to
guide implementation of the
Visitor Plan
2024-
2025
City of Pickering $ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
Support:
Community
Services
5.2.3. Recruit volunteers and
manage a volunteer /
ambassador program
2024 City of Pickering $ Lead: Community
Services
Support:
Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
27
Goal 3: Elevate the profile of the Visitor Economy as a municipal strategic priority.
5.3.1. Allocate a representative to
provide the ‘voice of the visitor
economy’ on other
committees e.g. Advisory
Committees, Planning,
Transportation etc.
2024 City of Pickering
Durham Region
$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
5.3.2. Schedule annual updates to
staff leaders and council to
communicate progress
against the Visitor Plan and
the importance of the visitor
economy. Also consider a
familiarization trip.
Ongoing City of Pickering $ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
& Community
Services
Goal 4: Collect visitor data to measure success, understand areas for improvement,
and to inform marketing.
5.4.1. Measure visitation by
geofencing high-traffic visitor
areas to track year-over-year
results
2024 City of Pickering
Central
Counties
$ Lead: Community
Services
5.4.2. Engage events and
businesses to track their
visitor postal codes for
analysis.
2024 City of
Pickering,
Central
Counties
Businesses
$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
& Community
Services
5.4.3. Roll-out visitor surveys to
understand satisfaction and
areas for improvement.
1-2 per
year
City of Pickering
Central
Counties
$ Lead: Economic
Development &
Strategic Projects
& Community
Services
28
Nautical Village
29
Acknowledgements
Thank you to the individuals who made up the steering committee and devoted their
time to support the development of this Community Visitor Plan for the City of Pickering.
Steering Committee
Wayne Odegard Pickering Casino Resort
Derek Mappin Pickering Casino Resort
Michèle Bolton Open Studio Art Café
Tina Haramis Frenchman's Bay Yacht Club
Jessica Elliott Cultural Advisory Committee
Michael McFarland Cultural Advisory Committee
Ansonett Palmer Cultural Advisory Committee
Deanna Cheriton Toronto Region Conservation Authority / Petticoat Creek C.A.
Amanda Perricone Toronto Region Conservation Authority / Petticoat Creek C.A.
Lorna Murphy Cushman & Wakefield Asst Services, Pickering Town Centre
Lexi Whalen Land Over Landings
Jim Miller Land Over Landings and Owner, Thistle Ha’ Farm, National Historic Site
Laura Gibbs City of Pickering, Division Head, Culture and Community Programming /
PMV / PHCC
Nicole Hann City of Pickering, Public Affairs & Communications Associate, Office of
the CAO
Laraib Arshad City of Pickering, Economic Development & Strategic Projects
Krystal Roberts City of Pickering, Acting Supervisor, Cultural Services
Jesse St. Amant City of Pickering, Coordinator, Cultural Services
Azeem Shah City of Pickering, Senior Advisor Creative Industries and Tourism
Lisa Mackenzie Region of Durham, Tourism Specialist
Eileen Kennedy Invest Durham, Region of Durham, Film/T.V. Specialist
The development of this plan was facilitated with Central Counties Tourism’s Chuck
Thibeault, Executive Director and Lisa John-Mackenzie, Industry Relations Manager for
Durham Region.
30
Glossary
Tourist or Visitor -The term “Tourist” or “Visitor” can have various meanings and the
terms may be interchanged, but for the purposes of this report, we use the following
definitions. Destination Canada defines a “Visitor” as a traveler taking a trip outside
his/her usual environment, for less than a year, for any purpose (business, leisure or
other personal purpose) other than to be employed.1 To measure visitation the
province of Ontario defines a “Visitor” as someone who takes an overnight out-of-town
trip, or an out-of-town same-day trip of 40 kilometers or more away from their home.2
Visitors could include such groups as bus tours, sports teams, or individuals visiting
friends and relatives etc.
Index-Index numbers are a way of expressing the difference between two
measurements by designating one number as the "base", giving it the value 100 and
then expressing the second number as a percentage of the first. Example: If the
population of a town increased from 20,000 in 1988 to 21,000 in 1991, the population in
1991 was 105% of the population in 1988. Therefore, on a 1988 = 100 base, the
population index for the town was 105 in 1991.
(https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-533-x/using-utiliser/4072258-eng.htm)
Example: An index for visitation is how your audience compares to the average of the
area being studied, the benchmark. An index of 110 means that there is a 10% higher
concentration of that specific variable within your audience than the average. An index
of 100 is the average for the area
Inbound Tourism Spend / Expenditure-The tourism expenditure of a non-resident
visitor within the economy of reference.
Unique Visitors-The average number of individuals visiting the analyzed domain,
within the country and time period analyzed. A user who arrived at a site once or a
number of times is a single unique visitor to that domain.
