Frontenac Destination Development Plan

April 20, 2022

Glenburnie, ON – Frontenac County Destination Development Plan Approved at County Council

The Destination Development Plan has been a focus for the past year for the Economic Development Team and was approved at County Council today. This plan is a 5–10-year that aligns government, economic development, community, and tourism priorities.

“This Destination Plan looks to leverage existing assets and strengths in Frontenac County, pull them together, and connect the various experiences in a comprehensive way, that will help visitors navigate Frontenac County in a sustainable way. We are really excited to take the initiatives in this plan to strengthen our partnerships in tourism, and to support local businesses with tourism investment and visitation.” says Richard Allen, Manager of Economic Development

This is a community plan, and the Economic Development team has worked with the Consultant, Steering Committee, Businesses in Frontenac County, Regional Tourism Organizations, and the Townships during the past year.

• Visit Engage Frontenac to learn more about the project. https://engagefrontenac.ca/destinationplan

The approved plan is the first step to the long-term commitment to tourism in Frontenac County. An implementation plan will be brought forward to the Community Development Advisory Committee to lay out a clear schedule of activities to implement the Destination Plan over the next 5 years.

For more information, contact

Richard Allen: rallen@frontenaccounty.ca

Thank you to everyone that participated in the Destination Development Plan Visioning Workshop on March 23.

The Draft Destination Development Plan was shared with an opportunity for questions throughout the session.

Some highlights from What We Heard:

• The trails, packages and itinerary’s are important to tourism. It is good to see them included.
• It is important to make a note of the importance of funding for this project and for grant opportunities.
• Arts, Culture and Heritage portion could be a strategy on its own.
• It is good to see the Indigenous consideration being included.
• Tell more stories around the County about how some businesses or other topics of interest.
• Consider accessibility when packaged and itineraries are developed.
• Year-round accommodations are needed.
• There is a lot covered in the plan. No additional comments.

Next Steps – The Draft Destination Development Plan will be presented to County Council on Wednesday, April 20, 2022.

News Release - Posted January 12, 2022 Members of the Frontenac County Economic Development Team invite all members of the public to support and participate in the next exciting phase of our tourism sector development initiative by attending one of two virtual town hall meetings later this month.

We need your help to build the Frontenac Destination Development Plan. It’s the long-term roadmap intended to further cement our region’s reputation for excellence as a premiere tourism destination in Eastern Ontario. The stated aims of the effort are to promote Frontenac as an exciting recreation spot for paying customers, to incentivize new investment in tourism-related businesses and infrastructure, and to further support and connect tourism entrepreneurs now operating in Frontenac.

The first round of consultation for the plan is complete, so it’s time for you – our stakeholders – to confirm priorities and identify gaps.

Click HERE to visit our website to review the process so far and to add your comments and ideas. Then register for one of two virtual town hall meetings:

Friday, Jan 21, 2022, at 1 pm Click HERE to register in advance for this meeting.

Tuesday, Jan 25, 2022, at 7 pm Click HERE to register in advance for this meeting.

“I want to personally thank the Steering Committee and everyone in our community who has participated in this very important work so far,” says Richard Allen, Manager of Economic Development, County of Frontenac. “I look forward to hearing broadly from across the County and finalizing our plan for direction and support of sustainable tourism development over the next five to 10 years.”

Following the online engagement and the virtual town hall sessions, our consultant will review the input received and finalize the report to be presented to Frontenac County Council.

The DestinationNEXT Assessment consists of a comprehensive community survey that asks stakeholders to rate the destination based on 20 variables.

The priority at this stage was to focus on engaging with stakeholders who really understand the destination and can provide insightful responses that collectively reflect the destination accurately. To this end, the Economic Development Team identified a list of at least 225 stakeholders, representing private businesses, community organizations, municipalities, and individual residents across eight categories:

• Accommodations
• Arts & Culture
• Attractions
• Dining / Restaurants
• Events and/or Recreation
• Government
• Partners
• Venues
• Other

The assessment was open for approximately six weeks from late April until early June and staff sent several communications to the list of identified stakeholders. Overall, 119 complete responses and 22 partial responses were received. The results of the assessment are analyzed and plotted on a matrix that compares community alignment and destination strength to create four quadrants:

• Voyagers
• Trailblazers
• Explorers
• Mountaineers

Based on the overall survey results, Frontenac County plots in the Voyagers quadrant – representing somewhat weaker destination strength and somewhat higher community alignment. This categorization provides a starting point to critically assess the destination and begin determining priorities and strategies for the future.

The complete DestinationNEXT Assessment results can be found on this webpage in the right hand pane under "Documents".

A component of Phase 1 (see Project Lifecycle to right), DestinationNEXT is the only self-assessment scenario tool that combines the most wide-ranging industry research available with community and stakeholder input, to provide destinations with strategies for sustainable growth.

The DestinationNEXT Assessment is currently open for stakeholders input, and will close on June 1. The results of the assessment will be presented to a Steering Committee in mid-June.

The two components of the DestinationNEXT Assessment are the Futures Study and the Online Assessment:

The Futures Study is the most comprehensive analysis of trends and strategies affecting the tourism industry and is developed through insight and feedback from over 530 destination leaders from all over the world.

This data is used, along with the online assessment, to guide destination organizations in determining what strategies they need to implement to be the strongest possible economic driver for their destination.

The online assessment provides a framework that destination leaders can use to critically assess their destination. It engages your community, and helps to start conversations to determine priorities and strategies for the future.

This tool is based on 20 variables related to destination strength and community alignment. Within each variable, we identify a series of metrics which provide the opportunity for destination organizations to gather data and provide a more in-depth look at each variable.