ONTARIO TOURISM AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE

Lifetime Achievement Award (Sponsored by Air Canada)

Rory Golden Executive Chef, Deerhurst Resort

Rory Golden is Executive Chef and Director of Food and Beverage at Deerhurst Resort, one of Ontario’s oldest and most revered resorts, located in Huntsville in Muskoka. In his more-than-three decades as either Executive Chef, Director of Food and Beverage, or both, he has been a key driver in putting Muskoka on the provincial, national and international map as a year-round tourist destination, equally famous for its culinary offerings as its natural setting. Chef Golden has also been a quiet and humble driver of the culinary arts in Ontario via decades of not only chef development but also the development of Ontario culinary accreditation.

Tourism Champion of the Year

This award is given to an individual who embodies the spirit of tourism in Ontario. Both winners this year received several nominations.

Mark Bingeman, President, Bingemans

Over the past year and a half, Mark has embodied the spirit of tourism. He is a leader of the industry, not only in Waterloo region, but across the Province of Ontario. From the very early days of lockdowns, and despite facing tremendous financial stress at his own operation, he volunteered to serve on countless recovery task forces, registered to speak at every opportunity there was to speak with elected officials from all levels of government, shared his knowledge and experience with others in the attractions, restaurant and events business and worked with both Explore Waterloo Region and his own team to pivot to meet and survive through the pandemic. Mark is a tireless volunteer and an enthusiastic supporter of our industry.

Laurie Marcil, Executive Director, NOTO

Laurie treats everyone with respect, is always personable and calmly articulates her opinion. She has a unique ability to listen to other points of view to see how they have derived their conclusion. This allows her to find a solution in a professional manner and articulate her response. Her endless pursuit to clarify government messaging, point out what and who have been overlooked, make logical suggestions to improve Government programs, seek clarifications on Government regulations, and advocate for all the changes required to make things work are just some of the reasons shared in Laurie’s nomination.

Ontario Tourism Choice Awards

Attractions Ontario provides guests with the information they need to plan trip activities, including coupons for a myriad of attractions across the province. Ontario’s Choice Awards invite visitors and locals to vote for their favourites in eight different categories from April to October. The three attractions with the most votes across all categories are named finalists for the Attraction of the Year Award, and the top-voted attraction is selected as the recipient.

FINALISTS ATTRACTION OF THE YEAR:

• Winter Festival of Lights
• Treetop Trekking
• Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada

Ontario’s Choice Award for Attraction of the Year — Treetop Trekking

Canada's leader in zip line adventures and unique forest experiences. Guests of all ages and abilities are able to experience nature like never before, surrounded by a team of friendly and energetic staff. Climb, swing, and zip through the forest canopy on exciting aerial game courses. Child specific activities introduce the youngest explorers to nature in a safe and fun way.

THE 2021 ONTARIO TOURISM RESILIENCY AWARD FINALISTS

2020 was a year like no other, requiring determination and perseverance. In a year fraught with innumerable operating obstacles, exceptional tourism businesses rose to the challenge and continued to innovate and engage with partners and their communities, even when unable to open for regular business. A year that was so very different for the tourism industry calls for an award reflective of the times; An award that fairly recognizes the achievements of tourism businesses regardless of operating status. The Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) in partnership with Attractions Ontario, The Culinary Tourism Alliance, Indigenous Tourism Ontario and OTEC is proud to present the finalists for the Ontario Tourism Resiliency Awards.

SUSTAINABILITY

INNOVATION

COLLABORATION

CONGRATULATIONS WINNERS OF THE

2021 ONTARIO TOURISM RESILIENCY AWARD

SUSTAINABILITY

Accommodation

Elmhirst’s Resort

A comprehensive assessment (August2020) has led to Elmhirst’s Resort being awarded GOLD certification(December 2020)from North America’s largest sustainable tourism certification program: GreenStepSustainable Tourism 2030. “Sustainability has always been an important part of the way Elmhirst’s Resort conducts its business activities. The Sustainable Tourism 2030 certification validated much of the work we have done so far but also highlighted some important next steps. Applying a clearer focus to measuring key energy,environment and social impacts, setting goals to sustain consistent improvement,and getting everyone involved on both sides of our guest relationships will amplify the work we have done already. The changes caused by the unprecedented challenges of 2020 create an opportunity to look at Elmhirst’s Resort in new ways and implement new solutions” said Greg Elmhirst, General Manager.

