Economic Development and Tourism Advisory Committee

0:02The meeting to order will start with territorial acknowledgement.

0:09As we gather, let us take time to reflect on our privilege to live and work in Guelph,

0:14a city built over rich indigenous histories.

0:17We are guests here and we should reflect upon the responsibility to care for this land.

0:22The people who live here today and the generations to come,

0:25if our actions today can move us towards reconciliation,

0:28we should take pause and make those decisions with intention and gratitude.

0:32This place we call Guelph is served as a traditional lands and a place of refuge for many peoples over time.

0:38But more specifically, the Atawanda Rang and the Haudenosaunee.

0:42This land is held as the treaty lands and the territory with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

0:49Guelph lies directly adjacent to the Alderman tract and is part of a long established traditional hunting ground

0:56for the six nations of the Grand River.

0:58Many First Nations, Inuit and Métis people who have come from across Turtle Island call Guelph today.

1:07Is there any disclosure of pecuniary interests or general nature?

1:13I think that's good.

1:18Next, approval of the minutes from the last meeting to add someone to,

1:26let's see if official word or say make a motion to accept the meetings.

1:31Thank you very much.

1:35And someone to second.

1:36Thanks very much.

1:40Then all that's needed on that side.

1:44Can you post?

1:45Can you post?

1:46Sorry.

1:53Okay, so we have three presentations today.

1:59First presentation from Jack Malin, Heritage Planner, Ward Heritage Conservation District Plan,

2:06followed up by Victoria with the tourism funding stream update gaps and needs fund feedback.

2:12And bring it all home will be Hillary with the destination marketing Guelph update.

2:19So without further ado, Jack over to you, sir.

2:24Thank you, Chair.

2:26Thank you everyone for having me today. I appreciate this.

2:30I believe in short and sweet presentations to have maximum time for comments questions. So I shouldn't take too long.

2:39What I'm here to talk to you about today is the Ward Heritage Conservation District Plan, which is the second phase of the Ward Heritage Conservation District project.

2:51So in 2023, Council directed heritage planning staff to initiate a heritage district study for the Ward neighborhood.

3:01The study concluded that the neighborhood married a designation and that their June 2025 meeting Council directed staff to develop a planning guideline for the district.

3:11That will protect important buildings and landscapes in the area.

3:16So the image on the screen shows you where we are in the plan phase right now.

3:25The plan phase included identifying which properties express the heritage value of the neighborhood and which did not.

3:32We drafted a statement of significance, which summarizes the cumulative heritage value of the area.

3:38And we created district objectives, which will guide how conservation and development are envisioned in the neighborhood.

3:45We're at the point now where we have some draft policies and guidelines which we are seeking public input on through an open house on March 30th and through a have your say survey that is

3:54open now.

3:56From the engagement so far, we have heard that respondents value the connections that form in the distinct Ward community, the walkability of the neighborhood, the creativity and freedom of expression in the area, and the unique mix of buildings and architectural styles that comprise the character of the area.

4:14The map in this image shows the district boundary that was approved by Council, as well as contributing properties that have been identified in the district in blue.

4:26We're working on developing conservation guidelines for contributing properties, as well as guidelines that will guide development should either contributing or non contributing property be demolished.

4:41Our goal with this heritage district is to conserve the character of the district without placing undue restraints on property owners to adapt and change their properties.

4:52As mentioned in a previous slide, residents in the neighborhood really value their ability for creative expression. And so we're really not looking to make this a very strict heritage conservation district plan.

5:08The policies we're developing are highly flexible and allow for a great deal of change while encouraging retention of existing heritage buildings.

5:16The policies will only apply to the exterior of buildings and will not dictate use. So if a church wants to become a restaurant or a cart garage, a cafe, or an old industrial building condos, the heritage district will not prevent this.

5:33In fact, we encourage adaptive reuse.

5:36The image on the screen is an example of a guideline for additions to heritage buildings.

5:42Whereas most heritage districts require heritage permits for almost any alteration to the exterior of a property, our goal is only to require permits for larger alterations that might have an impact on the district.

5:56In this example, a rear yard addition to a heritage property would be exempt from a heritage permit. I'm often asked what are the benefits of heritage designation and I like to break it down into cultural environmental and economic benefits.

6:16Cultural benefits of a district would be to support the unique character of this area, in this case the ward.

6:23District can support an area's history of creativity and entrepreneurialism.

