To look back on our 30th anniversary, the Ottawa Visitors Center has launched the 30 Stories for 30 Years interview series! We’ve been meeting with former OVC Board members, and some others who have been along for the ride. We’re reflecting on three decades of tourism and considering what the future may hold. Join us, as we look back on local tourism’s evolution, some Ottawa Visitors Center history, and a special guest’s unique perspectives.

Our special guest for this entry is Commissioner of Public Health & Safety Tom Ganiere, from the City of Ottawa. He got us started with some background on his time working with the City and the OVC.

“I’ve been a commissioner for almost 10, 11 years now and have worked with the OVC, I’ve not been the commissioner that would be in charge necessarily of the OVC, but worked well with the OVC and whatever they need. And even before that, when I was President of the Firefighters Union, I worked with them on various events and stuff also. And they’ve always been great to work with and always done a wonderful job,” Tom said.

As we’ve seen throughout the series, there are a lot of moving parts in the tourism machine, especially from the City of Ottawa. Working with city government and other organizations allows us to support the local community, as we share it to tourists beyond our own. We asked Tom what tourism, in relation to Ottawa, means to him.

“I think tourism has put Ottawa on the map. You go into restaurants in town or even walking downtown, and you see all kinds of people you don’t know, and you start to strike up conversations with them, and they’re not from here. And they’ve come to Ottawa because they’ve heard about Ottawa through the efforts of the Ottawa Visitors Center. You know that they have a great time and they seem to be coming back too. I think it’s been wonderful. I think tourism probably is our, if not, it’s gotta be close to our very number one industry in Ottawa, and actually this whole surrounding area, this Starved Rock area,” he said.

Tourism has certainly put Ottawa on the map, in the Middle of Everywhere. It’s not uncommon to meet people from beyond the local area on a trip downtown, but this hasn’t always been the case. We asked Tom how he feels tourism in Ottawa has evolved over the last 30 years.

“Oh, I think it’s evolved immensely, probably ten, twenty, or maybe even a hundred-fold. I mean, if you go back 30 years, I don’t think anybody came to Ottawa, for the specific purpose of visiting Ottawa for its tourist abilities. Maybe peoples are driving through on Route 23 would see Washington Park and stop for half an hour or whatever, something like that, but not really engage in the community as tourists, like we have today. And there’s been a lot of things not only the tourism bureau’s helped that, but obviously that’s probably the biggest help. But Skydive Chicago’s helped that people come down to skydive at Skydive Chicago, and they spend the weekend in hotels and they spend the weekend at our restaurants. And that word spreads and our relationship with WGN has done so much to bring people to Ottawa, especially from not just Chicago area, but wherever the radio station goes. And it’s a big radio station,” he said.

The evolution of local tourism has come a long way. The revitalization of the downtown played an integral part in this process. As an evolving town, this process is still ongoing. Other organizations and businesses are continuing to help cultivate Ottawa as a tourist destination. We next asked Tom where he thinks local tourism might go from here.

“I think it can only go one direction, and that’s up. I think people are going to continue to come to Ottawa, if we continue to promote Ottawa like we have been in the past. I think not only just because of our promotion, but word of mouth. You know, a couple comes here for a weekend and says, ‘Hey, that’s great. Why don’t we go? Why don’t we put a group together for next summer and go down there?’ I know that has happened. I know people that I’ve run into in real estate classes in Chicago, that have mentioned they came down to the Wine Fest every year in Ottawa. They put together a group and maybe that gets going again. Maybe they still come down, I don’t know. But they loved Ottawa, and they loved the Wine Fest, and they had a great time down here,” Tom said.

Over the years, the way promoting works has changed drastically, but word of mouth is still a particularly reliable way to do it. Ottawa is certainly known for its exciting events and attractions. The variations of Wine Fest were a particularly popular one. We decided to ask Tom if he has any favorite events or attractions from throughout the years, and if there’s one he would like to see return.

“Yeah, I think Wine Festival was very good… Maybe we can get it going again. But I don’t know if I have a favorite of that or not. But I think, Music in the Park, which seems to be a more local event, but it seems to be gaining traction with people from out of the area too, I think that’s a great thing that the city provides to our residents and anybody who wants to come. All the events I think are done well and they’re always fun and hopefully we don’t have rain on them, but you know, can’t control the weather,” he said.

“If we could find a way to bring back the Wine Fest then, and then we tried different things, but the Wine Fest on the scale that it was, back five or six years ago before COVID, I think that would be great. But that takes a lot of work and takes a lot of partnerships,” Tom explained.

Tourism and the town of Ottawa will continue to change and adapt as the years pass. Events and attractions may change, but we know that great and exciting things will continue to develop in this community. To round out our interview, we asked Tom if he had any closing thoughts on the future of tourism in Ottawa.

“Not really, other than we have elections every four years, and I would hope that future councils, I’m not gonna be around forever and you know, the mayor and the other commissioners aren’t gonna be around forever. I would just hope that the commissioners and the mayors in the future will see the value of tourism for this area because it’s what keeps us going and what keeps us on the map”

 Many thanks to Tom! We can’t wait to keep sharing the history, heart, and stories of this community for years to come. Stay tuned as continue celebrating our 30th anniversary in the Middle of Everywhere! You can find more interviews on the rest of our blog or our Facebook page.