Goulais tourist outfitter thriving despite pandemic
Despite repeated shutdowns due to the pandemic, and a slow start to the tourist season, the owners of a tourist outfitter near Sault Ste. Marie say business is booming - and that the pandemic may have actually helped their business.
The business is called "Forest The Canoe" and is the dream-come-true for co-owners Ryan Walker and Shana Shipperbottom. The couple moved from Southern Ontario in search of a more nature-based lifestyle.
"I went to Sault College for Adventure Recreation and Parks Technician, recently graduated and that's where we kind of wanted to fulfill our dreams of having a nature-based outfitting company," says Walker. "Getting people on the water, out on the trails, pretty much just anything outside."
Shipperbottom says the pair launched the business last November, and that it was a rough start due to the constantly evolving situation surrounding COVID-19.
"December 26th we were shutdown until about mid-February, and then we opened up again," says Shipperbottom. "We were able to do a few snowshoe tours in the winter. And then in April we were shutdown again until pretty much late-June we were able to fully operate again."
However, she says the shutdowns seemed to get more people interested in the outdoors.
"Everyone was looking to access nature more, so it actually seemed like a more opportune to launch (the business,) just because people wanted to explore Ontario and just have a different experience."
Walker says while many of their guests come from the Soo, there's been a lot of interest recently from outside the region.
"We really appreciated that and that's that community that we want to help service," says Walker. "But there's also a bunch of folks coming from the GTA area, people who have never been in a canoe before, never had s'mores before. So if we can check those two off on a tour, life goals are complete."
Walker and Shipperbottom say fall tourism numbers, especially visitors from Southern Ontario, have spiked. Being an all-season business, they're hoping for a busy winter as well.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.