'Love of Land Leads to Successful Eco-Tourism Lodge'
by Anita Daher in the Northern Business Journal, January 2004
Want to know the secret to running a successful eco-tourism business in Northern Ontario? According to Britta Wolfert of Sky Bear Lodge in Wabos, northeast of Sault Ste. Marie, it’s this — be aggressive, stay creative, and never bite off more than you can chew.
This business enterprises begins with a love story but there have been difficulties. For Britta and husband Jeff Hinich, however, they wouldn’t have it any other way.
The couple met during the summer of 1979 when Britta left her Hamburg, Germany home to stay with Oscar and Irma Mahlmann just north of Sault Ste. Marie.
Jeff, a botany student at the University of Wisconsin, spent his summers guiding for Oscar, taking groups on 18-day tours of Lake Superior’s north shore. On one such trip Britta was asked along.
“Being that close to nature was just so wonderful,” Britta says. “I caught the Canada bug.”
In 1983, Jeff and Britta married. Wanting to stay in the area, they found a two-room cabin once owned by an old trapper in nearby Wabos, and immediately contacted his nephew. Britta chuckles as she remembers the man asking, “Why would you want to settle in this God-forsaken land?”
Just then the couple looked out over the valley, they saw the sun shine just right and were immediately struck by the colours and the breathtaking beauty of the land.
“This was a sign,” Britta says. “This was where we knew we wanted to be.”
From that small cabin in the woods the couple expanded, launched a bed and breakfast and bought additional property. Eventually, the business grew into today’s Sky Bear Lodge, an all-season two-chalet resort offering nature getaways, spa retreats, and a jump-off point for area attractions such as Searchmont Ski Resort, the Agawa Canyon Tour Train, and a groomed snowmachine trail connecting the Sault, Searchmont and Wawa.
Jeff credits Britta for the beginnings of their lodge.
“I was pretty North American in my sensibilities,” he says. “I didn’t want strangers coming into our house, but Britta explained that bed and breakfasts are a European tradition. Running the B and B has totally enriched our lives.”
It continues to do so today. Through good times and bad, a deep and enduring desire to share their love for the old growth forest with guests from around the world has helped them survive the odd bump.
“To have a small lodge is not easy,” Britta says, citing the recent increase in electricity rates, new water regulations, and rising insurance rates.
“Companies are not as willing anymore to insure people with the slightest risk. If you have a woodstove in your cabin, or if you have horses, it’s harder.”
Through strategic partnerships and Internet marketing, however, Sky Bear Lodge continues to succeed.
“The Internet is a wonderful tool,” Britta says enthusiastically. “You let people know you’re out there, and find out what they really want.”
Sky Bear Lodge has benefited by partnering with other tourism operators such as the Agawa Central Railway and Searchmont Ski Resort.
By sharing promotional initiatives and offering value-added packages, Sky Bear Lodge has received more exposure than it otherwise would have.
Britta stresses that to remain competitive, small lodge operators need to be open to new ideas.
A few years ago Candy Beaulieu from Sault Ste. Marie’s Healing Arts Centre contacted the couple and suggested a Spa Weekend.
Through Candy, guests and day visitors now have an opportunity to hike, hot-tub, and finish with a massage, facial and more.
These days Jeff and Britta, along with children Myrica and Forrest, run a triple enterprise — the lodge and a cedar shake business in Wabos as well as a bed and breakfast in Sault Ste. Marie.
The closure of Searchmont School in June 2003 made the move from their beloved woods necessary.
With difficulties such as a school closure, rising costs, and restrictive regulations, some might be tempted to throw in the towel. Not Jeff and Britta. Their love for the land and desire to share it strengthens their resolve to carry on.
Jeff credits an old Wabos trapper with words he’s come to live by — “Stack your woodpile high. You will survive.”
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