31
TRIEM Model-The Tourism Regional Economic Impact Model (TREIM) is a data
analysis simulation tool that helps organizations and people who are interested in
tourism to learn more about the economic impact of tourism in Ontario. The model is
capable of simulating tourism-related economic impacts from 2010 to 2025, such as:
economic impact of specific tourism events, impacts on the supply side by tourism
industry sector, impacts by type of capital project for the chosen region.
https://www.ontario.ca/page/tourism-regional-economic-impact-model
Central Counties (RTO6) -This is the geographic area that makes up the Ontario
government Regional Tourism Organization Six (RTO6). Central Counties or RTO6
includes all of Durham Region, York Region, and the Headwaters area.
https://www.ontario.ca/document/tourism-regions/region-6-york-durham-and-
headwaters
FSA-A forward sortation area (FSA) is a way to designate a geographical unit based on
the first three characters in a Canadian postal code. All postal codes that start with the
same three characters—for example, K1A—are together considered an FSA.
Geo-fencing-Geofencing can provide an understanding of your customers through
mobility data. By creating specific geofences (a virtual geographic boundary around a
particular area), you will be provided an accurate estimate of the number of people that
entered the area within your specified timeframe, where they came from, the average
number of times locals vs non-locals visited, and important information about the
behaviors of your predominant visitors. The numbers are determined based on cell
phone data collected from people above the age of 15 that have their location services
enabled which is then filtered through a weighted statistical model with proper sample
size. Geofence data captures the number of unique visitors, the number of trips made
by those visitors, the distance they travelled from their Common Evening Location (aka
their home), and provides an analysis of these cell phone holders over a specific time
period.
32
Resources
1. https://www.destinationcanada.com/en/glossary
2. www.ontario.ca/page/tourism-regional-economic-impact-model
3. Tourism Industry Association of Canada, Tourism Jobs Matter, 2018
https://tiac-aitc.ca/_Library/Travel_Economy_Series_/JOBS_-
_TIAC_Travel_Economy_Series_EN.pdf
4. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, Federal Tourism Growth
Strategy, 2019.
https://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/134.nsf/vwapj/Tourism_Strategy_eng_v8.pdf/$file/Tourism_
Strategy_eng_v8.pdf
5. Destination Canada -Research Division. Tourism Fact Sheet, 2020/2019.
https://www.destinationcanada.com/en/research#tourismincanada
6. https://www.destinationcanada.com/sites/default/files/archive/1792-
Quarterly%20Tourism%20Snapshot%20-
%20Q4%202022/DC_Quarterly_Tourism_Snapshot_Q4_EN.pdf
7. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230526/dq230526b-eng.htm
8. Tourism Industry Association of Ontario, Quick Facts, 2019.
https://www.tiaontario.ca/cpages/tourismquickfacts
9. Tourism Industry Association of Canada, Tourism Jobs Matter, 2018,
https://tiac-aitc.ca/_Library/Travel_Economy_Series_/JOBS_-
_TIAC_Travel_Economy_Series_EN.pdf
10. Downtowns of Durham 2019 Visitation Research, Conducted by Central Counties
Tourism on behalf of Durham Tourism.
11. Tourism Industry Association of Ontario: Travel and Destination Analytics Ontario, 2018
https://www.tiaontario.ca/articles/travel-and-destination-analytics-ontario
12. Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism, and Culture Industries,
http://www.mtc.gov.on.ca/en/tourism/tourism.shtml
13. Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism, and Culture Industries, Regional Tourism Profiles -
RTO6, 2021. http://www.mtc.gov.on.ca/en/regions/regions6.shtml
33
Appendix I
Why Tourism?
The tourism industry is critical to Canada, contributing significantly to the economy and
job creation. The Tourism Industry Association of Canada [TIAC] describes the tourism
workforce as “the backbone of the travel economy. Our ability to provide hospitality to all
visitors to Canada, and its impact on the visitor experience, keeps businesses
thriving.”3
The 2019 Federal Tourism Growth Strategy: Creating Middle Class Jobs recognizes
that every community has something to offer as a destination within the Canadian
cultural landscape for visitors to explore.4 Tourism is one of the only sectors that
employs Canadians in every area of the country. This includes every province, territory,
and electoral riding.
In 2019, pre-pandemic, tourism was Canada's number one service export, totaling 2%
of total exports, generating $105 billion in revenue, and employing 1 in 11 Canadians
with 2.1 million jobs.5
While the industry was the first and hardest hit sector during the Covid-19 pandemic
(2020-2022), results from Canada’s National Travel Survey indicate that the industry is
now recovering. (see National Tourism Indicators Graph below) As reported in
Destination Canada’s fall 2022 Tourism Outlook6, domestic tourism spending in 2022
reached 92% of the 2019 pre-pandemic levels, with expectations for a full recovery in
2023. This 2022 domestic spending included Canadian residents who spent $69.0
billion at home and international travelers to Canada, who spent $14 billion. (US-$7.4B,
overseas-$6.6B) This international spend was an increase of $3.8 billion, over the
$10.0 billion spent in 2021. Despite this increase, this is still only 61.2% of what these
international visitors spent in Canada during 2019, before the pandemic.
