Zach LarkinsTOURISM
Ontario is reeling from the effects of the draconian no-smoking law that was recently passed. Besides people staying away from bars and restaurants in droves, our tourism industry is taking a hell of a hit. There is a solution, albeit a partial one, that just might turn this around but our government is turning a blind eye to it.
I watch a lot of PBS and on Saturday mornings there are various programs which take viewers to a certain village, town or city in Michigan and explore the area in depth. They show you things which are a bit off the beaten path and the viewer discovers a whole new world that he might not have known even existed. Local museums, fairs, art galleries, parks and restaurants are highlighted and you want to return to that area to see it all for yourself. Or, it might just make you plan a trip there, when in the past you've ignored it saying, "Aww, there's nothing worth stopping for in that place."
I thought this was a terrific idea to pitch to our Minister of Tourism, seeing as how he is whining about lost revenues, and so contacted him with the idea of having our own program showing off Ontario. Naturally he was too busy to be bothered and gave his secretary the job of dealing with me. We corresponded a few times by e-mail and even talked on the phone. I laid out what I had in mind and she took it all with grace, but said the CBC budget had already been cut for this year so it would have to wait for next year's budget.
In the meantime, I continue watching PBS and notice that more and more of their programs are extolling the virtues of Ontario and urging Americans to visit. It is strange that the Department of Tourism Ontario is nowhere to be seen when the credits roll. Just the other day a crew from L.A. made the trip from California to Churchill, Manitoba to show off life in the north in general and polar bears and beluga whales in particular. Again, Canada had contributed not one red cent to their expenses, but gained big time in free publicity.
We used to have a show called ‘On The Road Again' which was recently axed after a 20 year run. This was a good show in that the host, Wayne Rostad, would go to a town and show you some of the quirky characters who lived there, what they did to survive, etc., etc., etc. Trouble was, he'd try to fit 3 different stories into a ½ hour program, which really didn't work, and he travelled from one end of Canada to the other. It was very entertaining and gave you just enough of a taste of a place to make you think seriously about visiting it. My idea would devote the whole ½ hour to one village, town or city in Ontario and highlight the various amenities it has to offer a tourist.
CBC in the meantime has chosen to show such drek as ‘Living In Toronto'. Now our provincial Parliament is headquartered in Toronto and the city sees itself as the centre of the universe. Small wonder that our tourism minister sees nothing wrong with this. His world revolves around a province that stretches from London, to the west, to Oshawa, to the east, to Brampton, in the north. This show doesn't even tell you about Toronto. Sure, it will show you where to go if you want to learn pole-dancing in order to become a stripper (for $400, you can buy your own pole), it will tell you where to learn the art of baby massage (you must ask the baby if it's okay with him first), or where to sign up for laugh-yoga lessons (get yourself contorted and then laugh as you find out you can't release your leg from behind your neck). Boy, this has me itching to go there. I think the CBC made 10 episodes of this turkey and they're into reruns already.
Perhaps worse is the Gill Deacon show. It is a chick talk show that airs from 11 am to 12 pm and again, on the same day, from 2 pm to 3 pm. How sad is that? Gill, to her credit, tries to ‘give you something to talk about', but the only thing I can think of is why she only has gays or lesbians on and no straight people. I plan my shopping trips around this show just so I'm out of the house whenever it's on.
What's wrong with putting on a show that runs in the same time slot every week (in case you miss it, you can always tape it) and shows off some of the smaller areas of Ontario? When planning vacations, my wife and I pull out a map and after deciding where we are going, check the towns we might travel through or be close to enroute to our destination. Then it's a search on the net to find out what's there and when special events happen. I have done a lot of travelling throughout Ontario but I don't know every nook and cranny.
A TV program showing off the wealth and diversity of the province would not only help me, it might bring in some tourists too.
I watch a lot of PBS and on Saturday mornings there are various programs which take viewers to a certain village, town or city in Michigan and explore the area in depth. They show you things which are a bit off the beaten path and the viewer discovers a whole new world that he might not have known even existed. Local museums, fairs, art galleries, parks and restaurants are highlighted and you want to return to that area to see it all for yourself. Or, it might just make you plan a trip there, when in the past you've ignored it saying, "Aww, there's nothing worth stopping for in that place."
