Managing tourism

County staff present plan for upcoming summer season

The County’s plan to manage another influx of visitors this summer season is nearly ready to launch. The new Tourism Management Plan was presented to media in a special Zoom meeting held last Wednesday, with a public meeting that followed Tuesday evening, after press time. The presentation highlighted plans to mitigate challenges faced during a difficult 2020 summer season by residents and businesses. For some, the plan couldn’t come soon enough. Just this past weekend, residents were posting photos on social media of overflowing garbage cans at County parks and beaches.

Mayor Steve Ferguson opened the meeting, saying the extraordinary influx of domestic travellers was the result of a combination of issues last year, and caused a general level of public frustration and anger. “I think it’s an understatement to say tourism levels reached unprecedented levels in 2020,” said Ferguson. “While there is still some uncertainty what this summer will look like given COVID-19, we are much better prepared to manage and respond to high tourism volumes.”

County staff presented a draft plan in January 2021. Council subsequently ratified elements of the plan as it received detailed reports that considered options that would benefit residents.The plan was developed by the Destination Development and Marketing Team in consultation with all relevant County departments, industry leaders, community partners and more than 1,400 resident survey responses.

Todd Davis, Director of Community Development and Strategic Initiatives, led the presentation which outlined what the plan will mean for residents, and how it will roll out. Six key areas of significance were identified as needing improved management, the first being Wellington Rotary Beach. In March, council established an admission fee for Wellington Beach on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. Residents will be free of charge with a Wellington Rotary Beach Pass to be available at the PEC libraries as of May 21. The beach will be a first come, first served with a maximum capacity of 350 people. A number of spots will be reserved on a daily basis for residents.Council also passed a temporary zoning change to potentially allow food trucks at the beach. “We realize if we are to control access to the beach, we need to provide some more amenities, so to support the activities at Wellington beach, the planning department brought forward a temporary zoning bylaw change to allow food trucks or food services at the beach for this year,” said Davis. The idea is to keep visitors on the beach in order to limit in and out privileges to help with the overall management.

The next key component of the plan is County boat launches. Wellington Beach launch will operate as usual Monday through Friday, but Saturdays, Sundays and holidays will be closed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Boats are able to return and be taken out of the water at any time, but no launching will be allowed after this time. All boat launch users will instead pay for parking, not for launching. For a boat with a trailer at a boat launch, the cost for parking will be $20; for just a vehicle, $10. This will include those using non-motorized water craft. Seasonal launch parking passes for the 2021 season for non-residents will be $100. Passes will become available with a discount for residents. Council has also decided to close the Belleville Street launch indefinitely for the 2021 season. “The reality behind the closure of the Belleville Street launch is simply the launch isn’t set to manage the amount of volume of traffic. We do not have access rights, and it is one of the primary causes of traffic congestion in and around the Wellington area,” said Davis. “While not a particularly popular decision, we feel from a logistical and operational, and health and safety perspective, staff and the OPP recommended the launch be closed.”

A private security firm to provide additional staffing for parking and by-law enforcement has been retained by the County. Enforcement will be in effect around the County seven days a week from May to October with hours from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. This year, the two-hour parking limits in Wellington’s downtown core will be more rigorously enforced. Seasonal no-parking zones in problem areas will also be expanded. “We have expanded the seasonal no parking zones in problem areas, such as Sandbanks Provincial Park, North Beach Provincial Park and other areas, and fines will be levied seven-days-a-week at those locations,” explained Davis. Enforcement officers will also be monitoring illegal camping, and wil be erecting bilingual signage.

Garbage and washrooms are at the top of many local residents’ minds. This year, there will be 30 public washroom locations across the County for public use, some bricks and mortar, but also portable washrooms. A program piloted last year will be extended for 2021 providing cleaning up to three times a day in busier areas. The number of garbage receptacles has been increased, as well as an enhanced maintenance schedule with increased daily garbage pick-ups.

The County is in the process of developing a Plan Your Visit campaign with assistance from other agencies. “It’s less about encouraging people to come to Prince Edward County, but the message is to be more thoughtful before you arrive and plan your trip accordingly; recognizing that there will be areas that will be inaccessible based on visitor volumes,” said Davis. It was noted that last year, many visitors arrived without a plan. “We have also made arrangements to increase our seasonal staff for visitor services to be both available on evening and weekends to engage visitors when they come to the County and to provide resources,” he added.

Julianne Snepsts, Communications Coordinator with the County, noted the new Summer Hub website is now live at thecounty.ca/summer-hub, but will evolve as the summer goes along. “It’s a communications campaign that will help residents navigate Prince Edward County, specifically related to tourism management to help them plan for a better summer. It’s a great one-stop resource for residents who have concerns and questions and don’t know who to contact.” The website contains a number of key resources including a ‘who to call’ section, guide to summer parking and maps, and an alerts and notices section for beaches and parks, and the ferry.

The plan is comprehensive, and will see more services and staff try to manage tourism. With increased services and staff comes an increased cost—$642,000 to be exact. An anticipated $390,000 will come from the municipal accommodation tax. Although with local accommodations being closed for the first quarter of 2021, it’s unclear if those revenues will be realized. “We anticipated about $390,000 coming from the municipal accommodation tax. The balance will be covered through user fees, parking fines and some small advertising revenue we hope to earn,” said Davis. “We are going to monitor the municipal accommodation tax pretty closely this summer and we will have to maybe alter some of our plans based on cost.” Davis noted that some of the costs incurred this season are one-time costs, so the ongoing management plan costs will not be nearly as high, and have less of a dependence on the municipal accommodation tax. “While we are concerned about how much municipal accommodation tax we will earn this year, we have some confidence in 2022 and beyond, the amount of money we will be collecting through that taxation system will be pretty robust. What we are planning to do is cover the costs of this year’s implementation through 2020 revenues in the MAT and any outstanding costs that we can’t afford through the tax this year we hope to cover through initial collection in 2022.”