6:31Environmentally, you may have heard that the greenest building is one that already exists. So a heritage district will encourage the retention and reuse of buildings, reducing construction waste and facilitating adaptive reuse.

6:46Lastly, the ward has a long history of small business and entrepreneurialism. We want to include policies that encourage small business development, especially in the historic storefronts that dot the neighborhood.

6:58You may have noticed on an earlier slide that walkability is prized in the neighborhood and we believe that pedestrian friendly businesses should be encouraged.

7:09The district won't amend the zoning bylaw. We will encourage variance applications be considered for approval to support small businesses, especially in historical commercial buildings.

7:20So to recap, alterations, additions and new development are permitted and should enhance the heritage value of the district.

7:33Policies will only apply to exteriors, no impact on interiors or use. Many changes will be exempt from the permit process. Only significant alterations will trigger a heritage permit.

7:46And policies will encourage small businesses, walkability and affordable housing development.

7:54So I'm happy to answer any questions or comments that the committee may have. Thank you.

8:08Anything from anybody online? I think I'm the only one in person here today. So I'm looking at the screen and it's all all to you folks.

8:17Any questions for Jack?

8:19I have a question. Jack, this is not my, not an area that I know anything about.

8:30There's a lot. It looks like a lot of houses are contributing. What, what was, how was that decided? How did it, how did it, how was one contributing versus non contributing?

8:42Through the chair. So we, we defined a period of significance from about the 1850s to 1939.

8:53So those are the major waves of development that occurred within the ward. So you've got, for example, in the mid 19th century, many stone residences were the first ones to be constructed in the area and then these were followed by red brick and yellow brick.

9:09And so most of the contributing properties fall within that period of significance that help kind of define the developmental patterns of the board.

9:19There are a couple outliers that might have been a significant business that was built in the 60s or 70s or a, like a church, for example, that may have come later.

9:33That's a significant cultural landmark, but for the most part, most of the contributing properties fall between 1855 and 1939.

9:42Anything from anyone else? So there's no recommendation.

9:57Sorry. Go ahead.

10:01I'm just wondering how like a little bit more detail about how this might interact with like ADUs.

10:11I think the city has a ADU policy or bylaw already.

10:16The additional dwelling unit.

10:19Thank you.

10:20Through the chair.

10:22So our intention is not to interfere at all with the city's ADU policy. In fact, we're going to have policy within the guidelines that exempts ADU construction from heritage permits.

10:37If it's in a rear yard on the rare chance that an ADU is proposed for a front yard, we would require a heritage permit.

10:45That would just be to review it to make sure it's not diminishing the cultural heritage value of the neighborhood.

10:51But we want to encourage things like ADUs because affordability is one of the historical attributes of the neighborhood.

11:00And so encouraging density and affordable rental units is something we're not looking to ignore.

11:06We're in fact looking to encourage as much as possible in the plan.

11:21Thanks, Jack. That was great.

11:23The third part of one of your slides there noted the economic benefits and encouraging small businesses.

11:30So maybe you could talk a little bit about how will this sort of overlay to some of the other bylaws that are already in place.

11:37How will this help to encourage some of that cultural small business development that we're starting to already kind of see cream up in the word?

11:47Yeah, something we've noticed from past committee of adjustment applications for businesses in the area that there's certain constraints within the zoning bylaw,

11:57especially some of the commercial storefronts.

12:01If you walk around the neighborhood, you'll notice that many of the houses have like what would have at one time been a small shoe shop or a small convenience store or a small grocery store.

12:12The properties no longer have, for example, like the parking required in the zoning bylaw.

12:18And so while we're not looking to amend the zoning bylaw, we will have language encouraging for when an application comes forward.

12:28That the committee of adjustment considered the cultural and historical context of the neighborhood as well as the unique walkability of this area that I think already businesses have had parking waived within the district.

12:44And so that's that's something that we're looking to encourage.

12:47Okay, great. Thanks.

12:53Actually, I do have a question. I'm just curious to to that point and thanks for saying that Christine, I used to live in the ward. So I know that there has been some of the businesses sort of challenged by, you know, trying to expand or do patios or different things like that.

13:10So I'm just curious.

13:13And you mentioned about the parking. But I know that's depending on season as well too. So just having lived it and breathed it and been there and done that.

13:21So I'm just curious as far as like, or is your intention that this will be more defined so that people will be more there won't be so because I think there's a feeling that there's gray area there depending on what side of the fence you prefer to sit on.

