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Ontario Tourism Summit 2025 - Ottawa |
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Building Your Business. Living Abundantly. Collaboration.
Join the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario this October 28th and 29th at the Ontario Tourism Summit - Ontario's award winning, flagship tourism industry conference, bringing together hundreds of operators, destinations, municipalities, community leaders, sector associations, and decision-makers from across the province.
Held at the Ottawa Conference & Event Centre, the 2025 programming comes at a pivotal moment: a relentless year marked by elections, shifting priorities, climate pressures, safety considerations, rising costs, and rapid advances in technology. The need to think differently and work together has never been greater.
This year’s Summit focuses on helping tourism stakeholders strengthen operations, build resilience, and unlock shared value across communities. The conference programming is curated by industry input and aligned with priorities identified through the Ontario Tourism Strategy consultations. |
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RTO3 Product Development Partnership Opportunities Webinar |
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Join us virtually on Tuesday, September 16 between 10:00 am to 2:00 pm for an information webinar on our Product Development partnership opportunities (Shoulder Season Experience Development & Certification Support).
Learn about our Shoulder Season Experience Development, and each of the certifications and how being Feast On® Certified, Rainbow Registered, or registered with Ontario By Bike can help you reach new audiences and open new opportunities. The webinar is an open meeting room and partners can join and leave at their convenience based on which opportunity they are interested to learn about.
Agenda 9:00 to 10:00 am - Shoulder Season Experience Development - Bev Scott, RTO3 10:30 to 11:30 am - Certification by Ontario by Bike - Maureen Beatty, RTO3 11:45 am to 12:45 pm - Rainbow Registered - Victoria Wicks, CGLCC 1:00 to 2:00 pm - Feast On® - Rebecca Mackenzie, CTA
RTO3 will then assist you in taking the next step in developing a shoulder season experience, or by covering 50% of your first-year certification fees if you are eligible for certification. |
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2025/26 Partnership Funding Program Intake 2: Still Open! |
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Our 2025/26 Partnership Funding opportunities are still available. Applications must be submitted via our Google forms that are open until October 28, 2025; or until capacity is reached. Multiple applications are allowed and partnerships will be awarded subject to availability, program fit and equitable distribution of funds.
Shoulder Season Experience Development Looking to extend your business season by creating experiences in November through April? RTO3 matches your investment to develop shoulder season offerings to attract visitors year-round.
Certification Support Build business credentials with nationally recognized certifications that appeal to specific visitor markets. RTO3 covers 50% of first-year certification costs for: Rainbow Registered by Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce, Feast On® by Culinary Tourism Alliance, and Ontario By Bike registered.
Travel Influencer Marketing Planning to work with travel influencers? Partner with us to stretch your budget through cost-sharing and create more authentic content for their followers. |
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Co-op Advertising: Paid Social Media Campaign Double your marketing budget with our social media advertising partnership, driving traffic to your business for up to 8 weeks with expert campaign management. Please note that the campaign must be at least 8 weeks from your application date.
Photography Asset Development Ready to refresh your visual storytelling? Partner with professional photographer Damian Dudek of Dudek Photography to capture premium-quality images of your business, products, or events at a special discounted rate. |
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RTO3 Fall 2025 Industry Exchange |
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Join us for our annual Fall 2025 Industry Exchange, where we continue our Sustainable Tourism Learning Series and feature expert insights, real-world case studies, and actionable strategies. Date: November 12th, Wednesday
Time: 9:00am to 2:00pm
Address: Sandman Hotel Oakville (3451 South Service Road West, Oakville, L6L 0C3)
This year, we will explore how tourism operators and event professionals can create meaningful, sustainable gatherings that benefit communities, reduce environmental impact, and enhance visitor experiences.
Our Keynote this year is Natalie Lowe, co-founder of The Sustainable Events Forum, who will present on Greener Gatherings: Sustainable Events for Tourism and Community Impact – a keynote on integrating sustainability into tourism events |
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| In 2018, Natalie co-founded The Sustainable Events Forum (TSEF), a platform dedicated to educating and empowering event professionals to integrate sustainable practices into their work. Under her leadership, TSEF has grown into a recognized authority in the field, hosting initiatives like "Earth Day for Event People" and offering resources to help planners reduce their environmental impact. |
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Register through the form below and participate in a day of insightful presentations, interactive workshops, and networking opportunities designed to equip tourism operators with practical tools for sustainability. |
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Ontario Tourism Education Corporation Training Solutions |
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As leaders in customer service, leadership strategy, and training, Ontario Tourism Education Corporation(OTEC) offers a variety of innovative training for front-line staff and management to help your organization develop, perform, and succeed.
Facilitated, online, blended learning or custom-built solutions ensure OTEC has an option suited to any business or organization’s needs. Let their training experts provide you with the tools, resources, and knowledge to attract and retain employees, to hire the best, and engage all generations of your workforce. |
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Our fall campaign is now fully underway! Running from August 25 to November 14, the campaign will focus on three key themes that align with current domestic travel preferences and highlight the strengths of our region throughout the season.
Flavour Routes: Autumn Edit. and Fall Flavour Finds showcase the culinary experiences and delicious flavours across the region |
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Fall for it All celebrates autumn in the heart of Ontario as a season of vibrant colour, outdoor adventures and cozy experiences as the weather begins to cool.
Explore Proudly and Visit Responsibly continues to invite visitors to become part of our region's story through respectful, responsible travel that protects natural spaces while supporting local cultures and businesses. |
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| Free Marketing Opportunities with RTO3 |
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Ensure your business listings are up-to-date on our visitor website theheartofontario.com and share what's happening in your business with our Marketing & Communications team so we can amplify your events, experiences, and offerings through our social media channels on Facebook and Instagram and our monthly e-newsletters. |
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Get Listed on Our High-Traffic Consumer Website Take advantage of our consumer website traffic by creating a self-serve listing account. This free marketing opportunity allows eligible tourism-facing businesses to showcase their business, events, tours and experiences. Last year, over 330,000 unique visitors explored theheartofontario.com, generating 200,000+ partner listing views and 136,000+ direct referrals to tourism operator websites. |
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Keep Us Updated on What's New Share your business updates, special events, and new experiences directly with our marketing team. We regularly feature operator content across our email marketing (65,000+ subscribers) and social media platforms (65,000+ followers). This additional free opportunity allows us to promote your business to our engaged audiences at no cost to you! We encourage you to submit content to us reguarly throughout the year! |
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