The fourth quarter of 2022 showed the strongest signs of recovery, with Canadian
residents taking 60.9 million domestic trips, up by 9.2 million from the fourth quarter
of 2021, and reaching 97.4% of the same quarter in 2019.7 Domestic travel
expenditures by Canadian residents were $14.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022,
up 30.8% from the fourth quarter of 2021 ($11.1 billion).
34
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230526/dq230526b-eng.htm
Quick Facts about Tourism in Canada
https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/230526/dq230526b-eng.htm
Tourism in Ontario
The Tourism industry in Ontario has a huge impact on the economy with job creation
and contribution to the provincial GDP. In 2019, pre-pandemic, the tourism industry in
Ontario generated revenue of over $38B (up 11.4% from 2018), which represents 4.3%
of GDP.8 This industry generated $13.3 billion in tax revenues and employed more than
396,000 people in over 200,000 businesses. In addition, tourism employs the most
significant percentage of young people in Ontario (23%) aged 15-24 and grows year-
round jobs in our communities.9
Tourism Industry Association of Ontario
Tourism in Central Counties and Durham Region
In 2022, there were 13 million domestic overnight visits (from 60+km away) to Central
Counties (RTO6). Ten million of these overnight visits originated from Ontario, with the
remaining 3 million from the rest of Canada. Together they contributed an estimated $3
billion in visitor spend to the region.
35
In a 2019 study of fourteen cities and towns in the Durham Region, the number of
tourists (from 40+ km away) totaled 6.4 million, with 94% originating from Ontario.10
According to the Tourism Regional Economic Impact Model (TREIM), these Ontario
tourists contributed approximately $692 million in visitor spend to Durham Region.
The Tourism Industry Association of Ontario [TIAO] and Global Payments Canada
released a Travel and Destination Analytics Report in October 2019.11 The report
highlights findings for the 2018 inbound visitor spending trends in Ontario:
• Toronto, Niagara, and Central Counties accounted for 78.9 percent of inbound
spending in Ontario.
• Inbound spend made up 2.3% versus domestic spend at 97.7%. For Central
Counties region, this inbound spend came primarily from the United States
[U.S.](49.5%) and China (36.4%).
Data Source: Central Counties Tourism
36
Appendix II
Tourism Organizations
Many organizations play critical support roles in Ontario’s tourism industry.12 Each of
them has varying responsibilities and areas of focus to attract and service visitors and
maximize the economic benefits to communities. At a local municipal level, there is a
need to help coordinate and develop tourism experiences and products within the
business community that can be positioned in the market at a regional, provincial, and
national level.
Regional Tourism Organization 6 -Central Counties Tourism
Central Counties Tourism [CCT] is one of 13 Regional Tourism Organizations province-
wide, funded by the Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism, and Culture
Industries.13 Central Counties, encompasses the regions of Durham, York, and
Headwaters and coordinates, aligns and invests in product development, workforce
development, strategic marketing, and investment attraction.
Region of Durham -Durham Tourism and Sport Durham
Durham Tourism is part of the Regional Municipality of Durham, Economic
Development Division, Invest Durham. As the Destination Management Organization
[DMO] for the Region, their objective is to develop and promote Durham Region to
visitors with an emphasis on the areas of sports tourism under the brand Sport Durham.
The Region supports eight municipalities in the following ways:
• Promotes Durham Region as a destination via trade and consumer/trade shows.
• Assists provincial tour operators by providing destination information.
• Coordinates familiarization tours for travel trade operators and media writers.
Municipal Tourism – The City of Pickering
The City of Pickering has staff resourcing devoted to destination development for the
city with a focus on supporting tourism operators, hosting events, marketing, advocating
for enhanced visitor readiness, and collaborating with regional tourism partners.
37
Local Tourism Businesses
Local tourism-based businesses, attractions, and events collectively make up the
tourism assets for the City of Pickering and are the key drivers of the visitor economy.
Pickering has many unique visitor sites and experiences, which can be promoted to
enhance the residents’ pride of place. The Pickering Casino, Pickering Town Centre,
Pickering Museum Village, and Nautical Village businesses, among others, are all
notable tourism development partners.
Partners in Tourism
The products and offerings of local businesses are the foundation of the tourism
economy. The hierarchy of partners works vertically through alignment, strategic
marketing, investment attraction, themed product development, and funding
opportunities.
38
-
Tourism Partner Tools and Resources
Current Tools and Resources
Tourism Support Partner
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Destination Canada
Promotes Canada’s market-ready
products and experiences
internationally. ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Destination Ontario (DeON)
Promotes Ontario’s market-ready
products and experiences domestically
and internationally. DeON is an agency
of the Ministry of Heritage, Sport,
Tourism, and Culture Industries.
