Adventurous Ontarians kept northern tourism alive this summer

Despite COVID-19, Frank O'Connor'sVoyageur Lodge and Cookhouse was extremely busy this summer.

The amount of activity and the number of tourists was initially surprising, O'Connorsaid, as operations in other sectors of the economy stagnated or closed down entirely during the pandemic.

Also surprising was who came through the campgrounds on his propertyjust north of Sault Ste Marie.

"We had so many brand new campers, first time campers," O'Connor said."You started seeing those [rental RVs] like crazy this year."

Seeing the fresh faces was a delight, O'Connor said, but they faced a steep learning curve.

"These folks really had to be taught how to camp because they've never done it before, they didn't know about bringing firewood and they didn't know about hauling water," he said."So it was a learning experience, but they loved it."

He said he also expects many of the first timers to return.

"They fell in love with the north," O'Connor said. "I had young people just standing here looking out over the bay saying 'This is unbelievable and there's nothing like it.'"

Ray Sapiano, owner of the Marten River Lodge between North Bay and Temagami, said in any given year, approximately 60 per cent of his business comes from American tourists. That slowed to a trickle after Canada closed its borderto U.S. visitors.

"You combine that with the fact that that we did not open in May, we did not open in June. So we effectively lost a third of our season," said Sapiano.

"Trying to make a year out of a little over a three month season and relying on only 35 percent of your customer base has been a struggle."

But Sapiano said he, too, noticed some fresh faces around the site.

"What's really interesting ... is that we've been seeing a lot of new people, meaning not just new to us, but new to the north, coming out of the GTA and other points south," Sapiano said.

"So the number of people who've never held a fishing rod in their hands before has been quite, quite remarkable to see. So they are as fresh as discovering their backyard and enjoying summer as the old license plates used to say 'Yours to Discover,'" said Sapiano.

Both Sapiano and O'Connor adjusted their businesses to align with physical distancing guidelines, offering takeout where possible and opening up their patios when Ontario entered Stage 2 of reopening.

Booze sales up, ice cream down

O'Connor said there was also a noticeablechange in what people were buying at the Voyager General Store.

"You know what's interesting? Our sales went up in things like groceries, and the liquor," O'Connor said. "You talk to anyone in the LCBO and they're going to tell you people thought whiskey cured COVID or something because sales went through the roof."

Except, he said, for ice cream.

"This is just purely anecdotal, but the American fishermen, the American angler loves ice cream. And when we have the American angler around, you'd have 10, 15 guys standing in front of that ice cream shop on their way home, or on their way up to their trip buying ice cream."

"So without that American market, our ice cream sales were stable to two lower than normal. But everything else was up," O'Connor said.