Promotion and planning

LEWISPORTE -

Promotion. Promotion. Promotion.

When you are trying to sell yourself as a haven for recreational boating it can't hurt to have some friends to help spread the word. Such is the case for the Town of Lewisporte and it's efforts to enlighten boaters as to what awaits them at the Lewisporte Marina and throughout Notre Dame Bay.

The 2009 North Atlantic Marina and Boating Conference have resulted in a treasure trove of media promotion via Powerboat Television. This season Powerboat Television featured a half-hour episode.

"We were expecting a small piece of a program, but we got the entire episode focused on Notre Dame Bay, Lewisporte, the conference, our initiatives to advance recreational boating and they did some reviews on three Newfoundland boat builders," said Lewisporte Town manager Perry Pond.

This episode aired in January on the Global network and is expected to be rerun later in the season.

Powerboat Television is also connected with the national recreational boating magazine "boats & places". As an added bonus to the program coverage, there was a seven-page article in the Fall 2009 issue of the Ontario-based magazine that focused on a cruising excursion in Notre Dame Bay.

Mr. Pond's favourite excerpt from the article is the opening paragraph where it is written, "Many boaters believe they know where the best cruising grounds can be found for recreational boating enjoyment. Some believe it's Lake Huron's North Channel or Georgian Bay, others believe it's BC's Sunshine Coast or the St. Lawrence River and the Thousand Islands. I believe there is one more to add to the list . . . Newfoundland's Notre Dame Bay."

Mr. Pond said of the Powerboat Television coverage, "That was a surprise we didn't expect. The Department of Tourism helped provide some funding to get Powerboat TV here for the conference, but we were only expecting a portion of a show, but he (Mike Gridley) focused an entire show and article in this magazine. It's great promotion. It's something you really can't buy if you were looking for it."

In addition "Atlantic Boating News" - the Atlantic Canadian voice for outdoor recreational boating have carried stories on Newfoundland and Mr. Pond said they are hoping to be here for the Lewisporte Marine Show being proposed for May 14-15.

Networking

Coming off the success of the 2009 conference and boat show, Lewisporte is poised to advance marina and recreational boating opportunities.

"The Towns focus is to prevent ourselves from recreating the wheel and plug into the organizations that have founded themselves on advancing recreational boating and the opportunities it presents," said Mr. Pond. "We can get plugged into what is already established, rather than try to recreate a new network, we want to become part of the existing network."

Case in point is the mentioned media coverage that already has a formed network in the recreational boating industry.

In an effort to advance those networking opportunities Mr. Pond and Lewisporte Tourism and Recreation director Derek Bennett attended the recent Halifax International Boating Show.

This is the second year in a row the Town of Lewisporte has sent a delegation to the show to not only promote Lewisporte and the marina, but to also advance the networking opportunities that have developed over the last couple of years.

"We had an opportunity to meet and discuss opportunities with similar interests in the Maritimes," said Mr. Pond. "Through the fellowship opportunity as well as the formalities of the boat show, we met a lot of people and we like to keep in touch with people that we've come to know over the past few years as we have been pursuing recreational boating opportunities."

The Halifax Show attracted about 10,000 people with recreational boating interests. The exhibitors included companies selling recreational boats and recreational boat products, marina infrastructure developers, insurance providers, yacht clubs, sailing schools, etc. There were a number of Maritime marinas also represented. Mr. Pond said if it had to do with recreational boating it was represented at the show.

Mr. Pond said visitors to the show were interested in what Lewisporte had to offer.

"A lot more people are starting to explore beyond their local regions," he said. "We had a lot of discussion with people that are proposing, have done or are wanting to sail to Newfoundland and spend some time here.

"We talked to them about our ability to over-winter (at the Lewisporte Marina) and some of the opportunities that are here."

One of the things Mr. Pond took note of was the regional approach communities in the Maritimes are taking towards recreational boating development.

"A lot of what we are pursuing now is as an individual community, but there's other organizations and communities in the region that need to take this opportunity and run with it as well. Notre Dame Bay is a focal point for recreational boating and Lewisporte is just a place within it.