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Tourism Industry Association of
Ontario [TIAO]
Advocates tourism policy, regulation,
education, and economics of tourism. ✔ ✔ ✔
Regional Tourism Organization
Central Counties Tourism-RTO6
Tourism product development,
workforce development, industry
equipping, and marketing in York,
Durham and Headwaters regions.
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
Durham Tourism/Sport Durham -
Region of Durham
Promotes Durham as a destination for
domestic leisure, sport/group travel
throughout the eight municipalities.
✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔
The City of Pickering-Economic
Development
Promotes Pickering as a destination -
the unique experiences, products,
community and tourism assets.
✔ ✔ ✔
39
Appendix III
Pickering Tourism Assets
Tourism is the business of attracting and serving the needs of visitors who are travelling
for leisure or business. It is essential to understand the primary attractors that draw
visitors to a destination to understand the visitor needs and destination development
requirements. Marketing will draw visitors to a destination once; great amenities,
outstanding customer service, and a welcoming community will bring them back!
With input from the steering committee, an audit of Pickering’s key tourism assets was
completed and these assets were ranked according to their "Tourism Strength" which
includes:
• how attractive the asset is to visitors? i.e. the number of visitors it attracts
• how much it contributes to the visitor economy? i.e. the spending it generates
• how unique the asset is to the Pickering community?
• how easily the asset can be promoted to tourists?
1. Attractions
Tourist attractions may draw visitors for either natural beauty, unique constructed
experiences (cultural/ historic), or engaging entertainment. Inherently, it is the ‘things to
see and do’ within a destination, that attract people. The lead attractions can actually
generate the travel demand, and be synonymous with ‘a destination’.
Pickering has a number of engaging visitor attractions that span across several
categories and will continue to grow this over the next few years, with new attractions
being built e.g. New Pickering Heritage & Community Centre (planned for 2026)
1) Casino
2) Waterfront
3) Arts, Culture, Heritage
4) Concerts and Shows
40
5) Golf
6) Sporting Facilities
7) Kids and Family Activities
8) Entertainment/ Nightlife
9) Sports (Spectator)
2. Tourism Businesses
Tourism businesses can be defined as those that help fulfill visitors’ needs, including
accommodations, food and beverage, transportation, meeting and event venues,
agritourism locations, specialty retail and services. Types of tourism businesses
include: hotels, motels, campgrounds, bed and breakfast properties, service stations,
car rental and boat charter services, transportation services (air, rail & ground),
restaurants, craft breweries, and more.
Pickering offers a variety of dining and shopping choices, with a destination mall, many
restaurants, boutique retail shops, and markets.
1) Event Venues
2) Shopping Tourism
3) Specialty Food and Beverage
4) Unique Accommodation
5) Agri-tourism
3. Infrastructure
Tourism Infrastructure includes roads, bike lanes, public transit, parking areas,
wastewater and garbage disposal facilities, water and power services, access to cellular
service, availability of fuels such as diesel, natural gas, propane, and gasoline, location
and distance signage, and police and emergency services. The availability and quality
of services and amenities available to travelers will affect a community’s ability to attract
visitors.
The City of Pickering has a strong network of infrastructure to support the visitor
economy including a good transportation system with access by car, bus, rail, and boat.
41
It is a main stop for GO Transit (buses and trains), is home to the Frenchman’s Bay
Yacht Club and is situated in close proximity to the Toronto Person International Airport.
Pickering also provides many public parking options, parks with picnic areas (including
the Rouge National Urban Park, one of the largest urban parks in North America), dog
parks, and trails.
4. Customer Service
Customer Service includes welcoming tourists and providing them with great hospitality
by anticipating their needs and providing superior customer service, as well as being an
ambassador for the city. Visitors have high expectations of the quality of personal
service they receive from tourist attractions, businesses and the municipality. Providing
an excellent visitor experience can help establish the reputation of a destination, such
as Pickering, as being welcoming, inclusive, diverse, accessible, and an overall great
experience.
Today each of the tourism stakeholders provides superior customer service to directly
their patrons, but there are no formalized destination management customer service
efforts e.g. Tourism Ambassador Training. Pickering does not currently have a tourism
information office and limited information is available online.
5. Marketing/Promotion
Tourism promotion involves activities to attract and lengthen the stay of visitors. This
may include managing and increasing exposure of owned media (website and social
media pages). A paid media strategy can help drive traffic to desired social pages and
websites. This may include co-operative advertising, attendance at travel shows,
magazine articles, brochures, maps, commercial and promotional signs, travel guides,
advertising (print, digital, radio or television) and tourism information centers. Promotion
can also include increasing earned media, such as word-of-mouth marketing, publicity
through various media outlets/ influencers and visitor reviews and ratings.
