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Susan Schmltt is the manager of the Visitor and Convention Bureau. Schmitt's lob is to attract tourists and business visitors to the area. To do that right, a much expanded bureau is needed, say Kitchener and Waterioo Chambers ot Commerce. mu o-m m s s C omp etition (Comm trom page 12) hey scored a coup recently, attract- ing the Municipal Clerks and Trea- surers of Ontario convention trom Toronto, where it had met for over 40 years. To do that required wining and dining selection committee members. She does that by attending "rnarksrtir- tacos" where cities demonstrate their con- vention capabilities and tourist attractions to people who book conventions. A Book listing area convention facilities has been put together. An essential part of expanding convention business is tor the Iocal tourism industry - trom hotels to restuarants to tourist attrac- tions and universities - to work together, Bus tours are another important Iacet of area tourism. The convention bureau staff attend four or five tour operator shows yearly, with the aim of being on the route of year-rouge! bus tours. "Laii VFeVbruary, K-W was host to Attrac- tions Ontario - a conference tor more than 700 four operatot ' "Once we had them in our own backyard, we took them to attractions and tourist destinations in the area. It was very eftec- We. I don't think there was one place (on the tour) that didn't get business as a result." Tourism Initially, bus tours tend to start off Just passing through Kitchener-Waterloo and area. The challenge is to get them to stop for dinner, and an attraction, and then to stay overnight in local hotels, says Schmitt. That can take a fair bit of entertaining. Another key area of work for the bureau is heightening the local awareness of the importance of tourism to our economy. Public education also means letting local residents know of local attractions they should visit, or places to take visiting friends and relatives. Schmitt cites provincial statis- tics that suggest over 60 per cent of visitors to a community are friends and relatives of area residents. -fGiTixaaitures are important to the health of the tourism industry. _. ., Then there are casual travellers. people passing through town who may decide to stop for a meal, attend an event or attrac- tion, and possibly stay a day or two. "%Gark/io' 'Henéarson: day travellers otter the most tourism potential tor the area. - ‘He cites Oktobertest; St; Jacobs and Elmira, the Seagram Museum, the farmers markets and other historical houses, mu- seums and galleries as events and destina- tions that can attract people for a day. "People will always come to Kitchener. Waterloo for one specific reason - they'll come to see Oktobenest or the Clay and Glass Museum. They may stop somewhere else while they're here. but they'll come tor one reason." 7 On that belief, Waterloo is currently building a toursim strategy aimed at estab- lishing a reputation as Ontario's "Museum City," It all started with the Seagram Museum - hailed as a "world class" facility, featuring a multi-media guide to the world of alcoholic beverages, The visitor finds it easy to while away the better part of a day at the museum, and can top it all off with dinner, That has helped attract the National Clay and Glass Gallery, to be built along the shores of Silver Lake in Waterloo. The $4.2- million gallery had Its sod turning ceremony In mid-September, and has a completion dale of spring 1991. There are three museums at Umversity ot Waterloo - the Biology and Earth Selences Museum, the Museum of Visual chence and Optometry and the Museum and Arc- hive of Games. - Other museums are In the works The Canadian Toy Collectors' Society rs consrd- ering locating a toy museum In Waterloo And the city will soon decrde whether to build the Waldemar Neuleld Art Gallery, to house the paintings of Neufeld, who grew up in Waterloo and made something of a reputation as an American artist. "We'te very optimistic and very hopeful that will be another jewel in the cultural crown of Waterloo," says Bob Byron, the eity's chief administrative officer, Taken together, the cultural smorgasbord developing in Waterloo will otter citizens and tourists alike opportunities to enjoy the city and spend money. -"Bii iifirirm those-day mppers. effective promotion is needed, Henderson emphas- izes. “We're sitting on a lot of unused, unex- plored assets like St. Jacobs, the museums, the farmers markets. 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