13:36Yeah, the policies in the plan will be relatively broad because we we want the hopefully the the district will be in place 25 years from now so we won't know how a zoning bylaw may change or other city policies may change so we we want to have more and more

13:56and more of a broad language encouraging things perhaps like patios or like the small grocery store that exists now.

14:05There's also significant density is going to be coming to that area it already has with the fusion development and so we we think pedestrian friendly businesses will thrive.

14:19So we're hoping that the city will be able to see the city's development and the development period going forward as as density increases and parking policies are sorted out.

14:34But yeah, we're we're hoping to be relatively broad so that this district plan and guideline can be applied well into the future regardless of what the city bylaw or policy is at the time.

14:49Jordan forgive me. So with just a presentation. Is there a motion to accept the presentations that we can do a motion to receive but it's not required.

15:00Thank you, Jack.

15:04Sorry my internet's been a bit choppy. I think you guys are wrapping up but I did have one more question.

15:11Is there going to be like plaques or something in the area to describe the heritage, like cultural plaques or something like as an educational piece in that area to kind of let people know what the historical context or like the architectural context and that kind of info.

15:38Through the chair.

15:43It's likely that a recommendation of the district will be to include some sort of way finding or sign to mark, likely when you're you're entering the area so we've identified some.

15:58They're called gateways in the plan because the word is kind of unique and that there's only about three or four entry points into it so hopefully we'll be able to include some sort of signage to let people know that they're entering a heritage district but that would be a

16:14recommendation of the plan and then that would be contingent on budget approvals going forward.

16:25Okay, excellent. Any, again, any other questions for Jack before we move on to Victoria.

16:37So Jack, thank you very much for the presentation.

16:40Number two today we have Victoria for the presentation on the tourism funding stream update and gaps and needs of fund feedback.

16:50Thank you.

16:53It's wonderful to be all of I haven't made you before my name's Victoria. I'm the economic development officer for the tourism team around this time every year we have the pleasure of sharing the tourism efforts from the previous years funding programs.

17:08So thinking back to 2025 wealth tourism hosted three funding programs.

17:13These are called the destination animation fund, the gas and needs fund and the gather your sponsorship fund.

17:21So in 2024 is when you start to accept the applications and we received 37 applications across all three streams demonstrating strong demand and reinforcing the need for the continuous support of tourism operators in event planners as they work to enhance our visitor experiences and grow wealth profile as a vibrant destination to visit.

17:45There was $106,000 awarded through the three programs. The city awarded $59,000 for the not for profit and carry your organizations and the remaining 40,000 was awarded to for profit organizations by destination marketing wealth.

18:01Hillary is here.

18:03And it's her team who manages the for profit work.

18:06And these programs are fully supported through the municipal accommodation tax, the revenues that are collected in that program.

18:13Successful projects contributed to increasing overnight stays, enhancing the current tourism product inventory, offering brand awareness opportunities for the city, as well as enhancing wealth year round destination appeal.

18:28The first fund that is the destination and innovation funds point about the full there was 16 applications that were supported.

18:40We received 21 applications in total. So there was definitely more demand than what we were able to offer in the funding envelope.

18:49The goal of this fund is to create that year round destination and really support what is here, but also enhance those existing products and creating new products around the way along the way.

19:02So the three organizations developed new programming. And these were flow state by company who created a mountain by rental program hillside community festival created an indigenous program.

19:18This is was called indigenous voices and they had a curator create various programming and activations throughout their festival.

19:26And then urbex walking tours hosted a new event called supernatural Saturdays, which was a partnership with downtown businesses to talk all things spooky and fun.

19:35Organizations can receive up to $5000.

19:39And they are required to give a 10% matching contribution.

19:44So we receive a very diverse pool of applicants and we're able to support a lot of different industries in the tourism landscape.

19:54So we saw six grantees that identified with arts and culture. We saw 14 festivals and attractions, five food and beverage applicants.

20:04Sports hosting. We had three that identified with that sector and one tour.

20:10The Gaps and Needs fund will talk a little bit about the 2026 gaps and needs fund at the end of this presentation.

20:21But for it's in a fund that that is meant to be flexible. So each year we do outreach for the tourism industry and we talk to the different community members there to ask what they require support in.

20:32This is really about identifying the gaps that help that stop us hinder us from being.

20:41Oh my goodness.

20:43That from being a well as my train of thought.

20:49I apologize.

20:53Um,

20:55proactive.

20:57So when we talked to the community, they had identified that they wanted the marketing material development fund to run for a second round.

