New data from Naturally L&A shows the county becoming more of a desired tourist destination than ever before.

In the first eight weeks of their 2023 online marketing campaign, Naturally L&A’s website has been getting far more hits than previous years. Top performing pages include themed itinerary pages, the Dark Sky Viewing Area, agri-tourism experiences, cycling experiences, and current ongoing contests. The accommodations page has also received a large increase in visits, suggesting that more visitors are looking at planning extended stays in the county.

Stephen Paul, director of Community and Development Services at Lennox and Addington, noted the spike in online activity.

"We're seeing a huge increase in just our overall visitation to our website. So as of today, we're at a 72 per cent increase over last year at this time, so what I would say is our Natural L&A brand is really taking off," said Paul.

The county's economic development office has partnered with the Lennox & Addington Federation of Agriculture, and was successful in receiving $9,000 in funding to promote agri-tourism opportunities in the county. Work is underway to create signage for participating farm-based businesses. The project will highlight on-farm experiences, apiaries, maple syrup producers, markets, and farm stays. It will also outline the substantial economic impact that conventional farming has on the county. This project is expected to be completed by August.

The Dark Sky Viewing Area continues to be a very popular destination for visitors. All their events in April and May were fully booked, and June’s events are expected to be booked up as well. The vast majority of Dark Sky's visitors are from urban areas where stargazing is normally limited due to light pollution. 2,500 visitors are expected to visit the site for events, with hundreds more visiting on non-event nights.

At the time of publication, NaturallyLA.ca had 121,798 views.

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