"There's all kinds of opportunities around recreational boating and the opportunities it presents. The Town of Lewisporte is just trying to capsulate on that - but the whole area needs to be marketed in it's entirety, rather than us just promoting Lewisporte for instance."

Mr. Pond said the Northeast Coast Marina Association, which was formed during the 2009 conference in Lewisporte, is in the perfect position to promote and advance recreational boating in the northeast coast.

Also as a result of the conference last year, Lewisporte has developed a relationship with the Atlantic Marine Trades Association (a part of the National Marine Manufacturers Association). Mr. Pond said their bylaws and constitution have always included Newfoundland in their jurisdiction. This association is geared towards recreational boating, recreational boating products and manufacturing.

It was last year that Lewisporte conference co-chair Ron Dawe had a vision to become involved with the Atlantic Marine Trade Association and he became a member of that board. This year Mr. Pond has become a director on the board and is the only representative from Newfoundland on the board.

"What we are trying to do is learn from their experiences and what they are focused on in advancing their recreational boating opportunities and bring that same focus to Newfoundland," he said. "They have been quite cooperative in helping us reach that goal."

The Atlantic Marine Trade Association produces an annual Maritime boating guide called "Marinas and Places". It is an annual publication that focuses on marinas, sailing directions and the like. For the first time Notre Dame Bay has been included in the publication. While Mr. Pond said this year's publication has a limited amount of information on the area, it is a start to becoming plugged into that product which is featured in an online and print format.

Opportunities

Mr. Pond said being a director on the board for the Atlantic Marine Trade Association can only help with future development in the local recreational boating industry.

"Lewisporte, indirectly, has taken on recreational boating as one of our cornerstones for development," he said. "We always go out looking for the golden egg and sometimes you're sitting on it.

Mr. Pond indicated that in order to advance this opportunity the need is there to become involved in all these organizations who have already lived through recreational boating and marina development. He noted that recreational boating is big business in the Maritimes, but he feels Newfoundland still has a ways to go to realize the full potential that is out there in relation to this industry.

"While Newfoundland ranks up there in terms of economic activity, when you compare what they've done to where we are - if we were at their level we could see a significant opportunity," he said.

"I came away from that show with a million ideas in terms of what we could be doing. Seeing what they are doing in the Maritimes where our environments are the same, our seasons are the same - with some effort we should be able to advance this to another level fairly effortlessly."

One of the ideas Mr. Pond could see benefitting Lewisporte from this developing industry training opportunities (for example).

"The Atlantic Marine Trade Association have partnered with the Nova Scotia boat builders and they've developed boat building certification programs and they're working on other such training initiatives. We are hoping to plug into something like this for Lewisporte and this area," said Mr. Pond.

"It's a work in progress. It's not happening overnight, but we've come a long way in the last two years since we started planning the conference to today, like not knowing that these organizations even exist to being part of their decision making."

Future plans

The plan Mr. Pond foresees for the Lewisporte Marina in the next while is to take a good look at where things are headed going into the future.

When The Pilot spoke with Mr. Pond he was awaiting a copy of the draft business plan that is expected to be finalized by the end of March. He said that will direct where they are going through the development of a five-year or eight-year plan.

The expectation is that there won't be so much work happening on the ground at the Lewisporte Marina this year as there was last year as the Town works to decide a course of action to advance the marina and related opportunities.

"Last year we had a $240,000 mini-expansion project where we did an extra finger pier to accommodate the new lift, some floating docks and electrical," said Mr. Pond. "I think this year our efforts are not going to be as strong because it will take us some time to get our heads around this new business plan and get ready to advance that to the next level."

This year the Town has a good problem to deal with, the wait list that Mr. Pond said seems to be growing each year at the marina.

"I don't think you'll see a lot of growth in terms of space this year, but it's not because there's not a demand," he said. "We try to accommodate as many people as we can, but I don't think you're going to see a big expansion program this year because our business plan - which will be our roadmap into the future - won't be finalized until the end of March and that doesn't leave much time to prepare for work to happen this season."

But behind the scenes you can be sure the marina will be a prime focus for the Town of Lewisporte.