1. Grey County Visitor Survey 2009
The Resource Management Consulting Group
February 10, 2010

2. Outline Summary 3 Purpose & Methodology 4 Grey County Tourism Markets
Page
Summary 3
Purpose & Methodology 4
Grey County Tourism Markets 7
Trip Characteristics 10
Trip Motivations & Experiences 14
Satisfaction with Visit 20
Grey County Awareness 22
Advertising and Promotion 24
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3. Summary Why did visitors come to Grey County?
Drawn by nature, scenery and water
Village at Blue and Scenic Caves show up as being important (this is expected not only because of their importance, but also because these were the only two attractions administering surveys)
Who were Grey’s visitors?
Primarily from Central Ontario
More empty-nesters in Grey County sample, more families in Georgian Bay sample
Most were repeat visitors, but… 24% 1st timers
Few from US & overseas and few new Canadians
How did they plan their trips?
Word-of-mouth, local visitor information and internet
How did Grey County rate?
Excellent 9+ out of 10 by 2/3 of respondents,
¾ expect to return to Grey county within 3 years
>90% will recommend Grey County to others
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4. Purpose & Methodology Why the survey?
To gather and analyze visitor information for destination development in Grey County
How?
Visitor intercept survey (did not survey second-home owners)
Interviews conducted by site staff
Where?
12 survey sites throughout and bordering Grey County
11 were visitor information centres, one was privately-owned attraction
8 sites along Georgian Bay were surveyed as part of the 2009 Georgian Bay Visitor Survey, 4 more sites were added to get information for South Grey
When?
July-August 2009
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5. Georgian Triangle VC - 16%
2009 Survey Sites
Wiarton – 11%
Georgian Bay survey sites
Grey County survey sites
Owen Sound – 4%
Thornbury -5%
Craigleith - 12%
Grey Roots Museum – 5%
Georgian Triangle VC - 16%
This report is based on the
644 completed surveys
Completed at 12 sites
Map shows the proportion of the survey sample completed at each site
80% of surveys completed as part of the Georgian Bay Visitor Survey
20% were supplemental Grey Survey
Village at Blue VC – 16%
Scenic Caves
Markdale – 1%
Hanover – 1%
Durham – 15%
Neustadt – 3%
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6. 2008 Survey
Number of Completed Surveys
2009
2008
GT Visitor Centre
100 61
Village at Blue
Scenic Caves 75
148
Durham 74
Wiarton 70 31
Craigleith 67
Thornbury
Grey Roots Museum 29 88
Owen Sound VC 26 11
Neustadt 21
Hanover 4
TOTAL
597
339
Five sites were surveyed in 2008 as part of the 2008 Georgian Bay Visitor Survey
The survey results for these 5 sites will be compared to the results of the 17 Georgian Bay sites in another report
The results from the 2008 Grey County sites cannot be compared to the 2009 Grey County sites because the sample locations and response distributions are too different
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7. Grey County Tourism Markets

8. Who were Grey’s visitors?
Even gender split
Families 43% had children living at home
Interesting split… 32% of South Grey respondents and 70% of Georgian Bay respondents
Prime working age (younger than Ontario pop)
Well educated – almost 50% with university/college education
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9. Where did Grey County’s 2009 visitors come from?
Domestic Ontario markets
86% Canadian residents (most from Ontario- K, L,M,N)
Most Ontario residents from the central part of the province (L)
Of international visitors (86) 44% from USA, 41% from Europe & 2% from Asia
75% of visitors Canadian born
Of the remainder (160), 27% born USA 41% in Europe and 17% in Asia
Toronto
Central Ontario
Northern Ontario
Eastern Ontario
Southwestern Ontario
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10. Trip Characteristics

11. What were their travel patterns?
Average party size 3.6
62% adults only
38% travelled with children (25% 1-2 children)
90% for pleasure or visiting friends & family
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12. More about travel patterns…
20% were day visitors and 72% stayed for 3 nights or less in Grey County and/or Georgian Bay1
For shorter trips (< 3 nights) visitors spent all of their time all of their time in Grey and/or Georgian Bay1
For longer trips (>3 nights) they stayed at other destinations outside of region
¾ repeat visitors with 30% visiting >5 times in the past 5 years
Healthy 24% first time visitors
The visitors intercepted at the Georgian Bay sites were asked about their stay in the Georgian Bay catchment, while those at the Grey sites were asked about their stay in Grey County.
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13. Accommodation (question asked only at Grey County survey sites n=128, not at Georgian Bay sites)
Over 1/3 (35%) stayed with friends and family
Another third stayed in motels/hotels and cottages/cabins
20% camped in a provincial park, conservation area or private park
The smallest proportions stayed in B&Bs, resorts and timeshares
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14. Trip Motivations & Experiences14

15. Top Reasons for Visiting
Visitors were asked their top reasons for visiting South Grey County/Georgian Bay
Most frequently mentioned were: experiencing nature, hiking and going to a beach
Outdoors Water-based Cultural
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16. Top Reasons for Visiting SGC/GB
Outdoors Water-based Cultural
Outdoor experiences were the major reasons for visiting South Grey and Georgian Bay
The Grey County sites are the inland sites and 75% of the sample was from Durham
For these visitors,
Outdoor activities, including camping and seeing waterfall were tops
Georgian Bay activities were less frequently mentioned (water-based, village, caving)
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17. Looking at Top 3 Outdoor Activities
Nature, hiking, caving and enjoying a scenic viewpoint most popular
Caving had a high rating partially because Scenic Caves was on of the survey sites (15% of visitors surveyed there, 19% rated caving in top 3)
Niche activities such as golf (15%), off-road cycling (10%), road cycling (7%) & rock climbing attracting smaller markets
Note: These are the top three activities listed by respondents. These responses are not comparable to the longer 2008 Georgian Bay survey, where respondents listed all activities they participated in.
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18. Looking at Top 3 Water-Based Activities
Beaching & swimming most popular water-based activitis
Followed by fishing, kayaking & visiting a lighthouse
Note: These are the top three activities listed by respondents. These responses are not comparable to the longer 2008 Georgian Bay survey, where respondents listed all activities they participated in.
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19. What were their Experiences?
Village at Blue most popular (10% of visitors surveyed there, but 19% ranked it in top three)
Festivals and events also popular
Note: These are the top three activities listed by respondents. These responses are not comparable to the longer 2008 Georgian Bay survey, where respondents listed all activities they participated in.
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20. Satisfaction with Visit

21. Well Done! Congratulations!
Very strong ratings
~90% rated their Grey County experience 8 or higher,
37% gave their experience 10 out of 10
78% expect to return within the next 3 years, 17% were undecided & <2% don’t expect to return
95% likely to recommend Georgian Bay to friends or family
N=607
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22. Grey County Awareness

23. Were they aware of Grey County Activities
Were they aware of Grey County Activities? (question asked only at South Grey County survey sites n=129, not at Georgian Bay sites)
Just over half were aware of any of the Grey County activities presented
Highest awareness was for the waterfalls tour(32% of respondents)
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24. Advertising & Promotion

25. What information sources were used?
The responses for Georgian Bay and South Grey County trip planning cannot be combined because the question about internet use was asked differently in the two surveys
Previous experience and advice of friends and family were extremely important to both groups
For Grey, the total of all internet source users was considerably lower than for Georgian Bay (not sure if this was the case or if using more categories caused a lower response)
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