Haldimand County

Visitor Experience Strategy (VES) (2024 - 2025)

KLB Consulting is proud to have led the development of Haldimand County’s Visitor Experience Strategy (VES), a future-focused initiative designed to strengthen the local tourism economy along the Grand River. Recognizing the river’s rich ecological and cultural history, particularly its deep Indigenous significance, this aims to catalyze sustainable, inclusive, and culturally sensitive tourism development.

Working in partnership with Haldimand County, KLB has crafted a strategic framework that balances economic growth with environmental stewardship and cultural preservation. A cornerstone of the strategy is the innovative “Business in a Box” concept, which equips local entrepreneurs with scalable, ready-to-launch business models that draw upon the natural beauty and historical assets of the Grand River.

KLB’s process includes stakeholder engagement, market and asset analysis, and experience design rooted in place-based storytelling. Through this work, the strategy positions Haldimand County to attract both visitors and investors while ensuring tourism growth aligns with the region’s values, heritage, and long-term sustainability goals.

Key Components:

Development of the “Business in Box” concept to support tourism entrepreneurship.
Integration of Indigenous heritage, ecological conservation, and cultural storytelling.
Stakeholder engagement across community, business, and Indigenous partners.
Market research and Grand River asset mapping.
Experience design for sustainable, place-based tourism offers.
Marketing, branding, and investment readiness strategies.
Alignment with long-term economic and environmental priorities.

Contact:
Jaymie Nelson, Project Manager, Business Retention & Expansion, Haldimand County
Phone: 905-481-0924 | Email: jnelson@haldimandcounty.on.ca

Core Sections of the VES Strategy

Background Research
Community Consultations: What We Heard Summaries
Implementation Roadmap
Monitoring Tools

Great to Grand (2022 - 2023)

Haldimand County Economic Development & Tourism, in partnership with KLB Consulting, co-led the design and delivery of the Great to Grand experiential tourism development program in response to critical workforce and business sustainability challenges in the post-COVID tourism sector. Small rural operators across Haldimand County faced compounding issues of revenue loss, workforce shortages, and shifting visitor expectations. In this context, the program supported local tourism and hospitality businesses in developing four new high-value experiential tourism offerings that could attract responsible visitors, generate sustainable revenue, and extend employment beyond the peak season.

The initiative prioritized collaboration and innovation at every stage, bringing together tourism operators, coaches, local partners, industry specialists, and community stakeholders. From the outset, the program was designed to be immersive, capacity-building, and grounded in storytelling. Each participant received wraparound support from concept to launch, including coaching, digital marketing assets, mentorship, and connections to the broader regional tourism ecosystem.

Notably, Great to Grand emphasized business-to-business collaboration as a key ingredient in revitalizing the tourism workforce and creating a ripple effect across the local economy. Participating operators built long-term partnerships with chefs, farms, venue hosts, musicians, and wellness experts—strengthening local value chains and helping to create new job opportunities. With support from KLB and the County, participants also became ambassadors for sustainable tourism in Haldimand, inspiring other local entrepreneurs to follow suit.

The Great to Grand program created jobs and attracted responsible tourism, and also laid the foundation for a more collaborative and resilient tourism economy in Haldimand. The trust built among participating businesses, coaches, and community members continues to grow, proving that innovative, community-centered design can drive both economic recovery and long-term regional impact.

Key Components:

Recovery-focused tourism development with a community lens.
Hands-on coaching and business development support.
Strong B2B and cross-sector partnerships.
Ongoing collaboration between operators, consultants, and the municipality.
Customized marketing and digital content creation.
Continued support post-launch to sustain momentum.

Contact:
Jaymie Nelson, Project Manager, Business Retention & Expansion, Haldimand County
Phone: 905.318.5392 x6305 | Email: jnelson@haldimandcounty.on.ca