BruceGreySimcoe is a massive and impressive tourism region. Luckily, I’ve been given the task of attending industry events, fam tours and grand openings to create snapshots and share stories of the region with visitors and stakeholders via my blogs, vlogs and social media posts. It’s a tough job but someone has to do it, right? This spring and summer I toured Grey County, explored the Heart of Georgian bay, flew down the new Zip Line Coaster at Aerial Ascent Park and tested new cycling routes. Here’s a look at what #allisonoutdoors has been up to this season.
Grey Bruce Brochure Swap
Every spring, operators and tourism industry folks gather in Grey and Bruce Counties to swap brochures before the busy summer season. Organized by
Grey County Tourism and
Explore the Bruce, this is a great opportunity to find out what’s new and to make sure promotional materials are on the counters and front desks of businesses across the region. This year,
Cobble Beach hosted the event on May 8
th and we were treated to stunning views, stunning weather and a tour of the resort to kick off the 2019 season.
Wasaga Beach Brochure Swap and Tour
One county over in Simcoe, the
Wasaga Beach Chamber of Commerce annually organizes a brochure swap for operators in that area. With a new format this year, I was lucky enough to spend the morning of May 29
th at the swap and then board a bus with
Free Spirit Tours for a tour of local businesses—including a chance to throw axes at
Wasaga Adventure Park. Kudos to the organizers there for adding this unique new touring component. It was like a fam tour and a swap all in one day!
Grey County Tourism Summer Fam Tour
Spring is fam tour season! What the heck is a fam tour? Well it’s short for familiarization tour and that basically means jumping on a bus and being a tourist for a day! The bus is packed with local operators, summer students and tourism industry folk—we get a chance to experience what’s new first hand, leaving us equipped and excited to share that information with our visitors.
Grey County Tourism organized two days of fam fun on June 4
th and 6
th, and we had an amazing time. Sampling local craft cider at
Spy Cider House and Distillery, throwing axes at
Axed Throwing Club, and playing the slots at the new Playtime Casino in Hanover. If you haven’t been on a Grey County fam tour, you’ll want to make that a priority next year!
Humdinger’s Sunshine City Bike Tour fam
Whenever someone asks if I’d rather ride a bicycle than sit behind a keyboard, the answer is a resounding yes! So, when the chance came to test drive
Humdinger Bicycle Tours’ new Sunshine City Cycle Tour on July 23
rd, I jumped at it. Humdinger is a relatively new operator in the region and they are running some great multi-day tours already. This is their first foray into a single day excursion. We spent the day cycling the Orillia Waterfront with an eye on the history of the area and capped it off with lunch at the now 100-year-old
French’s Food Stand. A perfect day!
Ascent Aerial Zip Line Coaster Grand Opening
Another invite you don’t pass up—the grand opening of a new attraction at the
Ascent Aerial Park in Sauble Beach. These guys just keep raising their game and on July 24
th, they were kicking off their newest thrill ride—the Zip Line Coaster. I was a bit leery about riding the coaster, especially since I’m not great with heights, but after pep talks from the staff and watching South Bruce Peninsula Mayor Janice Jackson go, I strapped on my GoPro and went for it. It was a blast! And again, a great way to check out an awesome experience to share via video.
Heart of Georgian Bay Fam Tour
The organizers of another legendary local fam—the
Heart of Georgian Bay Fam Tour—should be commended for switching things up this year. This region has a ton to see in a small geographic area and this year, the fam tour was split into two days – May 21
st and July 9
th. I was lucky enough to make it to both—this new format meant we could really get a feel for the attractions we toured, from
Sainte-Marie among the Hurons to the
Wye Marsh and
Awenda Provincial Park. We capped the final day off with a 3-hour boat tour aboard
The Miss Midland. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next year!
More #allisonoutdoors
To see more of what I’m up to throughout the year, follow the hashtag #allisonoutdoors on Instagram. You can also
check out my videos on BruceGreySimcoe’s
YouTube channel and
visit the blog page on BruceGreySimcoe.com. Want me to attend an event or take a tour you’re running? Shoot us an email at
info@rto7.ca and we’ll see what we can do.