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aterloo Region was falling Wbchind in the race to capâ€" ture the ever important tourist dollar to areas like London and Hamilton when local municiâ€" palities finally decided to pool their resources together earlier this year and present a more united “ front. New manager to promote regional tourism That‘s when the â€" Waterloo Tourism Marketâ€" ing Corp. was born with a $1â€" million budget to bring more visitors to the area. More than 60 per cent of its funding comes from local municipalities like Waterloo, with the intent to better market the area as a desâ€" tination spot. But it was a car without a engine until the board of directors of the newly created organization appointed its new general managâ€" er last week. Susan Cudahy, the founding president and CEO of the Greater Peterborough Economic Development Corp., has been hired for the job and will be tasked to get the local marketing machine rolling effective Sept. 4. Cudahy, a former politician and president of the OZ Manageâ€" ment Consulting firm, said she‘s ready for the challenge. She‘s been a part of bringing together other tourism groups, most recently in the Peterborough and Kwarthas area of the province. "This role is very similar to a role I‘ve had in the past," said Cudâ€" ahy. "I know when you historically merge a siloâ€"based organization into a centralized format it has a very strong chance of success. "I know the model brings a lot of challenges, but I think it‘s the correct model for trying to market and promote especially in tourism. By Bos VrBanac â€" Chronicle Staff Susan Cudahy The tourists don‘t see the bound aries the same way they exist." Cudahy is coming here as a mechanic to put the machinery in place in order to start this potenâ€" tially lucrative economic engine. With the machinery in place, hopefully by the end of this year, the job will turn to reaching out to the people who don‘t know what this area has to S uplpapnattmmee o1c . to lose business to other places that are ramping things up," said Murray, who is also the coâ€"chair of the new tourism body. "We were falling behind places like London and Hamilton that had created these joint destination marketing organizations." The numbers don‘t lie. The latâ€" est Statistics Canada report on tourism in 2004 said visitors to the area generated an economic impact of $390 million a year. "It supports 3,200 jobs and conâ€" tributes $5 million a year in municipal taxes,"â€"said Murray. "Those numbers are a bit dated but it gives a good sense of how tourism is a significant part of the regional economy. "It‘s worth investing in â€" sometimes people don‘t realize its broad impact on the economy. It touches on so many parts of the economy from gas stations to corâ€" ner stores. The more people who visit the more local economic Continued on page 7 CITY NEWS And it is a vital economic sector, said the Mike Murray, the chief administrative officer of the Region of W a t erlo o. Tourism makes up a significant percentage of the local econoâ€" my and the area couldn‘t afford to keep falling behind. "If we didn‘t do _ this we would continue to other places %r ( Su/fif;awng to a close but t The City of Waterloo is once again opening its arms to the student population by giving them a "welcome" bag full of informaâ€" tion and goodies. Fourâ€"yearâ€"old Benjamin Lizon enjoys a day playing at one of Waterloo Park‘s playgrounds with his cousin recently. $ JENNIFER ORMSTON PHOTO City opens arms to students With September fast approachâ€" ing, 8,000 students will move into university dorms, and 22,000 more into housing in the community. To help break down barriers between the latter group â€" many of whom are living on their own for the first time â€" and Waterloo‘s permanent residents, the city has launched its student welcome bag program again. Established four years ago, the By Jennirer Ormsron Chronicle Staff _ ‘program gives residents the opporâ€" tunity to meet their new young _neighbours and, at the same time, bring them a gift. The hope is this act of kindness will help reduce the "perceived barrier" that exists between the two groups, said Kaye Crawford, the city‘s manager of community relations, adding the program was initiated after city officials began hearing students didn‘t feel welâ€" come here. "I think there‘s just a bit of intimidation both on behalf of the young people meeting maybe their permanent neighbours, and the permanent resident neighbours talking to maybe a number of young people that may be living WATERLOO CHRONICLE * Wednesday, August 29, 2007 + 3 "So it‘s just a way for them to meet on some common ground." next door. In the past, Crawford has found the students love receiving the bags, which are filled with inforâ€" mation on living in Waterloo, from rules and regulations to volunteer and entertainment opportunities, as well as presents from sponsors, including a stapler from Staples. "Any students that I‘ve talked to who have received them said the information was quite valuable and they enjoy the goodies they get in there as well," she said. __ And for the residents, it‘s a great way to meet their new neighbours Continued on page 6