I thought this was a terrific idea to pitch to our Minister of Tourism, seeing as how he is whining about lost revenues, and so contacted him with the idea of having our own program showing off Ontario. Naturally he was too busy to be bothered and gave his secretary the job of dealing with me. We corresponded a few times by e-mail and even talked on the phone. I laid out what I had in mind and she took it all with grace, but said the CBC budget had already been cut for this year so it would have to wait for next year's budget.
In the meantime, I continue watching PBS and notice that more and more of their programs are extolling the virtues of Ontario and urging Americans to visit. It is strange that the Department of Tourism Ontario is nowhere to be seen when the credits roll. Just the other day a crew from L.A. made the trip from California to Churchill, Manitoba to show off life in the north in general and polar bears and beluga whales in particular. Again, Canada had contributed not one red cent to their expenses, but gained big time in free publicity.
We used to have a show called ‘On The Road Again' which was recently axed after a 20 year run. This was a good show in that the host, Wayne Rostad, would go to a town and show you some of the quirky characters who lived there, what they did to survive, etc., etc., etc. Trouble was, he'd try to fit 3 different stories into a ½ hour program, which really didn't work, and he travelled from one end of Canada to the other. It was very entertaining and gave you just enough of a taste of a place to make you think seriously about visiting it. My idea would devote the whole ½ hour to one village, town or city in Ontario and highlight the various amenities it has to offer a tourist.
CBC in the meantime has chosen to show such drek as ‘Living In Toronto'. Now our provincial Parliament is headquartered in Toronto and the city sees itself as the centre of the universe. Small wonder that our tourism minister sees nothing wrong with this. His world revolves around a province that stretches from London, to the west, to Oshawa, to the east, to Brampton, in the north. This show doesn't even tell you about Toronto. Sure, it will show you where to go if you want to learn pole-dancing in order to become a stripper (for $400, you can buy your own pole), it will tell you where to learn the art of baby massage (you must ask the baby if it's okay with him first), or where to sign up for laugh-yoga lessons (get yourself contorted and then laugh as you find out you can't release your leg from behind your neck). Boy, this has me itching to go there. I think the CBC made 10 episodes of this turkey and they're into reruns already.
Perhaps worse is the Gill Deacon show. It is a chick talk show that airs from 11 am to 12 pm and again, on the same day, from 2 pm to 3 pm. How sad is that? Gill, to her credit, tries to ‘give you something to talk about', but the only thing I can think of is why she only has gays or lesbians on and no straight people. I plan my shopping trips around this show just so I'm out of the house whenever it's on.
What's wrong with putting on a show that runs in the same time slot every week (in case you miss it, you can always tape it) and shows off some of the smaller areas of Ontario? When planning vacations, my wife and I pull out a map and after deciding where we are going, check the towns we might travel through or be close to enroute to our destination. Then it's a search on the net to find out what's there and when special events happen. I have done a lot of travelling throughout Ontario but I don't know every nook and cranny.
A TV program showing off the wealth and diversity of the province would not only help me, it might bring in some tourists too.
You're advertising idea is a good one. Of course, if they mention the anti-smoking rules, some folks will make a point of staying away....
youranter
Opinions
opinionatedranter
Tales From The Green Lantern
I'll stop smoking when they pry the cigarette from my cold dead fingers...
There's a no smoking law in bars and resturants all over California...
Pretty soon they'll outlaw drinking, eating and then talking...so we'll all end up going into our home libraries, getting sloushed, cooking spareribs, lighting up and talking our heads off...
The whole thing is simply ridiculous...
I got yelled at the other day for standing on my OWN deck and lighting up a cigarette! You don't even wanna know what my reaction was...lol...
I think that poor old lady has moved to Nebraska by now!
Great blog!
Take care..
Your buddy,
Nick
youranter
Opinions
opinionatedranter
Tales From The Green Lantern
Thanks for the comment, Nick.