The City of Pickering currently provides and manages visitor content on the City of
Pickering website. Communication is currently pushed out through the City of Pickering
social media channels and a resident email list is housed in the recreation database.
42
Tourism Asset Inventory
Included is an inventory of some of the tourism assets Pickering currently offers to
residents and visitors.
ATTRACTIONS NATURAL ATTRACTIONS
• Pickering Casino/ Hotel/ Events • Waterfront (Frenchman's Bay,
Space/ Concerts (The Arena) West Park, Waterfront Trail)
• Nautical Village • Trails (Seaton, Greenbelt Cycling,
• Yacht Clubs / Marina Conservation Lands, Trans-
Canada Trail) • Golf Clubs • Parks (Rouge Nat'l, Beachpark, • Claremont Nature Ctr Millenium Square, Petticoat Creek,
• Splash Pad Enchanted Trail-Kijimba Kind)
• Recreation / Sports (Soccer Dome, • Wildlife (Bird watching, Salmon)
Chestnut Hills Development) • Tourism "Trails" (Anne and Maud
• Pickering Playing Fields (Driving Walking Trail)
Range, Mini Putt etc) • Future Durham Meadow-way
• Farms-Hy Hope • Whitevale
• Shopping-Pickering Town Centre
• Restaurants (PORT, Chuuk, etc.)
• VIP Cineplex Movies
• Future Porsche Experience Centre
ARTS AND CULTURE
•
•
•
•
•
Library Makers Space
Crock-a – Doodle
"Trails"-Haunted, Anne & Maud
Theatre-Herongate
Concerts-Durham Live
• Music-Open Studio
• PMV
• Future Heritage & Community
Centre
• Public Art
43
FESTIVALS AND EVENTS
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Pickering Museum Village
Dragonboat Racing
OPG Events
Music/ Waterfront Concerts
Food Truck Festival
Farmers Markets
Open studio Music
• Annual Parades
• RibFest
• Artfest
• JamFest
• The Pic Casino Events
• The Arena Concerts
ACTIVITIES
•
•
•
•
Dining
Watersports / Boating
Skate boarding
Lawn Boling
•
•
•
•
Shopping
Golf
Outdoor Activities (cycling, hiking)
Visiting Friends
OTHER
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Illuminated Bridge
Classic Cars
Film Sets
Bakeries
Gelato at Bellagios
Coffee Roaster
The Pie Guy
Big M Burgers
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
C'est What Brewery
Sports (Hockey, pickle ball)
Air BnB
Pacific Food Mkt
Access to TO
Go Station
Weddings
44
Appendix IV
Visitation Data-City of Pickering
Research is important to understand the impact of tourism as a key economic driver and
to inform business decisions and strategies. Tracking visitation numbers, understanding
visitor profiles (demographics and psychographics) and monitoring trends can help gain
insights into how many visitors are coming and who they are. Visitor research provides
insight to support with the following:
• Identifying and validating the visitors / customers based on empirical data
• Maximizing Return on Investment (ROI) by targeting the right markets
• Increasing visitation by aligning products/services with customers/visitors
• Demonstrating the value and economic impact of tourism within a
municipality/area
Research Process
Central Counties Tourism (RTO6) conducted a geo-fence data analysis for select areas
in the City of Pickering using mobile phone data. The analysis included core visitor
destination areas including the Pickering City Centre and Waterfront East and West.
(see map below) Please note that the data excludes drive-through traffic and those who
live or work in the selected areas.
45
Pickering City
Centre
Waterfront West
46
Waterfront East
47
Economic Impact from Visitation
(Sample area in the City of Pickering (2022)
In 2022, of the total unique visitors to the three studied areas in Pickering, 12% were
“tourists” (from 40+km away). The total number of visits by these tourists were as
follows: the Waterfront West (34,555), Waterfront East (79,912) and Pickering City
Centre (343,636) for a total of 458,107.
Using the Ministry’s Tourism Regional Economic Impact Model (TREIM), it is estimated
that this visitation to Waterfront West contributed $4M, Waterfront East contributed
$10.3 M, and Pickering City Centre contributed $43M, in visitor spend for Durham
Region.
