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Tourism facts and figures By Dave Chmara Ontario residents spent a total of $7.7 billion travelling in the province during the first nine months of 1988 according to a new Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Recreation publication. The Ontario Travel Monitor, published quarterly, will be a valuable guide to the tourism industry said Ontario Minister of Tourism and Recreation High O'Neil. The newsletter is produced by the Tourism Research Section of Tourism Marketing. It contains dozens of facts about travel in Ontario, such as the frequency of U.S. and foreign visitors, exchange rates, passport applica- tions and other information. The data is collected from province-wide telephone inter- views which began in March 1988 and will continue to form the basis of the newsletter. During the first week of every month, Ontario residents 15 years of age and older are asked about their travel behaviour. Among the questions asked are how often they vacation in Ontario and what their destination is. The responses are published in the Ontario Travel Monitor, which will be distributed to more than 750 travel industry and gov- ernment offices, colleges and uni- versities and the general public. The first edition covers the period of January to September 1988. A study conducted by the Hope Consulting Group last year for the Waterfront Development Study revealed some statistics which relate directly to tourism in this area. Among the findings dis- covered were: * 1.5 million tourists travel through the area annually * 2 million tourist nights are spent in the area * 105,000 people stop in Terrace Bay * 24,000 spend the night in Terrace Bay with the remainder passing through © * 1.2 to 1.8 million dollars are spent annually in the area by tran- sient tourism * 47 per cent of the tourists are from the United States with 20 per cent coming from Minnesota * 23 per cent of Canadian trav- ellers in the area are from Manitoba aly CLES a &. ot p, "a A) ° 89 Vol. 43, No. 14 -ace Ba - Schreiber Learning to live with a disability By Dave Chmara Red Cross Homemakers said they experienced feelings of anger, frustration, loneliness and helplessness during a recent shop- ping trip. These homemakers are not disabled but what they did was assume the role of disabled peo- ple in order to find out first hand the difficulties these people face everyday. The afternoon seminar was conducted by Simon Hoad, Community Services Manager for the Ontario March of Dimes in Thunder Bay. By wearing restrictive devices such as special goggles which simulate the vision of people with cataracts or those who have suf- fered strokes, using ear plugs to simulate the hearing impaired, and wearing weights, inflatable devices, gloves and using a cane which reduced manual dexterity, strength and mobility, the home- makers experienced what it is truly like to be disabled. After they donned these devices, they went to Costas for a shopping venture that lasted about 40 minutes. In addition to the feelings mentioned above, the homemak- ers also felt embarassed, afraid, isolated and tired at the end of the shopping trip. One lady said, "I wanted to drop everything and get out of there." Although they only shopped for about one bag of groceries each, some said if they had these disabilities permanently, they would only go shopping for a couple of items at a time - even if it meant going to the store every- day. Other alternatives would be to shop at corner stores, to shop with another person, or to choose any brand instead of searching for a particular product. The homemakers also noted the response by some people in the store was to either stare or move away, which added to the feelings of embarassment and iso- lation. A number of difficulties which the homemakers found while shopping, and this applies to any store and not just the store they visited, included: * small price tags and small writing on products * low contrast which increased the problems of trying to read product information * items were hard to reach * doors which were hard to open * crowded aisles * products which were stacked which created difficulties for those with manual dexterity limi- tations * not enough products offered Continued on page 5 & $3 The Red Cross Homemakers donned various restrictive de vices which simulated various disabilities and went shopping last Thursday as part of a workshop conducted by Simon Hoad, Community Services Manager for the Ontario March of Dimes in Thunder Bay. It was an eye opening experience and the participants said they experi- enced feelings of isolation, frustration and helplessness. Photo by Dave Chmara- pas = st Sue: ASS SUPERIOR = INSIDE THIS WEEK Saal : Se : ; INSURANCE LTD. Sa Bey ont | | Retiring ? Seniors Tourney Week Education The Nocthshore FE ioe ae Take the time to plan' Thebestandnextto Costs are a ae carefully best players skyrocketing = : ese 1-807-824-2933 Page Page 9 age ; 1-807-825-9393 age 3 g g 825-9646 or 825-9492