Attractions

Topsy Farms

"In 2020, we hired a Tourism and Events Coordinator (Colette). We had a full calendar of events planned, large and small, free, and ticketed. That all changed in March. We sat together as a family, as friends, as business partners. We made the decision to channel our fear into action. To make use of our social media following tot each people how to take charge of their own food security during a time of uncertainty. To be a leader in our local community. To invest our financial and energy resources into building gardens for our neighbours (and to document and share the process).So that is what we did. In June of 2020, Topsy Farms builds 20 free gardens for our neighbours in 30 days(during our busiest season–lambing and haying). We tell a story of hope, of hard work, of overcoming. We forge new partnerships with like-minded organizations like Kubota Canada.And that message resonates with Canadians. The surplus food that is produced is donated to our favourite local food distribution centre, The Loving Spoonful. $2000 is also donated to the Loving Spoonful by Kubota in our name."

Beverages

Bench Brewing Company - Carbon Neutral Certification and B-Corp Status

"In 2020 while the world slowed down, at Bench Brewing Company, we were working hard at improving our sustainability efforts throughout our business.We began the path to B-Corp and to Carbon Neutral certification in 2019, and were able to achieve both for our 2020 operations. CARBON NEUTRAL CERTIFICATION: From operations in 2019 to 2020, we reduced our GHG emissions by 69%, or 788 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e), from 1,141 tCO₂e to 353 tCO₂e. We have accounted for the GHG Emissions that we were unable to remove in 2020, and have offset them through purchasing and retiring 360 tCO₂e of carbon offsets. B-CORP CERTIFICATION: Bench Brewing Company has become a Certified B Corporation, joining a global group of companies that are using business as a force for good-redefining success to build a more inclusive and sustainable economy. The "B" stands for beneficial and indicates that the certified organizations voluntarily meet certain standards of transparency, accountability, sustainability, and performance, with an aim to create value for society, not just for traditional stakeholders such as a company’s shareholders."

Convention, Conference, Event Planner

Topsy Farms

"In 2020, we hired a Tourism and Events Coordinator (Colette). We had a full calendar of events planned, large and small, free, and ticketed. That all changed in March. We sat together as a family, as friends, as business partners. We made the decision to channel our fear into action. To make use of our social media following tot each people how to take charge of their own food security during a time of uncertainty. To be a leader in our local community. To invest our financial and energy resources into building gardens for our neighbours (and to document and share the process).So that is what we did. In June of 2020, Topsy Farms builds 20 free gardens for our neighbours in 30 days(during our busiest season–lambing and haying). We tell a story of hope, of hard work, of overcoming. We forge new partnerships with like-minded organizations like Kubota Canada.And that message resonates with Canadians. The surplus food that is produced is donated to our favourite local food distribution centre, The Loving Spoonful. $2000 is also donated to the Loving Spoonful by Kubota in our name."

Destination Marketing Organization

Tourism Kingston, Frontenac's Farms to Kingston's Tables

The Frontenac Farms to Kingston Tables project leveraged existing assets, itineraries,and experiences to explore the interconnected culinary relationship between the two neighbouring regions. These experiences were mapped to key COVID-19 travel trends to encourage safe, regional travel that supports local operators. The unique selling proposition is the close relationship between the area’s producers and creators and the ability to experience the region in many ways including on foot and on the plate. Frontenac County and Visit Kingston partnered on the development ofvisitkingston.ca/culinary,a microsite that explores the rich stories of the region’s farmers and chefs. Featuring videos and written stories about a variety of farmers and producers in Frontenac, and restaurants and food shops in Kingston, the assets developed set the stage to tell the story of the region. The site also features a listings map that identifies the farmers, retailers, and restaurants in the region that contribute to the holistic farm-to-table experience.

