The City of Kenora cut the ribbon on their Glad You Are Here campaign to welcome Kenora residents, seasonal residents, neighbouring communities, and visitors to the city this May long weekend.
Kenora Mayor, Dan Reynard is excited about this event as it’s a sign of summer, as well as events begin and the excitement starts to take off for the community.
“It’s the point where we start to get our summer residents back, but we also start to see the tourists start to move in on the weekends, which leads into the summer activity,” says Reynard.
“It’s going to be busy. There’s a renewed energy that people are looking forward to 4..5..6 months of just being at the camp, being in town, families here being at the beaches, parks, and camping with their children and families. This is hopefully a kickoff of a great, great summer for everyone,” adds Reynard.
The Glad You Are Here campaign is only the beginning of the events Kenora has planned for residents and tourists this summer.
“There’s Harbourfest, there’s the bass tournament [KBI], you’ll see our soccer tournaments come back to town. Hopefully, we’ll see some rowing events, the Coney Island Shuttle will run full time this year. There’s a lot of energy and we’re looking forward to it.”
The city will be hosting two Open Air markets on July 16, 2022, and August 13, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The markets will play host to local and regional vendors and merchants, live music, a children’s activity area along with food and beverage offerings for all ages. This free public event is a great way to spend a summer afternoon in downtown Kenora exploring all the unique shops and eateries and supporting local businesses.
The Matiowski’s Farmers Market will return on June 15, 2022, and continue into the fall.
The city is pleased to announce and promote the Harbourfriends Downtown Ambassador Program. The purpose is to deliver an on-street presence in the Harbourtown Centre, provide visitors and residents with information, refer to support services to those in need, and connect with businesses.
After two years of COVID-19 affecting the tourism industry, and with the events going on this summer, Reynard hopes the increased traffic will assist businesses and increase revenue streams this summer.
“It’s really focused on the American market, that’s been shut off for two complete years. If you talk to our downtown merchants, they’ll tell you, these are the months where it sustains their business for twelve months a year. It’s a very important aspect of our economy. We are a tourism-based economy.”
The City of Kenora began it 'Glad You Are Here' campaign in 2020, which aims to support local businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and to welcome tourists back to the region.