The Chinatown BIA is in the process of creating the area’s first-ever walking tour for tourists. It is hoped the initiative will bring new clientele to the area.
Hoping to entice more customers to Chinatown, the BIA is working with a local company to create the community’s first-ever “walking” tours.
The tours are set to begin in November and will take people throughout Chinatown, showcasing the area’s businesses including restaurants and gift shops as well as teaching people about the neighbourhood’s culture and history.
The Chinatown BIA is working with C’est Bon Cooking, a company that organizes tours to explore the food and culture industry in various Ottawa neighbourhoods such as the Glebe, Westboro and the ByWard Market, to design the tour.
This is the first time tours will be offered in Chinatown and it is an appropriate time to do so, says Shirley Fang, executive co-ordinator of the Chinatown BIA,
The area has undergone a number of changes in the last five years, including the completion of the archway over Somerset Street and the Chinatown Blossoms project, which has produced 35 murals on the doors and window frames of businesses in the area, Fang says.
“People can walk through the street (Somerset Street) and find a lot of things. It’s not just buying or eating something.”
The tour route is still in the planning stage so it has not been determined exactly which Chinatown businesses will be showcased, says the owner of C’est Bon Cooking, Andrée Riffou.
The goal of the tours is also to encourage people to visit Chinatown and make them more comfortable about visiting a neighbourhood that is different from their own culture, Fang says. For example, some people avoid eating at the restaurants because they are not familiar with Asian food and don’t know how to order.
“People look (at the businesses) from the outside. They don’t know what’s inside so they’re scared and don’t want to go in – very normal.”
Peter So, chair of the Chinatown BIA and owner of So Good restaurant, agrees that a tour is an excellent way to welcome people to Chinatown.
“Economy is not good right now, people do not want to take chances," So says.
"But a food tour is sort of an introduction to what we have in here at a minute cost.”
C’est Bon Cooking took the owners of Chinatown businesses on tours of other Ottawa neighbourhoods including Preston Street, Hintonburg and the ByWard Market, so they could see how the tours work, Fang says.
The owners went to coffee shops where they saw how the beans were roasted as well as had the opportunity to taste and learn about the food at various restaurants, says co-owner of the convenience store General Food Market, Hoon Na.
So also went on the tours and says the one in Chinatown will follow a similar style.
“We show what we (restaurants) serve, what we sell and look at our design and how we run the business.”
Na says he enjoyed seeing the restaurants’ passion for their food and culture.
He says if his store is part of the tour, he would like to bring the same sense of pride when showcasing it.
So says he is looking forward to the tours in Chinatown because they will bring more customers to the area.
During the tour, So says he went into restaurants he never would have gone to before and he was surprised when he enjoyed the food.
So he says he hopes people will have the same experience when touring Chinatown.
So also says he hopes the tours will show people that Chinatown is a viable place for a business and encourage them to open up their own in one of the area’s many empty spaces.
The tours are not just for tourists but locals as well.
“You get used to shopping in one neighbourhood and you don’t feel the need to go somewhere else,” Riffou says, “It (the tour) opens up a whole new world of new places to shop.”
Riffou’s tours have been successful in bringing more customers to other Ottawa neighbourhoods.
“By inviting people to come in and discover what’s inside, people will come back, and they do.”