48
Appendix V
Visitor Market Profiles
Central Counties Tourism (RTO6) has identified six visitor profiles that were created
using extensive research using numeric data, mobile data geofencing, postal code audit
and Prizm segmentation profiles. Each profile was matched against Central Counties
Tourism stakeholder businesses and organizations. This information allows tourism
businesses to better target and market to their ideal consumer. (For full descriptions,
visit https://centralcounties.ca/wp-content/uploads/CCT_Visitor_Profiles_B2B.pdf)
The six visitor profiles include:
Passionate Putters Foodie Fanatics
Adventure Seekers Art Lovers – Urbanite (Core)
Family Fun Seekers Art Lovers – Community Explorer (Tactical)
49
Key Findings -Pickering Waterfront East Visitation 2022
Based on an analysis of the “tourists” (from 40 to 100 km away) who visited the
Pickering Waterfront East in 2022, the most highly represented segments in the
population were ‘Family Fun’ (35%), Adventure Seekers (28%) and ‘Passionate Putters’
/ ‘Art lovers’ (tactical) both represented 9%. While there is an opportunity to attract more
visitors within each of these segments, the easiest to attract (i.e., lowest hanging fruit)
are likely the ‘Adventure Seekers’. This segment has the highest concentration (Index*)
of the Waterfront East tourists, followed by the ‘Family Fun’ segment.
Though this sample is for Waterfront East, both the ‘Adventure Seekers’ and ‘Family
Fun’ segments have the highest potential within the other two locations as well, and
should be Pickering’s primary target markets to increase its visitation.
*Index is the ratio of the segments within your tourists vs segments of residents that live
40-100 km, and it is calculated by dividing the ‘%’ by ‘Base %’.
50
Locals
Based on an analysis of the locals who visited the Pickering Waterfront East in 2022,
the most highly represented segments in the population of locals were ‘Family Fun’
(31%) and ‘Passionate Putters’ (21%). The best opportunity to attract more locals is by
targeting ‘Adventure Seekers’ as this group was more highly represented than they are
in the average population.
51
Appendix VI
Visitor Readiness-Gap Analysis
CHALLENGES OPPORTUNITIES
ENHANCE
• Need more reasons to visit
• Little business engagement /
collaboration
•
•
Collaborate with businesses and
across municipalities to build new
experiences e.g. Networking events
Work with businesses to build out new
visitor experiences/ “trails”
• Not enough Festivals / Events • Leverage existing assets and build on
• Need more year-round activities
•
•
them e.g. waterfront, trails
Host unique festivals /events
(Consider IDEA Events)
Embrace winter tourism
• Limited Group Tourism-Need to re-
engage group travel
•
•
Leverage sporting facilities to attract
sport tourism events
Explore opportunity to elevate
Education Tourism
WELCOME
• Limited understanding of the Value of
Tourism
• Implement programs/promotions to
share the importance of the visitor
economy with residents/ staff/ council
• Lack of knowledge among residents
of what the city offers
• Residents are not advocates of
Tourism
•
•
Improve resident sentiment
Engage locals to become visitor-
friendly Ambassadors of Pickering
DEVELOP
• Insufficient Parking • Advocate for transportation
• Limited Public Transport improvements
• No Wayfinding signage •
•
Look for creative solutions for parking
issues
Lead wayfinding strategy
52
• Few accommodation choices • Build and present a business case to
(especially N. Pickering) attract accommodation development
• Need public washrooms • Explore the opportunity to develop a
• No capacity to host large events
•
dedicated event space
Explore possibility to attract
commercial presence in North
Pickering
• Many visitors come to use trails, but • Develop ways to fund investment in
investment in trails is limited trails and encourage trail users to
• No tourism office to provide patronize commercial areas.
information to visitors who are coming • Provide easy access to visitor
information to encourage longer visits
DISTINGUISH
• Lack of readily available visitor • Make up-to-date visitor information
information (online and on-site) available
• No visitor contact information for • Implement push and pull
direct messaging communication strategy
• Limited promotion of bundled • Implement marketing (paid and
experiences earned media) to differentiate
• Lack of awareness of what Pickering Pickering in the market
offers & what makes it unique • Highlight tourism assets (businesses,
attractions)
• Pickering is not overtly promoting its • Showcase Pickering’s IDEA efforts to
support in embracing the movement visitors e.g. reference the diverse
for inclusion, diversity, equity, and demographic of visitors
accessibility (IDEA) • Spotlight IDEA individuals in
businesses and IDEA events in
Pickering
SUPPORT
• Limited $ investment in Tourism for
municipality and businesses need
seed funding
•
•
•
Advocate for a municipal budget
Explore opportunities for new funding
sources e.g. MAT, Events, Grants
Communicate the economic impact of
the visitor economy across all staff
departments and council
• No dedicated municipal staff to focus
solely on tourism
• Engage dedicated staff and
community members to help drive the
53
needs of the visitor economy forward
and execute on Pickering’s Visitor
Plan
•
•
Tourism is not currently a key priority
for the municipality
The value of tourism is often not
understood by staff, leadership &
council
•
•
Elevate Tourism as one of the
municipal strategic pillars
Educate about the value of the visitor
economy
• Today there is a limited understanding
of visitor insights to measure success
and inform development and
marketing. i.e. visitation,
demographics, psychographics, and
visitor satisfaction
• Conduct and commission research to
understand today’s baseline and track
visitation growth and areas for
improvement over time. Use
geofencing, postal code analysis and
surveys.