Festivals & Events

Canadian Live Music Association (CLMA)

As the voice of Canada's live music industry, CLMA led multiple advocacy efforts, as well as fundraising campaigns in an attempt to support this sector that represents live music from the smallest venue to multiple night stadium presence. The CLMA persevered with the rigorous effort it took to put together a live concert series that featured 30 concerts live streamed from stages across Canada.

Food Service

Radical Gardens

Economic Sustainability: Radical Gardens (RG) has contributed to the wealth of Timmins and the region in many ways, especially when it comes to growth and job creation. Though RG doesn’t employ hundreds of people or generate millions of dollars in revenue, it is an important part of the regional entrepreneurship ecosystem and agri-food sector. Social Sustainability: RG chooses to hire and employ people who often don’t qualify for work anywhere else because of numerous structural barriers and directly contributes to the rehabilitation and growth of any employee who walks through her doors. RG currently employees a former homeless person and someone who is neuro-diverse. RG established a wellness program for their employees during the pandemic as the workload was stressful and the overall atmosphere was highly charged. Environmental Sustainability: RG is a LEAF certified business, which means sustainability is built into the corporate model.

Independent Business

Cape Croker Park

Cape Croker Park is a community tourism destination developed, owned, and operated since 1967 by the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation. The Park is located on the shores of Georgian Bay in Bruce County. With 315 campsites, incredible hiking, scenic vistas, and waterways, it is a popular destination for families, couples and explorers. The Park is important because it provides employment for community members and students, and it is one of the only Indigenous tourism products in the region.

Indigenous Tourism Operator

Thrive Tours

Thrive Tours is an Indigenous owned & operated guided Eco-Cultural tourism company located in Sault Ste. Marie. Thrive Tours focuses on reconnecting with nature with quality experiences and adventure through guided canoe, kayak, hiking, snowshoeing, and year round camping. In the spirit of promoting and maintaining local Indigenous practices and philosophies. Thrive Tours is adopting a zero footprint objective so that the environment will be clean and sustainable for many generations to come. Providing a safe and ecologically friendly way to traverse the heart of Turtle Island (North America) and teach the real history of Indigenous peoples and our culture on our ancestral land.

Marine

Madawaska Kanu Centre (MKC)

Currently run by the family’s third generation, Madawaska Kanu Centre was the vision of Christa & Hermann Kerckhoff. Winning the individual Canadian Whitewater Kayak Champion title in 1968 the couple was inspired to get more paddlers out on rivers. The first white water school in the world was born. Modelled after the European ski school concept where paddlers are divided into skill level groups, good food, and a great atmosphere lead to the ‘Rapid Education’ we know as MKCtoday! The Madawaska River location became the river of choice with its technical rapids and guaranteed surface water releases providing warm whitewater all summer long. "This river and this forest have been our home now for 50 years. The Algonquin and Anishinabek people have lived here for millennia. We hold the responsibility to ensure it will continue to thrive for future generations. This watershed is our home, our work, our community and our playground."

Outdoor

Madawaska Kanu Centre (MKC)

Currently run by the family’s third generation, Madawaska Kanu Centre was the vision of Christa & Hermann Kerckhoff. Winning the individual Canadian Whitewater Kayak Champion title in 1968 the couple was inspired to get more paddlers out on rivers. The first white water school in the world was born. Modelled after the European ski school concept where paddlers are divided into skill level groups, good food, and a great atmosphere lead to the ‘Rapid Education’ we know as MKCtoday! The Madawaska River location became the river of choice with its technical rapids and guaranteed surface water releases providing warm whitewater all summer long. "This river and this forest have been our home now for 50 years. The Algonquin and Anishinabek people have lived here for millennia. We hold the responsibility to ensure it will continue to thrive for future generations. This watershed is our home, our work, our community and our playground."

