MUSKOKA, Ont. — The Ontario Tourism Summit, hosted by the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) and presented by Destination Ontario, took place on Oct. 25 and 26 at the Deerhurst Resort in Muskoka, Ont., bringing together more than 450 in-person attendees. The summit was executed as a hybrid event with mainstage programming live-broadcasted to both in-person and at-home audience.
This year’s theme was Re-invigorating our Industry, which highlighted localization, innovation and confidence. Conference programming content included labour, supply chain, transportation, affordable/available housing, inclusivity, sustainability and Indigenous-led initiatives.
Additionally, session highlights included government leaders with in-person remarks and a fireside chat with Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism of Canada and Associate Minister of Finance, and Honourable Neil Lumsden, Ontario Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Other highlights included discussions with industry experts, such as sports-tourism expert Grant MacDonald, who addressed how to view sports tourism as an economic driver regardless of size and scope of community, and Jon Bromstein, head of Industry, Google, who spoke about the predictive power of search trends. TIAO and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce also released their annual State of the Tourism Industry Report.
The event wrapped up with the 2022 Ontario Tourism Awards Gala, where tourism industry leaders were recognized for their innovation, sustainability, collaboration and influential impact on the industry.
