Upon reading the 53-page Sustainable and Strategic Tourism Plan, one is struck by a glaring omission: Creemore. Sure, it lists some ‘attractions’ in Creemore but this writer would say that the village of Creemore is Clearview Township’s number one tourism asset. It can be said with confidence because it is home to Creemore Springs Brewery, which one could say is also Clearview Township’s number one tourism asset – so let’s just say they have a symbiotic relationship and one would not thrive without t’other.
The report itself states, based on input gathered during the stakeholder workshop combined with community and operator survey results, as well as one-on-one interviews, ‘Creemore’ was third from the top of the list of strengths, behind ‘Small towns’ and ‘Small town charm’ – to which the point could be made, also describe Creemore.
There’s nothing wrong with the plan, it just feels a bit reaching, while glossing over the real substance.
For example, a dubious list of 20-some attractions includes the so-called magnetic hill in Avening, but not the Village of Creemore as a whole? C’mon.
Acknowledging an extreme bias, Creemore is pretty special and has a lot to offer.
The village has an established brand and a dedicated Business Improvement Area that is funded by levies, managed by a board of directors, and powered by a group of very dedicated business owners and volunteers.
One could assume that the plan is not meant to be about giving credit to individuals and organizations behind the initiatives that draw tourists but it kinda does, acknowledging the township’s Small Halls Festival, and events hosted by the Purple Hills Arts and Heritage Society and Stayner Heritage Society and Museum.
Yet the plan makes no mention of the events hosted by the Creemore BIA (although the slide deck included a photo of the Fall Equinox, which was attended by about 500 people, even fewer that the Summer Solstice, attended by about 1,000).
While having no expertise in tourism, one would think that a strategy would build on existing assets, the ‘low hanging fruits’ so to speak.
Clearview doesn’t have that one big natural attraction – there’s no world’s longest freshwater beach, Blue Mountain, or Flowerpot Island. If we did, we would use them as a springboard for tourism promotion. What we do have is a quaint little downtown blessed with being off of any major routes, a brewery, specialty shops, restaurants and cafés. This is Clearview’s top asset and its greatest strength when talking tourism. Many of the other assets make Stayner and all of Clearview a great place to live and visit, but to say they draw tourists, is a stretch. Creemore does draw tourists and all the ways their visit is enhanced while in town just affirms the brand.
This unauthorized editorial was written by editor Trina Berlo without input from Creemore Echo publisher Sara Hershoff, who happens to be a member of the Creemore BIA.