Regional Tourism Organization

Destination Northern Ontario

Destination Northern Ontario (DNO) directly supports tourism businesses and communities to build better quality experiences that resonate with consumers to grow the industry by increasing visitation and yield. DNO’s success is a result of collaborative relationships and partnerships with operators, communities and other stakeholders which leverages resources and results. This pan-northern partnership approach not only encourages the development of innovative tourism programs and initiatives, but it also allows for quick and coordinated responses to crises. DNO supported its Travel Information Centres (TICs), enabling them to be sustainable during the unprecedented crisis posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Destination Northern Ontario has been actively involved in supporting the region’s non-Provincial Travel Information Centres, starting with the commissioning of the Northern Ontario Travel Information Centre Strategy in 2016. Since its completion, DNO has provided both training tools and funding to the TICs in order to ensure their sustainability and consistency in the delivery of a high level of customer service.

Resource Based Tourism

Thrive Tours

Thrive Tours is an Indigenous owned & operated guided Eco-Cultural tourism company located in Sault Ste. Marie. Thrive Tours focuses on reconnecting with nature with quality experiences and adventure through guided canoe, kayak, hiking, snowshoeing, and year round camping. In the spirit of promoting and maintaining local Indigenous practices and philosophies. Thrive Tours is adopting a zero footprint objective so that the environment will be clean and sustainable for many generations to come. Providing a safe and ecologically friendly way to traverse the heart of Turtle Island (North America) and teach the real history of Indigenous peoples and our culture on our ancestral land.

Transportation

Owl Rafting

"We are family owned and operated, beginning with our founders Hermann and Christa Kerckhoff in 1981. The Kerckhoff’s immigrated to Canada in the late 50’s and fell in love with the river, in 1972 they started the world's first whitewater kayak and canoe school known as Madawaska Kanu Centre. Hermann and their daughter Claudia were the first kayakers to descend the Ottawa River, discovering a prime location for rafting. Now both companies are thriving thanks to their current owners Claudia and Dirk Van Wijk. The third generation are quickly becoming more involved as well with Stefani Van Wijk as Director of MKC and Katrina heads up the marketing and design. We are proud to share our magical home of the river with you!"

Winter

Cape Croker Park

Cape Croker Park is a community tourism destination developed, owned, and operated since 1967 by the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation. The Park is located on the shores of Georgian Bay in Bruce County. With 315 campsites, incredible hiking, scenic vistas, and waterways, it is a popular destination for families, couples and explorers. The Park is important because it provides employment for community members and students, and it is one of the only Indigenous tourism products in the region.

INNOVATION

Accommodation

Great Wolf Lodge, Niagara Falls

Prior to Covid-19 the company focus had been the classic '3-Legged Stool' business model - staff, guests, financial. The innovative approach taken was to: Keep the Wolf Pack close and safe; Support the community; Keep the business viable. The Great Wolf Lodge approach to Covid-19 was innovative, quite simply because there was no knowledge on how to navigate a family waterpark resort through a pandemic. Although only a skeletal staff remained employed, the team responded with a level of resiliency worth recognizing. The results of their actions had a positive impact on the quality of life in Ontario and directly benefited the Ontario tourism sector. "We never lost sight of the strength of the Wolf Pack, the value of our product and the loyalty of our guests, and with that in mind, we did everything we could to keep it together. " Keith Simmonds, Vice President and General Manager, Great Wolf Lodge, Niagara Falls.

