Who’s Coming to the Kawarthas (And How to Talk to Them)

You probably already have a sense of who your best guests are. You can picture them: the couple who spends three days paddling and asks for trail recommendations at checkout, the family that wants to know where the food comes from before they order, the older guests who’ve been coming back to the same cottage for fifteen years. The question isn’t really who they are. The question is whether your marketing is actually speaking to them.

Peterborough County Tourism has done some of the heavy lifting on that front. Drawing on national research from the Tourism Data Collective’s Traveller Segmentation Program, they’ve identified four visitor profiles that are a strong match for what this region has to offer. And in true Kawarthas fashion, they’ve given each one a name rooted in the natural landscape: The Fox, The Bee, The Otter, and The Bear. Here’s what you need to know about each one.

The Fox: Brave the Unknown

The Fox is an outdoor explorer. Adaptive, ambitious, and drawn to places that take a little effort to get to. This traveller isn’t looking for a polished experience. They’re looking for a real one. They want to paddle a route they had to research, hike a trail with actual elevation, or spend a winter weekend somewhere most people wouldn’t bother going in February.

The Kawarthas delivers for the Fox in ways a lot of regions can’t. The Trent-Severn Waterway, Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park, Warsaw Caves, Kawartha Nordic: these aren’t backdrops for this traveller. They’re the whole point. The Fox will find them. Your job is to make sure they find you along the way.

In your marketing, lead with the experience rather than the amenity. “Steps from the Trent-Severn” lands differently than “waterfront location.” Use real imagery (weather, effort, payoff). The Fox doesn’t need a guarantee of comfort. They need to believe the trip is worth it.

The Bee: Sweet as Honeycomb

The Bee is a cultural traveller, and a generous one. They collect stories everywhere they go and share them with everyone they meet. They want to know who made the cheese, who painted the mural, what this building used to be. They’re the guests who linger, ask follow-up questions, and leave a review that reads like a short essay.

This traveller is drawn to local food, arts, festivals, heritage, and connection. The Kawarthas has a lot to offer them. The Canadian Canoe Museum, 4th Line Theatre, the Curve Lake Cultural Centre, the Whetung Ojibwa Centre, farmers’ markets, artisan studios, historic mills: the Bee wants all of it, along with the story behind it.

One thing worth keeping in mind: Culture Seekers genuinely value Indigenous voices and perspectives, not as a tourism checkbox but as something meaningful to them. If you can point guests toward First Nations-led experiences in the region, do it. Curve Lake First Nation and Hiawatha First Nation are both part of this landscape, and that connection matters to this traveller.

In your marketing, lead with people and place rather than features and prices. The Bee wants to feel like an insider before they even arrive.

The Otter: All Trails Lead Home

The Otter is a purposeful family traveller, looking to find meaning in every place they visit and every face they meet. This isn’t the family that wants to be entertained. It’s the family that wants to learn something, connect with where they are, and come home with stories the kids will actually remember.

They tend to be parents in their 30s and 40s, kids in tow, with a genuine concern for their environmental footprint. They’re looking for social proof before they commit (real photos, honest reviews, a clear sense that a place is worth the trip). They’re also more likely than most travellers to mix a family getaway with a reason to be in the region, so don’t underestimate the value of giving them something purposeful to point to.

The Kawarthas is well-suited for this traveller: farm experiences, conservation areas, heritage sites, nature interpretation, paddling with a story attached. Lang Pioneer Village, the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre, Camp Kawartha: these are exactly the kind of places the Otter is looking for.

In your marketing, lead with what families can learn or do together. Add a “why it matters” layer to your experience descriptions. The Otter doesn’t just want to know what they’ll do. They want to know why it’s worth doing.

The Bear: Rest While You Roam

The Bear understands something the other travellers are still figuring out: that to really know a place, you have to slow down enough to let it in. This traveller isn’t chasing novelty. They’re chasing the feeling of a good meal at the end of a quiet day on the water, a familiar view from a familiar porch, and the kind of unhurried hospitality that’s harder to find than it used to be.

The Bear skews older (about 60% are 55 and up) and tends to be loyal. If they’ve had a good experience in the Kawarthas, they’ll come back, and they’ll bring people with them. They prefer traditional accommodations, straightforward booking, and no unpleasant surprises. They’re not chasing eco-certifications or social media moments. They’re chasing rest.

Cottage country, lakeside dining, wellness, small-town warmth: the Kawarthas has been speaking Bear for a long time, even if nobody was calling it that. The opportunity is to be more intentional about it. Make your booking process as easy as your guest experience. Use imagery that says slow down, not keep up. And invest in the relationships that turn a first-time guest into a returning one.

So Which One Are You Talking To?

Most tourism businesses in the Kawarthas will recognize more than one of these profiles in their guest mix. That’s fine. But if you’re trying to speak to all four at once, your message is probably not landing as clearly as it could with any of them.

Think about who your best guests are right now: the ones who get the most out of what you offer, who leave the best reviews, who come back. Chances are they fit one of these four profiles pretty closely. Start there, and let that shape how you write about your business, what you photograph, and where you put your marketing energy.

Peterborough County Tourism has put together dedicated itineraries and business listings for each traveller type at thekawarthas.ca. If you’re not already connected with them, it’s a good conversation to have.

And if you want help figuring out how to position your business for the right visitor, that’s something we think about a lot here at Loon in the Mist Creative. Feel free to get in touch.