Science North gains provincial recognition

A picture is worth a thousand words, but Science North being featured on the cover of a provincial magazine highlighting Ontario's top tourist attractions will hopefully translate into tens of thousands of people coming to the city, according to the science centre's CEO.

The Summer 2012 issue of My Ontario, Ontario Tourism's official visitor magazine, is about to hit the streets and Greater Sudbury has been chosen to grace the cover.

For the first time in the publication's history, the cover photo will be captioned and will include the Science North name and location, thereby helping to increase visitor awareness of Greater Sudbury as a vacation destination.

“We're expecting about a 12-per-cent increase in visitors with the Body Worlds exhibit (slated to open April 28), and, by having a profile in this publication, it will provide an opportunity to increase that number,” Guy Labine said.

Science North sees about 190,000 visitors per year, with about 350,000 admission tickets sold for all attractions.

“This is a huge thing for us,” Labine said. “Awareness and visibility starts with people seeing a picture, especially an iconic picture that is the snowflake, which is key to our brand.”

The magazine features attractions that are successful, which speaks to the level of confidence in Science North, he added.

The magazine was launched with an advertisement in the Globe and Mail on April 21.

“We were very excited to hear that Science North and Sudbury were chosen as the cover for Ontario Tourism's Summer publication,” Ian Wood, director of Economic Development for the City of Greater Sudbury, said, in a press release.

“We're gearing up for the peak visitor season to start and this extra attention will be a great boost in helping us to promote our beautiful city.”

The magazine, featuring a cover photo of Science North in the background and a family enjoying the boardwalk in the foreground, will have a print run of 455,000 copies in both English and French.

Of these, 370,000 will be distributed via newspapers such as Northern Life and Le Voyageur, and the remaining 85,000 will be available at Ontario Travel Information Centres across the province.

A tablet version of the magazine will be ready for download in the iTunes and other application stores by mid-May.

The magazine is an initiative of the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corporation (OTMPC).

The OTMPC is a government agency created in 1999 to partner with Ontario tourism operators to showcase Ontario as a four-season must-see travel destination at home and internationally.

By tapping into the OTMPC's sophisticated research, international marketing expertise and comprehensive advertising and promotional campaigns, tourism operators and businesses reach markets that otherwise may not be available to them, according to the news release.

To view the cover and read more about Ontario Tourism and the great travel adventures in store for visitors this summer, visit www.ontariotravel.net and www.sudburytourism.ca.

Posted by Arron Pickard