Hay River visitors rate town a seven
Report on tourism season presented to council
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, October 28, 2013
HAY RIVER
A survey conducted this past tourism season found that visitors gave Hay River an average ranking of seven out of 10 for the visiting experience.
That information was contained in a report on the tourism season presented to town council on Oct. 15 by
Jordan Stackhouse, the town's economic co-ordinator.
"It means that people are fairly satisfied with our community and what we have to offer," Stackhouse said of the approximately 40 survey responses, which were collected for a month at the Hay River Visitor Information Centre.
Visitors cited the friendly people, outdoor activities and Great Slave Lake as some of the best experiences. Stackhouse said one thing responders indicated was the need for more wireless Internet locations in the community.
During the tourism season from May 15 to Sept. 15, about 1,000 people dropped into the Visitor Information Centre.
Of those visitors, 80 per cent came from elsewhere in Canada, with more than 50 per cent of those Canadians coming from Alberta, followed by B.C. in a distant second and then Ontario. Among international visitors, 104 came from the United States, followed by 40 from Germany.
"Average length of stay was three days," said Stackhouse. "We had some people staying weeks and weeks. They were typically travelling around to Fort Smith and other places."
The number of visitors stopping into the Visitor Information Centre ranged from a high of 325 in July to a low of 22 for the half-month the centre was open in May.
The report suggested to council that it might be a good idea to create a separate tourism website in addition to the existing town website.
"I think there is value in it," Stackhouse said, adding the existing website has some problems. "It's pretty difficult to find information you're looking for on there."
Mayor Andrew Cassidy wondered what the value would be in a stand-alone tourism website.
"Would that add confusion?" Cassidy asked. Coun. Donna Lee Jungkind said two websites should not create any problems as long as they are clearly linked so users can easily go back and forth.
Looking forward to next year, Stackhouse suggested the town might want to consider keeping the Visitor Information Centre open until Sept. 30.
Based on numbers from NWT Tourism, it is estimated that tourism adds more than $1 million annually to the Hay River economy.
