Sault Ste. Marie turns outdoor access into economic growth

It is no accident people are turning toward the Sault for travel in any season. The growth in the tourism industry has been intentional.

Travis Anderson, director of Tourism and Community Development of the City of Sault Ste. Marie, envisions the community as Ontario’s premier urban outdoor adventure town.

“We see a lot of people coming here for easy access to the outdoors,” Anderson told The Sault Star. “And what that means is being able to access the outdoors very quickly from anywhere in the town.”

Anderson works toward this goal through a unique tourism model that involves the city’s Community Development and Enterprise Services, as well as a separate — but connected — non-profit.

The non-profit, Tourism Sault Ste. Marie, is funded through the Municipal Accommodation Tax, which is a four per cent charge on local hotel night stays.

Last year, just over $1.8 million was collected from overnight stays.

“It’s strictly funded from visitors from out of town,” said Anderson.

Tourism SSM is made up of board members with experts who give recommendations on what the city’s industry should prioritize, and the city employees execute it, explained Anderson.

“A lot of the work they do is to reflect best practices,” he said. “The bulk of our work is done through Tourism Sault Ste. Marie.”

He also shared that dollars earmarked for tourism are spent in two main ways: supporting events that draw out-of-town visitors, or through investments in tourism-related physical infrastructure.

Few investments have shifted the city’s identity like its trail system.

“By the end of this year, we’ll have invested $3.7 million into our trail network,” said Anderson. “We now have over 60 kilometers of trails ranging from unique backcountry routes leading to inland lakes, to some of the best float trails between the Rockies and Quebec ... You don’t need a lift to access them. They’re free of charge. They’re amazing.”

The newer trails start at Connor Road and go northeast toward Crystal Lake, with this year’s development headed to Mabel Lake.

Tourism Sault Ste. Marie also installed a 140-foot bridge in Wishart Park to connect the more rugged wilderness trails to the urban John Rowswell Hub Trail system.

“You’ll be able to stay anywhere or ride anywhere in the community, and go directly into Hiawatha without needing a car,” said Anderson. While the bridge is fully installed, the last bit of connectivity to the Hub Trail will finish up in July or August.

Jack Perrotta-Lewin, store manager at Vélorution and president of the Sault Cycling Club, moved to town in 2020, right at the start of the large-scale cycling trail investments.

“I’ve seen a big change — a big shift in people coming to visit, to ride,” said Perrotta-Lewin, adding that they stay at our hotels and eat at our restaurants

Perrotta-Lewin, originally from the U.K., said he was blown away by the strength and friendliness of the community. Among tight-knit cyclers, outsiders and newcomers are easily identified and invited onto the trails with seasoned locals.

“People are always commenting on the fact that when they go up there, the people are like, ‘Come, I’ll show you around,’” said Perrotta-Lewin.

“I’ve worked in bike shops, in two different countries, in three different places, and you don’t see that, for sure, other places I’ve lived,” he added.

It might be the trails that draw people here, but it is the people that make outsiders want to return.

“You know, someone comes, and they have an awesome experience like that, and then they come back next year, and they bring their friends,” said Perrotta-Lewin.

Investments into outdoor infrastructure, such as trails, equate to more tourism dollars spent and a “wider economy,” he added. “Just a win-win for everybody,” adding that guests tend to leave positive remarks in Vélorution’s guest log.

The Salty Marie Trails Fest mountain bike race would “struggle to exist” without the development of the trail system, said Anderson.

In its first year of operation, there were about 15 out-of-town racers.

“Last year they had well over 100 and they’re expecting significant growth this year.” said Anderson.

He said the bulk of those who have registered so far are from the U.S. The event runs from July 25-27 this summer.

While the 10-, 25- and 50-kilometre races attract visitors, Anderson said a big allure is the “post-race” with several hundred enjoying food trucks, live music and beer tents.

“Prior to our investment in the trails, we didn’t have any, you know, cycling or trail events,” said Anderson. Last year there were five cycling events in the summer, and two winter events, which Tourism Sault Ste. Marie helps market, and offsets costs for organizers.

Trails aren’t put to bed in the winter, as a dedicated fat-biking community, and healthy cross-country and snowshoe enthusiasts keep the trails tracked.

“Fat biking has exploded, especially among U.S. visitors,” said Anderson.

Stokely Creek Lodge consistently ranks among the top five cross-country ski destinations in North America, Searchmont Resort draws downhill skiers, and Bellevue Valley Lodge offers Ontario’s only guided backcountry ski experience.

