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Twain Centre Visits Wane

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Timmins Daily Press
June 5, 2007
Scott Paradis

Shania Twain Centre manager Tracy Hautanen presents the facility's
2006 visitation statistics to members of city council during a committee
of the whole meeting held at the centre on Monday.

The number of people coming to Timmins to see the Shania Twain Centre and Gold Mine Tour is dwindling.

Local interest, however, continues to steadily grow, the city heard Monday during the centre's annual report to council. The centre presented its statistics to council during a committee of the whole meeting, which was held at the centre for the occasion.

"Overall we see about 14,000 people go through this centre each year," said manager Tracy Hautanen.

She said that the overall numbers for 2006 are slightly lower than 2005's, but the general trend of growth since the centre's opening in 2001 is continuing.

But there has been a shift in where people are coming from.

In 2006, bus tours brought about 1,000 people to the centre and Gold Mine Tour - the worst year for the centre outside of the 2003 SARS scare that impacted tourism across Ontario, she said. The lack of bus tour crowds is counterbalanced by the number of local organizations and businesses using the facility.

Facility rentals are up, and were more than 3,500 for 2006. Also, while the number of bus-tour visitors was down significantly, the overall number of visitors did not drop as sharply.

That's likely due to a higher regional draw for the centre, Hautanen said.

"More people are becoming tourists closer to home," she said.

And Hautanen believes that it's not just the Shania Twain Centre that faces the challenge of drawing tourists.

High fuel prices, longer waits at the Canada-U.S. border, new passport regulations on U.S. to Canada travel and a stronger Canadian dollar have all become hurdles for the tourism industry.

While numbers made a large portion of the update to council, the Shania Twain Centre also showcased what residents and tourists can expect in the near future.

John Curley helped showcase a six-person motorized cart, which could make the Gold Mine Tour more accessible to the elderly and disabled. The Shania Twain fan convention is scheduled to take place this year between Aug. 9-12, and there are currently 400 Shania Twain-related items now on display within the centre.

While questions were raised regarding those statistics the more-casual-than-usual council focused much of its time around the revenue and expenditures.

To answer most of those questions, City Clerk Jack Watson explained to city council the Shania Twain Centre has been able to improve its revenue over expenditures.

Council didn't make any decision regarding the Shania Twain Centre and Gold Mine Tour, rather the meeting served as a way to keep the city up-to-date with what is happening at the centre.

"I think this is a good thing," said Mayor Tom Laughren before the conclusion of that meeting.

"I think it would be good to have this kind of thing twice a year."

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