North Bay sings the Blue

Ontario’s Near North/Blue Sky Region and North Bay have made it into some very select company, being one of only a handful of Canadian destinations to be featured in the Labatt Blue and Explore Magazine USA Summer Hours promotion.

The 24-page magazine profiles what its authors see to be the best Canadian tourism destinations. Other spots in the magazine include Mont Tremblant, in Quebec, and Lake Louise and Banff, in Alberta. Recipes using Labatt Blue are also in the publication.

Super opportunity
Two hundred-thousand copies of the magazine have been published and are being distributed through Labatt retail outlets in the Northern United States.

A giveaway is part of the promotion and some winning entrants will be headed to North Bay via the Northlander for a weekend at the Clarion Resort Pinewood Park.
Golfing, fishing and a dinner cruise on the Chief Commanda are part of the winning package too.

“This is a super opportunity to get into the mindset of the Americans, our target market, and the demographic that we’re looking for, largely males between 25 and 35 interested in outdoor experiences,” said Laurie Ypya, executive director of the Almaguin-Nipissing Travel Association, during Wednesday’s announcement.

“This is the perfect target audience for us and an opportunity for them to participate in golf and fishing, and the cruise. There will also be entertainment by local musicians, various entertainment opportunities, and a First Nations display.”

Major accomplishment
Guy Lamarche, marketing director for Ontario Northland, said for the region to be included in Summer Hours “is a major accomplishment.”

“North Bay is obviously blessed with a lot of tourist amenities that are very appealing to today’s market: the outdoors the eco-tour product, great fishing and golf,” Lamarche said.

“This is also a very accessible and very friendly city.”

Will be huge
Lamarche also said North Bay couldn’t buy the type of positive publicity it will be receiving free of charge in Summer Hours.

“People will believe what they read in the story and rightly so, and the residual value of what we will see in the years to come as a result of this promotion will be huge.”