Spontaneous visitors: Brock wayfinding plan

NRU
By Leah Wong
April 26, 2017

To capitalize on recent main street and trail investments and attract new visitors to the area, the Township of Brock is introducing a new wayfinding system.

On Tuesday, Brock council approved a tourism wayfinding plan that was jointly funded and developed by the township and Central Counties Tourism.

Deputy clerk Becky Jamieson told NRU that in recent years the township has made economic development a priority. It has invested in revitalizing the Beaverton, Cannington and Sunderland downtowns, Beaverton Harbour and improving its trail network. However, business owners say the community amenities need to be better promoted.

“We’re seeing a greater number of people on our trails, but getting people off the trails can be difficult,” said Jamieson. “People might not realize that 0.5 km off the trails there is a beautiful downtown with shops and restaurants.”

For the areas within the agency’s jurisdiction - Headwaters, York and Durham - it is challenging to get visitors to consider themselves tourists Central Counties Tourism executive director Chuck Thibeault told NRU.

“Where we are situated is a blessing and a curse,” said Thibeault. “We’re less than an hour from the biggest tourism population in Canada, which is fantastic, but at the same time, those 5-million people would very rarely consider themselves tourists if they headed into our region.”

Investing in wayfinding is one way to attract new visitors. Brock council has committed $22,500 for new signage in 2017, with additional signs being added over the next five to 10 years.

“Wayfinding is meant to get the spontaneous tourist,” said Thibeault. “It gets people that have no idea that there is something to see and do this area and gets them to return. Once you’ve got those people they might come back specifically and bring some friends.”

For the visitors already familiar with Brock Township, Thibeault said wayfinding can educate them about what else is in the area. It also makes the area more welcoming. Central Counties Tourism had previously partnered with the Town of Orangeville’s on its wayfinding plan. Through this experience, Thibeault learned that it is important to consider signage from the visitors’ perspective, to understand what would attract them to the area and what information is needed to guide them to their destinations.

Brock’s wayfinding plan is based on a three-tiered signage system. First, directing drivers off major thoroughfares and second directing them to destinations within the community. After they’ve parked at their destinations, a third type of sign provides information about other attractions in the community.

To get visitors off major thoroughfares signs need to convey enough information about attractions and businesses to catch a driver’s attention and get him or her thinking about stopping. For example, this could mean enticing people who are driving by on their way to the cottage to take a detour to visit Brock on their next trip through.

“Wayfinding is meant to [attract] the spontaneous tourist,” said Thibeault. “[It] tells them what they could see now and will direct them to it.”

Locating informational signs at destinations, which show all of the local attractions, is a way to educate them about what else they can do in Brock.

“The strategy is that where you’ve got them to go, that’s where you’ve got the big marquee sign that shows everything there is to do in the area...People [will realize] there is so much to do in Brock Township,” said Thibeault “And once you’ve got them thinking about coming back, you’ve created a new tourist.”