Price hike for tourism signs a move in the wrong direction, attractions say
Annual fee for blue highway signs more than doubles in some parts of Ontario
The Old Stone Mill in Delta, Ont., is a national historic site that dates back to 1810. Visitors can watch the working waterwheel turn the enormous millstone that still grinds wheat into fine flour, available for purchase in the modest gift shop.
According to its website, the impressive stone building is among "the finest examples of early industrial architecture in the region."
But the volunteers who run the place are afraid tourists won't be able to find it, tucked between Upper and Lower Beverley lakes off Highway 15, about 40 kilometres south of Smiths Falls.
That's because they can no longer afford to pay the hefty price for the two blue Ontario tourism signs that have for years guided motorists to the mill.
Price more than doubled
According to Ken Watson, who's volunteered at the Old Stone Mill for 20 years, the company that installs the "tourism oriented directional signing" (TODS) has more than doubled its prices in certain high-traffic areas.
Watson said he was "shocked" when the Delta Mill Society received the 2019 invoice.
"We're self-funded in a rural area. We barely had the money to support our existing signage, but we felt it was important," Watson said. "We certainly don't have the funding to justify the increase up to what it is now."
The annual fee for the two signs on Highway 15 used to be about $300, but Watson said the 2019 fee has ballooned to $800.
"That's a lot of bake sales," Watson said.
The signs have become so costly that the society's board recently voted to pull out of the TODS program altogether.
No explanation
The program is managed by Canadian TODS Limited under the supervision of Ontario's Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport.
The general manager of the company referred CBC to the ministry for comment, but the ministry wouldn't explain why the rates have risen so drastically.
In a written statement the ministry said it's "aware of the concerns raised by [the company's] clients about program rate increases," and is monitoring the situation.
According to the ministry's website, a recent review of the TODS program found most tourism operators believe the blue highway signs are "an important tool for profiling and directing customers to their business."
No warning for businesses
The CEO of Attractions Ontario, which represents about 500 tourism businesses in the province, said he's concerned about the suddenness of the increase, not to mention the financial strain it places his members, many of whom operate on a shoestring.
"The fact that it was poorly communicated and that they're trying to capture all the necessary increases in one year," Troy Young said.
Young said about 30 operators have already told him they plan to pull out of the sign program.
Young said he's working with other representatives from Ontario's tourism industry to seek solutions, but without a reversal, tourists might have to find their own way to the Old Stone Mill and attractions like it next year.
