Industry Updates

The Government of Canada invests nearly $7.5 million in community infrastructure and tourism to grow the economy across the Golden Horseshoe. 

On January 9th, the Honourable Filomena Tassi, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), along with Lisa Hepfner, Member of Parliament for Hamilton Mountain, announced a total investment of nearly $7.5 million for 31 projects across the Golden Horseshoe, including Hamilton, Halton, Haldimand-Norfolk and Brant. These investments, through the Canada Community Revitalization Fund (CCRF) and the Tourism Relief Fund (TRF), will create and rejuvenate community spaces and enhance tourism attractions to welcome more visitors and build stronger, more vibrant communities that will lead to job creation, and a growing economy that works for everyone. 
The full list of all 31 projects can be found on the Government of Canada's Website.

NEW 2024-2025 HHBRTA Partnership Funding Program

The Hamilton Halton Brant Regional Tourism Association (HHBRTA) is committed to working with regional tourism industry partners to create high quality, new or enhanced experiences that will drive new visits and spending in the region of Hamilton Halton Brant. There are four streams regional industry partners can participate in to promote, develop and deliver events, experiences or offers.

The four new funding streams are:

• STREAM 1: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
• STREAM 2: Sustainable Tourism
• STREAM 3: Product Development
• STREAM 4: Marketing Development

Eligible partners include:

• Tourism Enterprises & Related Businesses
• Destination Management Organizations
• Business Improvement Associations
• Tourism Organizations
• Accommodations
• Municipalities
• Associations or interest groups with an active interest in tourism

HHBRTA may host two intake periods depending on the number of approved submissions during the first intake period.

INTAKE 1 DEADLINE: May 3, 2024 at 5:00p.m.

INTAKE 2 DEADLINE (IF INTAKE 1 IS NOT FULLY SUBSCRIBED): September 27, 2024 at 5:00p.m.

Projects can apply for multiple funding streams where relevant. Only one application submission per applicant will be considered. Multiple applications will not be permitted.

Details and application form can be found on the Hamilton Halton Brant Regional Tourism Association website.

Propel: Student Work Placement Program

Tourism HR Canada announced the launch of a federally funded Student Work Placement Program offering paid work-integrated learning opportunities in the tourism and hospitality sector.

Called Propel, the new program benefits the full spectrum of the visitor economy as it emerges from the crushing impact of the pandemic. Propel coordinates wage subsidies for registered Canadian businesses, startups, and not-for-profits related to the tourism and hospitality sector. The position being covered must be a work-integrated learning opportunity for a post-secondary student.

Students, employers and post-secondary institutions in the tourism and hospitality sector can find out more information on TourismHR's website.

Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund

The Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund (OCAF) has three aims:

1. to increase cultural tourism by providing investments to assist Ontario organizations to develop, promote and present one- off or first time events, or a significant expansion of existing activity, which are designed to attract new tourists and visitors to cultural events;
2. increase the earned revenue capability of the applicant organization; and
3. support events that foster economic growth and contribute to job creation.

OCAF achieves this by providing up front working capital directed towards the applicant’s marketing and promotional costs, with the investment taking the form of a partially repayable loan.

Applying to the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund is a two-stage process, which ensures that organizations do not dedicate significant time, effort and resources to an ineligible project. The OCAF Program Guide provides all relevant criteria about the application process. 

• Stage 1 requires the applicant to complete a three-page form with basic information about the proposed project and target market. This application is reviewed by program staff.  If the project meets the general eligibility criteria, applicants will be provided with the Stage 2 application form.
• The Stage 2 application requires the development of a detailed business case that includes a marketing plan, attendance and revenue projections and an analysis of the benefits of the project for the community. Stage 2 applications are reviewed by the OCAF board once staff has done a preliminary assessment.

Additional information and the program application is available on the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund website.

Celebrate Ontario Blockbuster

Offered through the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, the Celebrate Ontario Blockbuster funding program supports costs related to hosting a major one-time event in Ontario. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis, however you must submit your application at least four months before your event start date.

Indigenous Tourism Ontario – Business Advisory Program

Indigenous Tourism Ontario (ITO) offers one-on-one support services to Indigenous tourism businesses. Indigenous Business Advisors (IBA) Program will assist Indigenous tourism businesses throughout the province to improve sustainability and resiliency and encourage success within their operations. The IBA Program uses a relationship-focused approach whereby businesses receive one-on-one support from industry leading Indigenous tourism professionals. This innovative program will be the first of its kind in Canada.

The Ontario Tourism Education Corporation (OTEC) is an Ontario-based independent, not-for-profit training, consulting and workforce development organization that delivers high quality, creative and branded solutions for the development and growth of a professional, skilled workforce. It is a leading source of support for community workforce capacity building and for helping companies attract, retain, and develop high performing employees and become Employers of Choice. OTEC is the premier source for Customer Service training and strategy development, Tourism Ambassador training and occupational certification, leadership skills training, and education products and services for tourism, hospitality and service oriented organizations in a wide range of industry sectors both nationally and internationally. 

Learn more about OTEC's Workforce Development, including Tourism SkillsNet Ontario, and Training Solutions for tourism-oriented businesses on their website.

A new report has been released from Research and Markets. Here are some of the highlights:

• The global adventure tourism market reached a value of US$ 852.4 Billion in 2021. Looking forward, the publisher expects the market to reach US$ 2,548.2 Billion by 2027, exhibiting at a CAGR of 20.23% during 2022-2027.
• The escalating demand for authentic and personalized traveling experience on account of rapid urbanization, improving disposable incomes, rising social media influence, and affordable air travel tickets represents one of the key factors bolstering the market growth.
• The growing awareness about the adverse impact of conventional tourism, such as soil erosion, increasing pollution, and natural habitat loss, is shifting the preferences of travelers towards sustainable and adventure tourism.
• The report provides an analysis of the key trends in each sub-segment of the global adventure tourism market, along with forecasts at the global, regional and country level from 2022-2027. The report has categorized the market based on type, activity, age group and sales channel.

Find out more Adventure Tourism Market: Global Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2022-2027.

Timely and relevant tourism research information is important to marketing strategy, partners and tourism businesses operating in today’s competitive travel market. Destination Ontario conducts primary, proprietary tourism-related research and has access to third-party research. It is our goal to provide reports with actionable insights that enable the industry to market their products more effectively.

Destination Ontario's corporate website includes research and insights related to segmentation, visitor spending in Ontario, performance and market trends based on border crossing statistics, and monthly consumer sentiment and economic modelling studies.

TIAO has been chosen by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) to administer the Safe Travels Stamp in Canada. The Safe Travels Stamp is an international symbol designed to allow travellers to recognize governments and companies around the world, which have adopted health and hygiene standardized protocols  – so consumers can experience ‘Safe Travels’.

Apply for the Safe Travels Stamp on the TIAO website.