Peterborough And The Kawarthas Tourism Encourages Residents To Explore Their City During Tourism Week

Tourism Week in Canada, led by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC), is an annual invitation to come together to champion and promote Canada’s destinations, tourism businesses, and employees from May 29 to June 4.

File Photo.

Before COVID-19, tourism in Peterborough & the Kawarthas was responsible for 1 in 10 local jobs and more than $365 million in annual visitor spending.

According to Peterborough & the Kawarthas Tourism, the pandemic decimated the industry across Canada, with hundreds of thousands of jobs lost, and forecasting doesn’t see the industry recovering until the end of 2025.

Now, it’s time to rebuild the industry and recover. This years theme is ‘Travel Now: For Work, Life, and Play!’.

“We were optimistic for a great start to the core tourism season. The recent May 21st storm is yet another setback after two challenging years,” said Joe Rees, Director of Tourism for Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development (PKED). “Local businesses continue to show resiliency, and our community continues to support local businesses - both important factors for successful recovery. However, we must be prepared to fight for our region’s competitive position as people start to travel again, not just this summer, but as travelers plan for fall and winter travel experiences.”

PKED is steadfast in its commitment to supporting this vital local sector and its economic, social, and cultural importance. Peterborough & the Kawarthas Tourism, a division of PKED, has undertaken several activities in 2020 to support recovery by 2025:

• Launched www.investptbo.ca – a new economic development website to better position the region for growth and investment attraction, including the tourism sector.

• Launched a newly redesigned www.thekawarthas.ca to address recent changes in consumer sentiment and travel trends.

• Launched the SPARK program, which aims to support innovative local tourism ideas with mentorships and grants emphasizing spring, fall, and winter seasons and culinary experiences to better support year-round economic impact and sustainable tourism attraction.

• Hired a full complement of travel counsellors for the summer season and re-launching the mobile visitor services program, which will take place on weekends at the Peterborough Lift Lock all summer.

• Launching a new “Tourism in Motion” program, which will see travel counsellors throughout the City and County connecting with locals, visitors, and businesses where they are to provide onthe-spot visitor services.

• An enhanced suite of virtual visitor services, including live online chat, email, and phone information requests.

• Ongoing promotion of the O’de Piitaanemaan Pledge to encourage responsible travel in the region to counteract over-tourism issues and instill a sense of kindness and respect for people and places as the region works towards recovery.

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Lang Pioneer Village Will Resume Self Guided Living History Tours

Lang Pioneer Village will be open for self-guided living history tours on Wednesday.

A GUIDED TOUR OF THE MUSEUM THAT COMPLIED WITH THE COVID-19 PROTOCOLS IN 2020. PHOTO COURTESY OF LANG PIONEER VILLAGE.

The Museum has been operating under an altered guided tour format since the beginning of the pandemic however the province has moved to a stage that is permitting the Museum to resume living history programming with all necessary safety protocols in place to ensure a safe experience for all.

The Museum will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday until Sunday, Sept. 5.

Under the living history format, guests will be able to visit the Museum on the date and time of their choosing with no time limit to their visit.

Visitors will tour the village at their own pace and costumed interpreters stationed in some of the historic homes and businesses will introduce them to the building’s history and demonstrate traditional trades.

Visitors are required to wear masks when entering all buildings on the property, maintain two metres distance between themselves and visitors from outside of their group and are asked to practice proper hand sanitization and follow all posted signage while on site.

Only one visitor group will be permitted in the historic buildings at a time. Advance booking is not required but it is recommended.

“We’ve had our sights set on the day when we can open up again to a living history experience for our visitors. It is finally here,” said Laurie Siblock, museum manager, “Staff and volunteers are excited to welcome visitors back to a village filled with the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of the 19th century.”

Click here for more information.

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Backroom Briefing Q: Is Ashburnham Drive A Rough Road to Tourism?

Q: Ashburnham Drive: Are there any plans to upgrade or repave this road in order to make it attractive for our visiting tourists? We seem to have an active tourism office, but when people actually visit they shouldn’t have their travel memory include a description of a poorly-maintained access road. —JC Gonder

Goyette: JC's concern is understandable, in that he and his associates at Promotion Marketing and Design and Whatever Solutions and Media on Pido Road have a direct interest in the state of a key access road to their offices.

The research shows that they are not alone. People care about the quality of their roads, and especially in four season climates. When surveyed on municipal services, people routinely rank roads as a key concern in terms of safety, speeding, repair, parking, snow removal, litter, drainage, runoff, sidewalks and accessibility. Cynical pragmatists have long contended that decisions related to highway repair were closely correlated with political partisan representation and the timing of elections. In some constituencies, good roads are a magnet for good votes.

Ashburnham Drive is a gateway to a surprisingly large number of City sites, including Ecology, Beavermead , Farmcrest, Eastgate and Walker Parks; The Trans Canada Trail; Rogers Cove; the PUC and Parks Canada buildings; Lock 20 and the nationally significant Liftlock; and Ashburnham Memorial Park and Peterborough Museum and Archives.

The heritage of the road is strongly tied to the former Village of Ashburnham, a community on the east bank of the Otonabee founded in 1859 and connected to Peterborough at the time by the Howe truss wooden bridge. The Village was annexed by the City of Peterborough on December 2, 1903—the result of a vote favoured by only 99 of 178 Village voters. The village Council itself was very cautious about its own road expenditures: the first sidewalks on today’s Hunter Street were approved on condition that they were limited to two wooden planks per side, and that the planks be laid parallel to the roadway rather than at more expensive right angles.

Traffic counts on Ashburnham Drive from Lansdowne East to Marsdale Drive undertaken last November indicate that the road is heavily used; the average weekly traffic count was 7,148 (northbound) and 7,463. (southbound) This year, during March and April when the roadway is vulnerable, commercial vehicles on Ashburnham will be restricted to half loads.

The approved 2012 City of Peterborough Capital Budget includes $3.8 million (2011 dollars) for major reconstruction of Ashburnham Drive from Lansdowne to Maria Street involving new asphalt pavement, concrete curbs and gutters, sidewalks, bicycle lanes and storm sewers, all of which will coincide with water main improvements to be undertaken by the Public Utilities Commission. The detailed design will be completed in 2013 and the construction completed in 2014.

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David Goyette is the Executive Assistant to Peterborough Mayor Daryl Bennett. Email your burning questions for David about City Hall to feedback@ptbocanada.com.

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The Peterborough Lift Lock Is World Famous Don't You Know (Of Course You Do)

Here it is getting a lot of action on YouTube from tourists and the like.

[More info: Peterborough Lift Lock]

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Vacation Footage of Peterborough & Buckhorn... from the early Seventies

Here's a couple of pretty neat films a guy shot from his vacation trips to this area in 1970 and 1971. You'll recognize many local spots in them. (The film format was Super 8, so there is no audio unfortunately.)

 
[Buckhorn 1970; Return to Buckhorn -- 1971]

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