21:10So this was used to create new marketing materials. So we saw projects being supported such as podcast marketing campaigns, marketing design.

21:20We updated new photography and print. We created rack cards. There was a tour map that was created wayfinding signage for festivals to support visitor navigation and different promotional items.

21:35So swag items here such as glasses that could be used as festivals to be given out.

21:41applicants reported a varying level of impact of engagement.

21:45And we're really satisfied with the products that they were able to create in the gaps and needs program, but they did identify that they were looking for something different in 2026.

21:56So we moved on to the accessible destination funds. So that's what we're focusing on for this year.

22:02In 2025, though, we gave a total of 18,000 was awarded and only 17,000 worth of projects was completed by the end of 2025.

22:16So the third fund is the gallery here sponsorship fund.

22:20And this one is really about attracting new and large scales events.

22:25So the goal is about generating revenues and max collecting accommodations as well as providing marketing opportunities for the city through high profile sponsorship packages.

22:35So the three applications were successful here. And it was the chest fest hosted international tournament in Guam.

22:43We also hosted the waterfront regeneration trust to do a cycling loop through the Great Lakes and created a legacy map that cyclists continue to use throughout the years and revisit and come to wealth.

22:58And then lastly, the beekeepers Association of Canada hosted their annual conference here in partnership with the university and the delta.

23:09The tourism funding impacts had a great impact on the events themselves being able to continue to mature and operate.

23:16And that there's also opportunities though going forward, especially with recording and having our grantees be able to tell their stories of success.

23:25And we continue to support them and help them refine that process.

23:33And that is the end of the gaps and needs. I apologize for my blank. I'm very thirsty and hot.

23:39I'm not thinking about it. I my bathroom, any water.

23:44Yeah, I'm not usually a poor public speaker. It's one of my other things I do enjoy so that I apologize through the chair.

23:54I apologize.

23:55But were there any questions about the funding programs from 2025?

24:05I have a question about the destination animation fund.

24:10The food and beverage category is is pretty much all beverage. It's all breweries and I guess the woolies there.

24:20And I'm hearing from hospitality industry that they're in they're in trouble. They're struggling. Just curious why they wouldn't have leveraged an opportunity like this.

24:31Any thoughts around that?

24:34Through the chair. So we do have community practices where we gather tourism industry. So one of those is craft culinary.

24:41And they're aware that the programs exist. I do think that sometimes there's capacity challenges with being able to create something new, which is one of the objectives of the fund is to enhance an existing tourism product or create something new.

24:54So they might not have something available that they're looking to do right now, but they are aware that if they want to test the waters and do something new that that program is there that to access it.

25:03Just to just to add it does so to for like further clarity and is that you know the restaurants have to be able to offer something or sorry the food the food industry has to be able to offer something that appeals to visitors that will draw folks from outside of the city.

25:25In so that that's also so when Victoria references like that new it's more that in the hands like that is the goal of the fund is not necessarily to just directly invest in the food sector.

25:39Anybody else have any questions I just like to say I love the presentation I like to see the breakdown. It's great to see that.

26:00I love how the funds are raised through that.

26:04I forget the acronym math.

26:09And I'm just really I like seeing the actual names behind everything where the money's going so my two cents.

26:18Yes, nice to see to that the program was well subscribed, but also not so much that you know the people would be frustrated to apply because the success rate is so low. I've been on I've been on those and it's not fun.

26:30So nice that there's enough funds there to support at least the majority.

26:40Yes, please. Okay, so the gaps in these. So in my previous presentation I discussed that for the past two years we had done the marketing material development fund.

26:51And then this year we focused on accessibility reviews with an organization called access down who's helping successful grantees review their accessibility at their location, whether it be brick and mortar or at a festival than you as well to be able to improve accessibility.

27:06But now we're looking ahead to 2027. So this is the time of year that we're seeking feedback from all channels, anybody that touches within the tourism ecosystem to help us define the program for next year.

27:20So the funding will open in November 2026 for 2027 applications.

27:28This fund is again as I mentioned meant to be responsive to the needs of tourism operators to help us fill gaps in destination development.

27:39Next slide. So some things to consider.

27:42If we were to have a discussion or you were to talk about this with a friend, we'd love for you to think about the destination that you fit a destination that you have visited.

27:51And what is wealth equivalent? Or is there currently a gap? Is there something that we could create or fill or help tourism businesses be the best thing and be and reach that gap in the community?

28:05We want to understand, you know, what does the tourism network need as a whole to increase that appeal?

