Ottawa Valley businesses, attractions ready for tourists this summer

FORESTERS FALLS, ONT. -

A one- and two-dose summer is making for a return to travel and summer road trips, and the Ottawa Valley is ready to help you make the most of your summer.

“More comfortable than last year, with the masks and all,” says Martin Bolduc, who is spending three days at Wilderness Tours with his family in Foresters Falls. “We are a bit more willing now. In August we’re going to go camping near Toronto.”

Bolduc and his family aren’t the only tourists looking for fun close to home this summer. Wilderness Tours Vice President Joel Kowalski says the demand from tourists is evident.

“Compared to last year yes, it is looking quite a bit busier,” says Kowalski. “It’s open air, it’s sports. People are coming and enjoying a stay with us for a day trip or they’re staying for a weekend.”

The master paddler says the rafting and kayaking trips at Wilderness Tours are booked solid from customers across the region.

“It really is one of the best things to do here in our own backyard in the Ottawa Valley,” says Kowalski.

Right now, the Ottawa Valley Tourism Association (OVTA) says there is no better place for tourists to ease their way back into summer fun.

“We’re probably the safest kind of place to visit as we still come out of this COVID-19 pandemic,” says OVTA manager Alastair Baird. “We are the Ottawa Valley. We are outdoors, wilderness, water.”

Ahead of Wednesday’s move to Step 2, Baird says the valley is ready to welcome back tourists, and its busy businesses are showing that.

“Both locations already have been fully booked most evenings and weekends,” says Whitewater Brewing co-founder Chris Thompson. The brewery has locations in Cobden and along the Ottawa River in the valley, and says even though they may not be seen as a destination; they are quite the busy spot for road trippers.

“We’re right on the highway so when people are driving through to their cottage or just want to make a trip from the city, whether it’s Kingston, Cornwall, Ottawa,” says Thompson, “people find it easy to get to us.”

This summer, it may not be about the places you go, but rather the things you can do once again.

“The whole valley, the whole County of Renfrew, the region, we’re very excited to again have people visit us,” says Baird.