Muskoka prepares for busy tourism season ahead with May long weekend kicking things off

Muskoka gears up for what's expected to be a busy summer for tourism.

The May long weekend often marks the start of the summer season for Gravenhurst as the town experiences higher than usual traffic due to cottage-goers.

Staff at businesses in the area say they are already experiencing higher foot traffic due to the nicer weather Mother Nature has been providing.

“This weekend marks the sort of traditional weekend where people open their seasonal homes and, it does get people out and about in their backyard exploring,” said Heather Fraser, manager of the Shipyards.

With an increased demand for the public to shop locally, Fraser adds local artisans are hard at work.

“Artists are busy preparing new products and bringing them in,” said Fraser. “A lot of them (products) are one of a kind so people know there will be a huge influx of new stuff for them to browse through.”

Muskoka Steamships is also preparing for a busy summer season with the first cruise ships scheduled to depart May 24.

“It’s been a hard winter, so we’re ready to go and I think people are,” said John Miller, president of Muskoka Steamships and Discovery Centre. “Especially this last week, we’ve seen a lot of people wandering around, a lot of inquiries, a lot of phone calls about want to go for a cruise.”

For the first time in 25 years, Muskoka Steamships will have three cruise ships operating out of Gravenhurst, including a restored ship that runs on electricity, which is expected to cruise starting July 1.

A few kilometres north in Bracebridge, Cottage Friends is busy preparing for more foot traffic after a challenging winter.

“We are truly welcoming anybody that would like to come, and shop in our main street. We’re very proud of the main street,” said Sharyn Wilson who is the shop keeper at Cottage Friends. “We work very hard to keep it nice.”

Bracebridge Mayor Rick Maloney said the town is ready for the influx of tourists and seasonal residents.

“We’re making sure that our parks are cleaned up, spruced up and opened up and, ready to accept visitors,” said Maloney. “We are putting out, some of the safety devices in around the bay, making sure that all that, safety equipment is there for folks that are using our beaches and things like that.”

Maloney adds that tourism is a huge boost to the local economy.

“Whether it’s construction, trades, the building supply side of things, it’s the downtown, merchants,” said Maloney, “Large box stores, whether it’s the Walmart’s or Home Depots, Canadian Tire and Home Hardware, it’s also our restaurants... it is a very busy time.”

Town officials want to remind residents and tourists that Silver Bridge will be closed for the foreseeable future after a shift was discovered late last year. The closure could cause traffic delays in town.