28:12And then as we flip to think about how we've done the program in the past, over the past three years, we have focused on individual products.

28:20So right now people apply as an individual based application and they receive an individual product.

28:27We thought something we could possibly do in the future would be to have folks opt into a wider project.

28:34When we think about that, we have to remember there's a small annual budget of approximately $20,000.

28:40So it would have to have small budget, but big impact.

28:50Conversations with tourism operators this year, we've identified some opportunities.

28:55So some ideas that have come up have been place making with murals on private property.

29:01So place making kits, a local organization. So this would be maybe different activations that we could subscribe and give in as kits as opportunities.

29:11I think this one was kind of directed around downtown businesses during construction.

29:17Another one that would be, I think would be fun.

29:21But more along the business side would be to create business plans for tourism products and perhaps directing folks over to the small business center.

29:29And then lastly, that collective project that I had talked about before.

29:33So maybe opting into a trail or project that tourism staff could organize, design and manage.

29:40So we've seen examples of this in other communities such as a coffee trail or we always talk about soup loop and Guelph.

29:47So really bringing together people that have a common denominator and putting them all together for visitors to be able to access more easily.

29:58So in this sense funds could be directed at startup costs such as maybe creating a new menu item if there was, if they were a part of the trail.

30:06Not receiving the funds directly in this program is the more unique.

30:11You don't receive $2,500 directly as a grantee. It goes to vendor services.

30:18So keep that in mind when you're thinking across what could be an opportunity for the gaps needs fund in 2027.

30:25So I don't know if there is room for discussion here, but if you do have feedback, please send me an email, my emails there.

30:36And then we'd love to come back and be able to report back in October on where the gaps and needs funds lands based on all this feedback.

30:45I don't hear that back. Do you have something else to add?

30:48There's room for great. I'll hand it back to you.

30:52Thanks for the presentation.

30:53I also just want to comment that my colleague Seaman also put something in the chat there as well too.

31:01So just if there's a comment there regarding outcomes and outcomes and success measures.

31:08So I just want to mention that.

31:10But I was just going to say I would really support and really love to see and thanks for saying Victoria about the downtown businesses because of especially with wayfinding during construction.

31:21Like there were as a small business center, we're working directly with a lot of these businesses and we're already seeing, you know, some concerns obviously.

31:30And so, you know, if there's some type of opportunity to and I love the group idea.

31:35There have been other communities that have banded together and group like ways through construction that, you know, maybe there's opportunity there to sort of visit and I'm happy to push people in that direction because I think there is opportunity there to to.

31:50To build on what's already happening. I mean, construction group is doing a great job and trying to build the marketing there. But I think there could be ways to complement that as well.

32:00So I'm happy to help with that Victoria or give you some suggestions we can always talk offline.

32:06Thank you. So Chelsea see your hand up.

32:13Yeah, I'm just curious. If you're working on this in conjunction in conjunction with the RTO for I know through my work with them recently.

32:25They've had major success on identifying these types of gaps through a new data mining tool that they've been utilizing called proposal.

32:35And it's really, really helped other municipalities in our RTO identify a lot of these gaps so it might be worthwhile reaching her to Andrea as well.

32:46Because they do have tools that can really help in the back end of this where they're utilizing location services to see where people are going in our regions and what they're doing and how long they're spending at different spaces.

33:00And given the landscapes of our municipalities, it might be beneficial to even top into some of that data and see what's working in our neighboring communities as well.

33:12Through the chair. We do work with the RTO form actually a part of that data program so that's great that you've heard such positive feedback about it.

33:20Yeah, we can absolutely connect in and see what else we can learn from Paul so we're thinking about the program.

33:32Chairman sir, is there a comment that you saw reference that I can't see.

33:37Through you chair members mean they said they're just having audio issues in the moment but they would love to see the outcomes and success measures and I believe that was directed towards you Victor.

33:53Any other questions from anybody online or in the room.

34:00I'm just wondering if, if there's like any kind of overlap where there's going to be like exclusion of things that are specifically for the anniversary in 2027.

34:16Because I know that there's like separate funding happening for events and projects that are specifically for the 200. So I'm just wondering if there's like interaction with this or specific exclusion.

34:39Yeah, I'll say this now itself speak to that so yes so the bicentennial programming there are funding opportunities available through the culture department.

34:51Because our goal is like long term products and projects that can that will benefit while you're over a year, we will likely exclude bicentennial specific programming outside of our funding streams.

