E.D. Corner: October 2025

G’day,

I am writing this introduction on my plane ride home from three weeks in Australia and New Zealand. It was an incredible adventure shared with Trish, my dad and sister, and curated by former staff member, turned travel agent, Sarah Gratta. Our down-under tour, which hit each of our bucket list items, included four days in Sydney, three days in Brisbane, three days on Lady Elliott Island in the Great Barrier Reef, three days in Queenstown, two days in Christchurch, two days in Rotorua, one day at Hobbiton(!!), one day in Auckland and two days getting there and back. 

One of the curses of working in tourism is looking at everything through an operational lens. I do my best to also take in the wonder of the places we visit, but often find myself wondering how everything is coordinated and operating behind the scenes. And I have to tell you that my assessment is that Canada still has a long way to go when it comes to overall visitor experience – not so much at the individual attraction or business level, but at a higher macro level.

From big metropolitan areas to small communities, there was an overwhelming sense of not only being welcome in their communities but a thankfulness that we were there spending time and money with them. Both Australia and New Zealand’s tourism industries were devastated during COVID because their governments basically just shut their borders to all visitors. And, with small populations, there were not enough locals to support the amount of businesses that relied on visitors for at least some of their revenues. Tourism levels are steadily increasing, but are not yet at 2019 levels. In addition, like other countries including Canada, COVID had an effect on overall cost of living. I was speaking to one restaurant owner in Auckland who was saying that locals are not eating out as much because for many it is all they can do to keep a roof over their heads. With average house prices well north of $1M, I can understand that. So, he, and many other businesses, are relying on visitors like us to find and patronize them.

This particular restaurant was a tiny hole in the wall somewhere in Auckland about a 15-minute walk from our hotel. We picked it because it had one of the highest Google ratings in the area, which is a practice I think I am not alone in doing. We did this in every city/town we were in and were never disappointed. This one sticks out in my mind because it really wasn’t in an overtly touristy area. If you aren’t doing it already, ask your patrons for Google reviews. 

On almost every day of our trip we did at least one guided tour and what really fascinated and impressed me is that we were never on a bus. The vast majority of tour companies in both countries had fleets of transport vans that fit up to 15. With the exception of our very own Tam Stefek who left to open Rural Routes Tour Co., I think that most tours in Toronto and throughout the province are conducted on the big 55-person luxury coaches. What I liked about the smaller buses was that each of the tours felt more personal and intimate than when we did the big-bus tours a few years ago in Hawaii. We had great conversations with our driver/guide about the country and specifics about the areas we were visiting. And they were able to bring us to smaller, family owned, shops, restaurants and attractions that couldn’t accommodate 55 people at a time. Those experiences were really special.

One of the things I found very interesting is that our small tour vans were allowed to use all bus lanes both in the cities and on their highway systems. It made getting around for us much faster than the regular commuters stuck in traffic. And they often were able to access places that regular vehicles could not. We were driving up to a lookout area over one of the cities and the driver was able to access the service road that brought us right to the summit rather than parking below and having a 20-minute climb to the top. These small things jumped out at me as being brilliant nods to the importance of the visitor economy in each country.

Almost all of our city tours included components at locations that were around an hour outside of town, which I know could be similarly beneficial for our attractions and destinations while enhancing the experience of small tourist groups visiting Toronto. One of the things I am going to do upon my return is reach out to our friends at the Ontario Motor Coach Association to find out which tour companies are catering to Toronto visitors using smaller passenger vans and then finding out what new experiences they are looking to showcase for their guests. 

I want to finish this off with a story about film tourism because it has growing potential in our region. When Peter Jackson signed on to direct the original Lord of the Rings trilogy, he felt that the most important location was Hobbiton. In his mind, it had to be exactly as it was described by Tolkien in the books and could not be done on a sound stage. After an exhaustive search, they found a 14.5-acre area at the very back of a sheep farm basically in the middle of nowhere.

The farmer rented the land and the production crew went to work building the sets you see in the opening of the first movie and the end of the third movie. And they were just that, sets. Excavators dug into the hills so the facades of each hobbit abode could be inserted. All of the interior scenes in Bilbo Baggins hobbit hole were done on a movie set – just the exterior shots were done on location. At the end of the filming, the crew began removing the 35+ facades they had built. The farmer was worried about possible landslides and erosion where the hobbit houses had been placed at the bases of some of the larger hills and asked that 14 of the façades be left to shoal up the earth. The crew agreed.

After the release of the first movie, local New Zealanders recognized that the “Misty Mountains” in the background looked surprisingly like the ones they could see in the distance and, after a bit of sleuthing, four teenage boys came to the farm and asked permission to see the set, which, through the years between filming and release, was in a state of decay with broken glass, peeling paint, etc. The farmer didn’t care as long as the boys made sure to close each fence gate along the way so that they didn’t mix up his sheep. Their pictures started making the rounds and soon the farmer was receiving more calls from locals asking to see the site where Hobbiton was filmed. By the time the third movie was released, calls were coming in daily from people around the world asking if they could come see the film location, which by now was all but ruins. 

And then one day in 2010, Peter Jackson knocked once again on the farmers door. He had just been signed to do a three-part movie of The Hobbit and wanted to use the same 14.5 acres to recreate Hobbiton. The farmer said yes, on one condition; that the set be constructed as a permanent structure and that they would have the rights to operate it afterwards as an attraction. Peter thought it was a great idea and actually partnered with the farmer on the project. 

Today, a maximum of 2,500 people per day, led in guided groups of 40 every 10 minutes, get transported to the exact location they saw on the big screen across so many films. Late last year, they actually completed construction on a full hobbit house so visitors can go inside and see it for themselves. 

Our region is home to film locations for productions that have large followings like the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It would be great if one day we had one or more permanent attractions dedicated to allowing people to relive some of their favourite television and movie moments. 

I am going to wrap this up with some pictures from the trip, but first an ask for your feedback! In an effort to better support you and your business needs, we are looking for your input into topics and themes for future learning opportunities that would be most beneficial to you, along with any current industry challenges you are facing. Complete the short survey for a chance to a win a $500 Thermea Spa Village Whitby Gift card.

As always, if you have any questions or just want to connect, shoot me an email at cthibeault@centralcounties.ca.


Have a great day!

Chuck

Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge from the ferry