Civil Municipal - May 2024

region. However, this vibrant town is more than just a tourist hot spot. Niagara-on-the-Lake is a thriving community of over 19,000 residents, deeply committed to sustaining growth while preserving a small-town identity. Lord Mayor, Gary Zalepa, describes, “We have this combination of wonderful geography, coupled with this interesting heritage story that allows us all to live and growwithin it.We’re literally down the street from national historic sites, and beautiful geographic scenery, all rolled into a place where we can go get groceries and walk the kids to school.” BALANCING GROWTH AND HERITAGE Zalepa recognizes the challenges of balancing tourism prosperity and residents’ well-being, highlighting Niagara-on-the-Lake’s ongoing endeavor to develop a tourism master plan. The process is being facilitated by Colliers, an external consultant, and fueled by a collaboration involving stakeholders from tourism, hospitality, dining, and wineries, as well as Council members and business community representatives. Its goal is to identify investments that will help alleviate the tax burden from the ongoing costs of tourism in the town. The introduction of a new destination marketing organization, which is currently known as Niagara on the Lake Tourism, is also in the works. He explains that the groundwork has been laid to create a separate entity, with specialized expertise in destination marketing. DIVERSIFYING OPPORTUNITIES Niagara-on-the-Lake is focused on economic development, and an economic development officer has been brought on board to strengthen these efforts. Additionally, a municipal accommodation tax is being introduced, helping to promote the town as an attractive destination for businesses and investors, with the hope of diversifying the economy and creating opportunities for sustainable growth. “The landscape is so competitive today. Businesses have amazing opportunities to locate wherever in the world they want to locate. So, we need to make 131 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 05, ISSUE 05 NIAGARA ON THE LAKE, ON