35:08And the purpose there is is the bicentennial funding is really targeted at bicentennial projects and programming. And they have some unique funding opportunities there because the goal is bicentennial and the goal is the golf community.

35:26Whereas tourism is again kind of amplifying uplifting that's not to sorry to a visiting audience. That's not to say that we would not award a fund.

35:38One of our projects or project that has been proposed by an organization who has also received bicentennial funding. It's just there has to be a differentiator between, you know, the tourism element and what they're doing for the bicentennial and those distinctions need to be clear.

36:09Any other questions from our online attendees.

36:14Okay.

36:20Victoria, thanks very much then for the presentation.

36:24And I guess you can move on to our third presentation which is destination marketing wealth update by Hillary.

36:34Gotta stop sharing one.

36:37So here's another one.

36:38Thanks for trying.

36:39Thanks for doing it.

36:40Hi everybody.

37:00I'm Hillary McCann. I'm the executive director of destination marketing wealth and just got some some are greatest hits coming up from 2025.

37:11A little bit of 2026 and what we're doing through the rest of 2026 so we can review these things and I'm happy to answer any questions.

37:19The milestones for 2025. They included the Grand Slam curling, which we were the major sponsor for that gave us logo representation throughout the ice are and it was broadcast on

37:36Roger sports net. So we actually had a 32nd spot that aired there. It's the tune of about $300,000 in a media buy and our logo was seen.

37:4611.

37:48What was it Alex 11.

37:50Yeah, the million impressions 11 million impressions of our logo through that I was always really excited when the rock just landed on it.

37:58It was a good shot for them but it worked for us.

38:02And we also had, as most people know the confirmation of the Memorial Cup.

38:08And we also executed our fall 2025 PR tour which focused on harvest and circular food economy.

38:17And in collaboration with both tourism we helped distribute $106,000 in tourism funding and supported the sector collaborations your multiple communities of practice meetings.

38:29There were a lot of other smaller things that we did but we had significant ROI on paid media campaigns we we worked with River Run and hillside for sponsorships.

38:40Those are the things that give us a little bit of leverage in terms of amplifying promotional opportunities in the term for contests and promotional bundles that are trying to drive overnight stays at our hotel so those have been very successful.

39:01So just a little bit more about our press tour.

39:04The gathering of the fall 2025 press tour generated an estimated $248,570 and paid media values that represents approximately a 10 time return on investment so we were very happy with that we ushered around five journalists.

39:23And we're still getting we're actually still getting some runway out of journalists that came here on the press tour the year before.

39:32So there's some things that they are still coming back to us for and there's some placement we are still getting so it's something that keeps on giving our media coverage included regional national and international outlets we did interviews with CV with CTV.

39:48We had interviews in the paper so it was all very exciting another highlight was our friends the beavers who came to visit us, which just landed in our lap family from Arkansas decided if they moved to Canada they were moving to Guelph.

40:02And we took full advantage of that again that generated a lot of earned media and social media interaction so we were very happy with that.

40:14Okay, go on to the next those are some of the outlets that we had coverage in.

40:22So this is just reiterating what we did in the paid media world.

40:31The 2026 initiatives hotel promotions portal we launched a new portal just for our hotel and overnight partners accommodation partners.

40:42So we are promoting, allowing the hotels they have their own secure upload area so they can provide the information about what's going on with their distinct locations if they have any special promotions if they have anything that allows pets if they have anything that's an evergreen

41:11promotion. We are also trying to make sure that we continually have a bundle promotional package that drives with an incentive for people to come and stay overnight again in the form of tickets to one of the things that we sponsor.

41:24Another thing that we're working towards very soon is an influence engagement program that's going to target festivals and events for the last two years we have focused on the food and beverage industry per se and some of those locations that host things like that.

41:40So we have to move over to something where people are more fluid obviously we can't bring them to us so we're focusing on the cultural side sports side and a few other sectors so I think we're going to have four or five, hopefully very well followed content creators who also work for other traditional

42:05publications to come and cover a lot of our festivals. Another thing we're gearing up for that probably won't launch until the beginning of 2027 is marketing matching matching fund or marketing expansion fund.

42:18So this is where we'd like to be able to provide money to to businesses that come in and organizations that want to market what they're doing so they need a viable plan and a viable media buy.

42:35And the other part of that is we want to provide them with resources so we are building up an archive of photos and video content that allow that we have rights to so it'll allow these organizations of businesses to use these instead of spending their usually meager marketing funds on buying or producing assets.

