Driving into Tobermory this week I had what I think is a stroke of genius. Why do we make it so hard for the tour boat operators to advertise their trade to the tourists making the trek from the GTA? I counted around six signs on the way up advertising just two of the companies plying the waters in and around Tobermory. On arriving in Tobermory again I was struck by the massive expense these operators have to go to in order to bring in tourists to their businesses, I counted a similar six ticket offices. Imagine the hardship of operating so many offices to drive business.
Aside from the obvious hardship that must arise from operating so many ticket offices it does make one think, why are we so single threaded on tourism? We seem to remove restaurants, stores and restrict boating in support tour boat business.
On a side note – it all leads me to ask, what do we expect all of the tourists to do in town once they have had their obligatory tour boat ride?
Perhaps the municipality might want to consider how we expand our reach and raise the bar on our tourism industry for Tobermory, as part of their grand plan. We need to provide appropriate services, appropriate options for our visitors, and more importantly residents both permanent and seasonal.
I will submit that I could be completely missing the boat on tourism and we need to double down on our current efforts, and to that end, I submit the best option is to change the name of Tobermory. Let’s remove the need for all those roadside signs, by the way there is one that advises drivers something along the lines of “Don’t stop till you reach the water”, which could explain how cars end up in the harbour…
So, after all that rambling, here’s my proposal – it’s quick, simple and easy. We switch from Tobermory Ontario to Tourboatmory Ontario, this slight change should help clarify what visitors and residents should expect.
James McGourlay,
Tobermory