“We’ve seen a major uptick in terms of visitors, primarily from the Michigan market for winter fat biking,” said Anderson.

While summer and winter months are filled with things to do, the in-between is the premier tourist attraction in the area.

Every fall, the Agawa Canyon Tour Train brings more than 30,000 visitors from Japan, Korea, Germany, and the United Kingdom, to see the Canadian Shield brimming with colour.

What has pushed the train experience even further are investments made by Tony Porco at SIS Group, which bookend the tour with entertainment, restaurants, a brewery, and industrial architecture turned modern.

“We’re certainly hearing that from visitors that are traveling to Sault, Ste Marie, they’re kind of blown away with, you know, the conversion of the old industrial buildings to, you know, the restaurant, the brewery, the train station,” said Anderson. “It’s a huge boom for the community.”

While the scenic train thrives from August to October, travel options to the Sault remain a challenge.

Anderson pointed out that one thing that hinders tourism in the region is reliable options to get there.

“Large-scale infrastructure — it would be great if we could get upgrades on Highway 17, particularly from Sudbury to Sault Ste Marie,” he said. Improving access by road or air is a priority to match the momentum in tourism.

In addition to the rails and roads, the Sault welcomes roughly 3,500 cruise ship passengers each year. These visitors boost ticket sales at local cultural attractions like the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre, Ermatinger Clergue National Historic Site and Art Gallery of Algoma.

Cruise ships have also bostered the growing tourism industry down town, with the Pearl Mist bringing 3,500 patrons to the Roberta Bondar Docks.

This is the third year that Thrive Tours has been partering with the Pearl mist.

Thrive Tours is an Indigenous-owned eco-tourism company that offers paddling, hiking and land-based learning.

Thrive Tours will also welcome Victory Cruise Lines passengers, providing a Premium Indigenous Experience as part of their visit to the area.

Founded during the pandemic, Thrive Tours has flourished, winning seven Ontario tourism awards and a national award for sustainability. Thrive Tours partners with Victory Cruise Lines to offer shore excursions grounded in Indigenous culture and knowledge.

“We help people reconnect with the land and water,” said Brad Robinson, CEO of Thrive Tours. “It’s about learning, healing, and building understanding.”

Robinson said that they’ve committed to 36 dates this upcoming season to deliver reconciliation-based tourism experiences that leave tour groups of 20-50 with a deeper connection to both the land and its people.

More than half of Thrive Tours’s clients come from the U.S. Any disruption to that flow directly impacts business, said Robinson, though added, “I doubt that the ones that we’ve met would be particularly, you know, dissuaded, I think, by the sentiments of their government,” said Robinson.

“Because I think that they see the bigger picture, certainly after our experiences, and a broader notion of what’s right and wrong, and I think that they sort of see it in a different light,” said Robinson.

Anderson said the city is well positioned to continue attracting regional visitors, especially as more Ontarians seek closer-to-home adventures.

“We expect an uptick in regional travel,” he said, adding that he hopes it offsets the potential lack of American tourism.

In late February at an outdoor adventure show in Toronto, Anderson said many approached the booth to say they had cancelled their summer vacations to the States, and were considering Sault Ste. Marie instead.

“A lot of it had to do with with the mountain biking draw that we had, as well as, you know, some of the hiking and broader outdoor activities,” he said.

At the same tradeshow in 2023, hardly anyone had heard of the Sault, let alone what it has to offer in terms of the outdoors.

“And then this year, you know, we’re, I would say 95 per cent came up and said, ‘Sault Ste. Marie, I’ve heard so much about you — I plan on coming, or would love to get up there soon,’” said Anderson.

With the political friendship between Canada and the U.S. disrupted, some Canadians and Americans are choosing to boycott each other. This leaves Canadian businesses, especially those that rely on American markets, concerned with how they will pivot.

“Collectively across Canada, people are worried about the impact, you know, I think overall, we’re hoping that there’s an offset in terms of regional travel,” said Anderson.

With $150 million in visitor spending in 2023 (just including debit and credit transactions) and rising recognition across North America, Sault Ste. Marie is proving that outdoor tourism can create lasting impacts on the community that benefit locals and visitors alike.

With regional tourism on the rise and kilometres of new trails to explore, this is how Sault Ste. Marie wins — by positioning itself as as Ontario’s premier urban outdoor adventure town.

The Local Journalism Initiative is made possible through funding from the federal government.