It’s the age of the influencer, says Muskoka Tourism’s incoming chair

Director of Sales and Revenue Management for Deerhurst Resort, Luke Nixon-Janssen, will be at the helm of the Board of Muskoka Tourism.

Many in the tourism industry, particularly in northern Muskoka, see his election as chair of the board as a win for the area.

Nixon-Janssen has been at Deerhurst for roughly a year and a half. His experience includes working at the Residence Inn by Marriott at the Gravenhurst Wharf, The Ritz-Carlton in Toronto where he served as part of the opening team, as well as leading a sales team at Tigh-Na-Mara, a destination spa resort in Parksville, BC.

In a way, Nixon-Janssen has come full circle. He studied hospitality at Georgian College; he did his co-op at Clevelands House Resort on Lake Rosseau; and is back in Muskoka after many a venture. While he’s still getting his feet wet as the Chair of Muskoka Tourism, Nixon-Janseen said he’d like to see a little more collaboration among the various tourism groups in the area.

“As an outsider looking in, it’s a little confusing at times with all these different organizations working on their little piece of the pie. Muskoka is such a vast region. I would like to see Muskoka Tourism be a catalyst for collaboration, working with RTO 12 and the local chambers throughout the region and also working with the District to make sure that we can be that sort of thought leader and bringing people together and helping complement other people’s efforts in ensuring that there’s no duplication of efforts across those multiple organizations,” he said.

To achieve greater cohesion among the various tourism stakeholders, Nixon-Janssen said it comes down to being collaborative, being open-minded and ensuring there’s open communication across the various organizations.

In terms of how Muskoka markets itself, he said he thinks Muskoka is doing a pretty good job, although of course there is always room for improvement. “Everyone has a Muskoka sort of quintessential moment and I think the team has done a great job of capturing that through the different types of explorers and travellers that are out there—visually speaking. And I think there’s always benchmarking that can be done to other great destinations out there within Canada or around the world where we can sort of see how they created something… as Steve Jobs said, smart people steal great ideas,” he chuckled. “I think overall we do a great job, it’s how can we just refine and do better.”

As for content marketing, Nixon-Janssen believes we are in the age of the influencer.

I think there’s a ton of experiences within Muskoka and it’s about leveraging those types of experiences to get influencers up here who can tell the Muskoka story for us, as opposed to putting out big expensive marketing campaigns. It’s the age of the influencer and I think we have a great opportunity to welcome those influencers to Muskoka to engage their audience and tell a story that might not be currently told about Muskoka today, because of who they are and who their audience is.
Muskoka Tourism incoming chair Luke Nixon-Janssen

How do you get the influencers to come to Muskoka? “You invite them,” he said.

On the executive, Nixon-Janssen joins Vice Chair Scott Doughty of Hidden Valley Resort, Vice Chair Ken Schulz of Rocky Crest, Secretary/Treasurer Brian Hough of Baysville Marina and North Granite Ridge Golf, Past Chairperson Leah Leslie of JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka Resort and Spa, as well as appointed District representatives Councillors Don Smith of Bracebridge and Peter Cooper of Georgian Bay Township.

The executive will also work closely with board members: Kelly Haywood, Huntsville Lake of Bays Chamber of Commerce; Debbie Eccles, Sunset Cruises; Kit Redding, Clear Lake Brewing Co.; Sandy Lockhart, Gravenhurst Chamber of Commerce; Randy Mitson, Algonquin Outfitters; Jonathon Massey, Residence Inn Gravenhurst; Jean-Ann Baranik, Johnston’s Cranberry Marsh/Muskoka Lakes Winery; Negin Company, Christie’s Mill Inn & Spa and SE Georgian Bay Chamber of Commerce; Andrew Rusynyk, Hidden Valley Highlands Ski Area; Cameron Therrien, Santa’s Village; Christine Kropp, Whimsical Bakery; Krista Storey, Gravenhurst Opera House; and non-voting resource members Samantha Hastings, Commissioner of Planning and Economic Development at the District and Scot Weeres, also with the District.

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