54
Appendix VII
Community Tourism Survey
Residents, local business owners, and visitors were invited to provide feedback on the
current tourism industry, local features and amenities found in the City of Pickering
during a community tourism plan (CTP) survey on Let’s Talk Pickering from June 1,
2023 – September 6, 2023. The survey was promoted on our social media channels,
on our website and through a media release. The survey was also available to be
completed from our Destination Pickering booth at multiple summer events, and on the
Let’s Talk Pickering webpage.
893 individuals visited the Let’s Talk Pickering page, 723 individuals viewed the project
or tools page, and 311 actively engaged and participated in the survey.
The full results of the survey can be found in the Project Report – Community Tourism
Plan.
55
750
Project Report
01 June 2023 - 06 September 2023
Let's Talk Pickering
Community Tourism Plan
Visitors Summary Highlights
MAX VISITORS PER
TOTAL VISITS DAY
893 135
NEW
REGISTRATI 500 ONS
1
250
ENGAGED
VISITORS
311 1 Jul '23 1 Sep '23
Pageviews Visitors
INFORMED AWARE
VISITORS VISITORS
432 723
Aware Participants 723 Engaged Participants 311
Aware Actions Performed Participants Engaged Actions Performed
Registered Unverified Anonymous
Visited a Project or Tool Page 723
Contributed on Forums 0 0 0Informed Participants 432
Participated in Surveys 33 0 276 Informed Actions Performed Participants
Contributed to Newsfeeds 0 0 0
Viewed a video 0
Participated in Quick Polls 4 0 0 Viewed a photo 0
Posted on Guestbooks 0 0 0Downloaded a document 0
Contributed to Stories 0 0 0Visited the Key Dates page 8
Asked Questions 0 0 0Visited an FAQ list Page 10
Placed Pins on Places 0 0 0Visited Instagram Page 0
Contributed to Ideas 1 0 0Visited Multiple Project Pages 110
Contributed to a tool (engaged) 311
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
ENGAGEMENT TOOLS SUMMARY
0
FORUM TOPICS
1
SURVEYS
0
NEWS FEEDS
1
QUICK POLLS
0
GUEST BOOKS
0
STORIES
0
Q&A S
0
PLACES
Tool Type
Engagement Tool Name Tool Status Visitors
Contributors
Registered Unverified Anonymous
Survey Tool Community Tourism Plan Survey Archived 414 33 0 276
Quick Poll How often do you visit Pickering? Published 5 4 0 0
Ideas What brings you to Pickering? Published 7 1 0 0
Page 2 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
INFORMATION WIDGET SUMMARY
0
DOCUMENTS
0
PHOTOS
0
VIDEOS
1
FAQS
0
KEY DATES
Widget Type
Engagement Tool Name Visitors Views/Downloads
Faqs faqs 10 10
Key Dates Key Date 8 8
Page 3 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
ENGAGEMENT TOOL: SURVEY TOOL
Community Tourism Plan Survey
Visitors 414 Contributors 309 CONTRIBUTIONS 429
What is your age?
9 (2.1%)
17 (4.0%)
47 (11.0%)
97 (22.6%)
72 (16.8%)
68 (15.9%)
119 (27.7%)
Question options
Under 18 19 - 24 25 - 34 35 - 44 45 - 54 55 - 64 65+
Mandatory Question (429 response(s))
Question type: Dropdown Question
Page 4 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
Are you a resident of Pickering?
368 (85.8%)
61 (14.2%)
Question options
Yes No
Mandatory Question (429 response(s))
Question type: Dropdown Question
Page 5 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
If you have friends/family visiting, where are the first places you take them? (select
top three)
325
300
275
250
225
200
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
294
166
140
100
69
39 35
21
34
13
2 4 2
Question options
Waterfront Parks/trails Restaurant Pickering Casino Resort Pickering Museum Village
Pickering Public Library Chestnut Hill Developments Recreation Complex Shopping Pickering Soccer Centre
Festivals/events Public art Filming Other (please specify)
Mandatory Question (368 response(s))
Question type: Checkbox Question
Page 6 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
What is your favourite 'selfie spot' or photo location in Pickering?
126 (34.2%)
84 (22.8%)
34 (9.2%)
32 (8.7%)
35 (9.5%)
3 (0.8%)
8 (2.2%)
46 (12.5%)
Question options
Waterfront - Millennium Square (end of Liverpool Road)
Waterfront - Rotary Frenchman's Bay West Park (end of West Shore Boulevard)
Waterfront Trail Pickering Town Centre Installations Public art
Esplanade Park
Other (please specify)
Seaton Trail
Mandatory Question (368 response(s))
Question type: Dropdown Question
Page 7 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
What do you think attracts visitors to Pickering? (select top three)
300
275
250
225
200
175
150
125
100
75
50
25
284
150
141
82
53
29 33 36
40
17 18
Question options
Waterfront Parks/trails Entertainment Pickering Casino Resort Outdoor recreation activities
Arts & Culture Pickering Museum Vilage Festivals/events Shopping Dining
Other (please specify)
Mandatory Question (368 response(s))
Question type: Checkbox Question
Page 8 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
Are you a visitor of Pickering?