42:54So these are going to be sort of general wealth photos. But we're so we're working on that part and we really want to and then templates as well marketing templates so they've got some sort of process in place when they go to do this and so again we're trying to expand the resource side of this as much as we can.

43:15The other thing we're working on is conference and event expansion in our website area and we're going to put some money behind it in a digital program campaign. So we've got our conferences and events that Alex's team is very has been very busy promoting and supporting.

43:33So we want to provide more there is some dedicated areas for this in our website and we want to promote this and expand all that information a little bit more.

43:43We are again working with the Argos as I mentioned in terms of sponsorships hillside River Run will continue hopefully and the other thing that we want to do is start a local campaign to inform and engage businesses for listings and events.

43:58So we have we have tried to populate our website to the best of our ability but it's very hard for us with our limited capacity to make sure that we're on top of all businesses opening closing changing hours.

44:12Any other information that can be provided and any events they might have or or part of. So we want to do an awareness campaign. So people can people big big local businesses realize that there's an area many areas on our website where they can just provide the information and that we will post it for them.

44:33And the other thing that we're doing this year is making sure that our we've brought our newsletter in house we have an agency that did before so we are working on launching that at the beginning of May.

44:44We've got some fun media placement happening that is going to support people coming to and staying in Guelph as opposed to Toronto during our FIFA event.

44:58So some of that is starting to run in the middle of May we've got media placements in Horizon magazine in the middle of May so that goes into the Globe and Mail and Toronto Star we've got 10 second billboards electronic billboards that are running in

45:17San Cofa Square which is the young and done done that square now and also on the Gardner Expressway and then we are also running another thing in the middle of May in the Canadian travel guide so and more billboards and placement in those at the beginning

45:37of the end of June beginning of July again and then we'll focus on our golf promotional package that we've put together that again will help drive overnight stays we have gift cards for $100 three different golf courses and wealth so if somebody comes with a golf group and

45:58books at hotel for two nights they will receive one of those gift cards so that will be our flagship promotion on our hotel portal and an ambassador assets project that's almost ready to launch we have Brooks and mortar ambassador assets in Guelph and we have now produced video and photography

46:19assets so they can share out through their social channels and we will share out through our social channels where those are why they're doing this who they are how they support other businesses in their community and that's about it for what's coming up again there's a little bit more information on the hotel promotions

46:43portal so just around the corner campaign is the one I'm referencing it's going to start running in May the anchor golf promotion and paid digital marketing campaigns to support all of those and this is just a little bit of a highlight for what we did for our March break give away so we had a March break give away and this is

47:04a good example of how we do this so it was used for more family overnight visits in the prize included a hotel stay for for river run center tickets and a dining gift card in the campaign drove 74,391 entries and substantial increases in social reach engagement web traffic and

47:22so those really do give us a nice boost and our key initiatives that I mentioned so far the hotel promotions and things like that but we're really focusing last year was a lot of focus on sort of gaining traction so now we're implementing campaign based storytelling we're seeing where we need to expand what's

47:44working what hasn't we've launched a tick tock site so we're going to expand that as well we're optimizing our blog and website content so we can drive more people to some of the more informed areas on our site and as I mentioned bringing the newsletter in house so we can really see how that's working out there and we're driving a subscription sign ups through contesting as well.

48:10So again, this is one of some of the things that we're trying to do with our stay worthy itineraries that we're building up some of the other things that I talked but our biggest mission is to funnel visitors visitors towards our hotel portal and drive those overnight stays.

48:29That is it.

48:37Thank you very much, Hillary.

48:39Open it up.

48:41Do any attendees any questions.

48:45Comments concerns for Hillary's visitation is.

48:49First of all, I'm just going to Hillary, I should we should probably connect at some time because I'm with the business center and and I'm excited about the templates that is usable or will be usable I guess for small businesses.

49:05To be able to use those assets when they're advertising and stuff like that.

49:09If I understood that correctly that you're sort of creating that and also just the campaigns to promote small business so I echo that because small business needs are help more than ever in general.

49:21And so I love the aspect of being able to help because we work with them on marketing campaigns but having the assets, you know, things that they could tap into free of charge or free of charge.

49:33They could tap into free of charge are available and a lot easier to grab and take and create would be a benefit.

49:41So I appreciate the work that's being done in that area and I will make a note to connect from a business center point of view to see how we can support that because we have a lot of businesses needing help.

49:53Yeah, that would be great. I mean, we really do want to make sure we can provide them with the resources so they marketing is usually something that falls off the side of a lot of small businesses.

50:02Well, they're very limited in budgeting right now and we really love them to be able to drive them towards being able to secure media by to attract visitors as opposed to spending all their money on creating photos, videos, and all the things that we potentially have.

50:26Yeah, so I'll make a note to connect with you separately on that.

50:31Thank you.

50:36Any other questions for Hillary?

50:42How do more businesses get involved in this? Like, I mean, I have a spa, which is a great activity for an overnight stay.

50:54So how, how could I get involved or how could I kind of piggyback on this?

51:01piggyback on, do you mean having exposure through gathering wealth?

51:07Yeah, that that could be one avenue or just maybe using some of the assets or providing some images of our own that could be included.

51:19Well, maybe this is worth a conversation and I'm more than happy to talk to you about what we could do together. I mean, if it's something to help drive overnight stays and there's a promotional opportunity, we're happy to do that.

51:32Our marketing matching matching fund again isn't going to be ready probably until the end of the year.

51:40But step number one is to make sure your business is there on our listings on our website and any events or any special promotions or anything that you have you upload that on a regular basis.

51:51But I'm happy to discuss any other possibilities with you as well.

51:56Okay, so how would I get listed on the page is it in the presentation here?

52:03It's not that I can send you a link distinctly, but if you go on our website, if you go on gatherinwealth.com, there are areas all over the website that say upload your business listing here and allows you to provide photos and information about your bill of your business.

52:20Great, I'll take a look. Thanks.

52:22Yeah, I'm also did not was not aware of that Hillary so that's good to know because we can help support that on our social media like we have businesses like Aaron's that are very successful in promoting and driving traffic for destination, you know, marketing sort of purposes.

52:39So if there's maybe and again, this might be a follow up conversation, but if there's actual ways, I appreciate we can go on the website and check it out.

52:47But if there's actual media to draw and that we can use on our social media, for example, as a business center to help promote that, then we're happy to do that.

52:55Right, because more businesses to be able to engage would be better.

52:59Yeah, we're going to create some more some assets right now and then push that out locally through we've been really focusing obviously and on track and attracting visitors when we first started this we integrated as many business listings as we possibly could.

53:14But now it's down to the point where it's like we're driving by and going, oh, there's a new company, something just open there and going to putting that ourselves so keep you.

53:25It would be great because we can we can show and teach people businesses how to do it, you know what I mean, it just like I said I wasn't even aware of that either so that's that's good that we had this presentation.

53:34We tried to make it as simple as possible.

53:36That's simple as good.

53:38Thank you.

53:40Thank you.

53:44Any other questions.

53:46I have fun.

53:51It's funny how quickly you forget of things in the rear view was a great presentation to see it all kind of laid out all the great things that were done last year.

54:01Is there a 2026 press tour.

54:04Well, that's what we're shifting over to to be the influencer content creator sort of broken up tour this year's winter tour if you will so we're just getting to the point where we're about to shortlist who who we're going to try and track and we want them to be specialists or people who have a very large following in specific fields.

54:26So like I said sports, you know, all the things that we're covering in terms of festivals and events.

54:34And golf.

54:36So one.

54:37No other questions.

54:41And thank you very much Hillary for the presentation. I was excellent.

54:49I don't know three chair and staff announcements. Does anybody have any announcements.

54:55Yes.

54:57So, I saw Alex speaking here.

55:02And my last day before I had a maternity leave is this Friday, and I'm joined here by Stacy Laughlin we will remember from her downtown revitalization and St. George's Square presentations.

55:14And Stacy will be stepping into the manager of tourism and destination development role while I'm away so welcome Stacy.

55:21Thank you Alex.

55:24Hi everybody. Looking forward to working with everybody.

55:29I think that's been for everyone. Have an awesome maternity leave. Thank you. Thank you.

55:35Okay, I don't believe there's any other business. We move to adjournment to have someone to move the motion or to adjourn.

55:50I'm not a cold. Thank you. Someone to second.

55:57I can see it.

56:00We do the post for this. Anybody opposed to ending this meeting.

56:05You're welcome to stay.

56:09Excellent.

56:11We will move to adjourn the meeting. Next meeting is May 12, 2026.

56:17Thank you for your time. And thank you everybody for attending today.

56:24Thank you.

56:26Thank you everybody.

56:30Thanks everyone.

56:32See you next month.

56:34Three presentations. Thank you everyone.