61 (14.2%)
368 (85.8%)
Question options
Yes No, I'm a resident
Mandatory Question (429 response(s))
Question type: Dropdown Question
Page 9 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
How often do you visit Pickering?
8 (13.1%)
35 (57.4%)
9 (14.8%)
4 (6.6%)
5 (8.2%)
Question options
Every day A few times a week Twice a month Once a month Very rarely/never
Mandatory Question (61 response(s))
Question type: Dropdown Question
Page 10 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
As a visitor, what brings you to Pickering? (select up to three)
32
30
28
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
29
26
27
18
17
15
10
9
4
3
2 2
Question options
Waterfront Parks/trails Restaurants Pickering Casino Resort Pickering Museum Village
Pickering Public Library Chestnut Hill Developments Recreation Complex Shopping Festivals/events
Public art Work Other (please specify)
Mandatory Question (61 response(s))
Question type: Checkbox Question
Page 11 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
Where are you visiting from?
40 (65.6%)
20 (32.8%)
1 (1.6%)
Question options
Durham Region Outside of Durham Region Other (please specify)
Mandatory Question (61 response(s))
Question type: Dropdown Question
Page 12 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
If any, what tourism barriers/challenges do you experience in Pickering? (select all
that apply)
30
28
26
24
22
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
27
19
15
9
6
7
3
Question options
Lack of attractions Lack of accommodations Lack of visitor information/packages abouts things to do in Pickering
Parking/transit issues Too expensive Ongoing fear of travel/public outings due to COVID-19 pandemic
Other (please specify)
Optional question (48 response(s), 381 skipped)
Question type: Checkbox Question
Page 13 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
Do you own a business in Pickering?
13 (3.0%)
416 (97.0%)
Question options
Yes No
Mandatory Question (429 response(s))
Question type: Dropdown Question
Page 14 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
What sector does your business fall under?
1 (7.7%)
1 (7.7%)
1 (7.7%)
1 (7.7%)
9 (69.2%)
Question options
Specialty Retail Recreation Arts & Culture Entertainment Other (please specify)
Mandatory Question (13 response(s))
Question type: Dropdown Question
Page 15 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
Where are the majority of your visitors/customers coming from?
6 (46.2%)
5 (38.5%)
1 (7.7%)
1 (7.7%)
Question options
Durham Region In Ontario, but outside of Durham Region Outside of Canada Other (please specify)
Mandatory Question (13 response(s))
Question type: Dropdown Question
Page 16 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
What is the top age range your business in currently attracting?
2 (15.4%)
2 (15.4%)
2 (15.4%) 4 (30.8%)
1 (7.7%)
2 (15.4%)
Question options
19 - 24 25 - 34 35 - 44 45 - 54 55 - 64 65+
Mandatory Question (13 response(s))
Question type: Dropdown Question
Page 17 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
Is there anything the City of Pickering is currently doing that helps your business
attract more visitors?
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
8
3
2 2 2
Question options
Events (Petapolooza, Farmers' Market, Summer Concerts, Artfest, Film(
Marketing (business spotlights/social media features)
Assistance through the Economic Development & Strategic Projects department
Access to technology via the Pickering Public Library Other (please specify)
Mandatory Question (13 response(s))
Question type: Checkbox Question
Page 18 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
ENGAGEMENT TOOL: QUICK POLL
How often do you visit Pickering?
Visitors 5 Contributors 4 CONTRIBUTIONS 4
How often do you visit Pickering?
1 (25.0%)
3 (75.0%)
Question options
A few times each year I live here
Mandatory Question (4 response(s))
Question type: Radio Button Question
Page 19 of 20
Let's Talk Pickering : Summary Report for 01 June 2023 to 06 September 2023
IDEAS
What brings you to Pickering?
Visitors 7 Contributors 1 CONTRIBUTIONS 3
23 June 23
GreenRipple Waterfront and green spaces
I love coming back to the waterfront and the green spaces.Please preserve these area VOTES s and improve and maintain them. 0
23 June 23
GreenRipple Accessibility for people with disabilities
VOTES Please always include accessibility considerations in your tourism plans.
0
Page 20 of 20
Appendix VIII
Committee Engagement
A draft of the Community Visitor Plan underwent review during the Cultural Advisory Committee meeting on January 16, 2024. No further comments were received at that time. Subsequently, the most recent draft of the plan was reviewed during the Waterfront Visionary Advisory Committee meeting on April 15, 2024 and at the
Accessibility Advisory Committee meeting on April 17, 2024 for comment.
76