The Iron Kettle Bed & Breakfast

At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, LeBlanc-Beaudoin and his wife Ginette had to quickly adapt their business model in order to weather the financial storm, suspending their overnight accommodations and shifting their focus to the culinary side of the operation. In February this year, Iron Kettle launched ironkettletakeout.com, a dedicated website for ordering take-out. And in March, Iron Kettle celebrated their 7th anniversary. While Ben and Ginette look forward to welcoming guests back to their Bed & Breakfast when it’s safe to do so, Iron Kettle continues to offer takeout. Their Bread Boutique too remains open, offering beautiful loaves that represent Iron Kettle’s passion and spirit, to the people of Comber.

Attractions

Westben Centre for Connection & Creativity Through Music

In March 2020 when the pandemic was declared in Ontario, Westben Centre for Connection & Creativity Through Music (Westben Concerts at The Barn) went from having 90 concert and community events to zero events, from welcoming 10,000 annual visitors to welcoming zero visitors. Westben is located just outside the small town of Campbellford, Ontario in the rolling farmlands of Trent Hills in Northumberland County, two hours east of Toronto. The main concert venue is a beautiful 400 seat timber-framed barn located on a 50-acre farm. For over 20 years Westben has presented multi genre concerts and one-of-a-kind experiences amongst breathtaking nature. The Trent Hills rural community was devastated as many communities were by the pandemic. Westben’s Sunshine Ahead! campaign was created to bring some sunshine and stimulate economic growth to help our community locally and connect with global communities. Sunshine Ahead! campaign consisted of 8 innovative products and over 100 videos. All programs were free to the public so they could garner maximum reach and be accessible to everyone. The goal was to reach and connect with a broader audience so when we could return to live events, we would have an audience that was already connected to Westben and would be ready to return to live events.

Beverages

Tom Lucier and Ian Phillips:  Phog Lounge/Meteor Lounge

In summer of 2020 when the first lockdowns in Ontario began to be lifted, Tom Lucier and IanPhillips began to see the light at the end of a cold barren spring. In June 2020, patrons to Lucier’s Phog Lounge in Windsor began to gather for parking lot poutine and craft beer with live Jazz being played outside. The summer was a good one with patrons gathering for socially distanced gatherings.As summer waned, and cooler temperatures arrived, the prospect of a winter without business for the partners of Meteor was daunting. As business slowed to a trickle and prospects for indoor entertainment in 2020 were dashed, the two hatched a plan.Parking lot gatherings weren’t going to work in the winter and selling once a week poutine by pickup was not going to put the businesses in the black. And as Windsor’s champion of the live music scene Lucier noted that musicians had nowhere to play.It was time to turn the pandemic into an opportunity. They would take what they do best, poutine and local musician connections and partner with a local brewery to deliver live entertainment, food and drink to the front lawns of their patrons.

Convention, Conference, Event Planner

Bingemans

Over the 2020 calendar year, Bingemans engaged in many new and creative initiatives supporting Ontario residents and our business partners. All these initiatives allowed the public to get out and have some sense of normalcy while keeping to covid safety protocols. Many of these initiatives also provided operational and financial support to partnering businesses, who pre-covid likely never thought of working together for the common benefit of one another. Activities between January 1-December 31, 2020: Bingemans@HOME initiatives; On The Grand Drive-In Entertainment; Trick or Treat Drive-Thru; Drive-in Drone Light Shows.

Cycling

WindsorEats

After the pandemic left Point Pelee National Park with no equipment rentals or food and beverage service, WindsorEats approached Parks Canada to form a partnership. As a result, WindsorEats stationed our Traveller mobile bar at the Northwest Beach to provide bicycle rental services as well as beverage service to park visitors. There, we served customers from across Ontario and offered creative mocktails like the Monarch Mojito which complimented Point Pelee National Park and its offerings.

By providing online availability for the bike rentals, WindsorEats regularly rented out our allotment of bikes prior to arriving for the day to set up.

Destination Marketing Organization

Haldimand County

Haldimand’s Business Development Advisory and Planning Advisory Committee(BDAPAC) along with staff, developed an Economic Development and Tourism COVID-19Business Recovery Strategy that was shared and approved by Council. A vital element to the business recovery plan included an extensive staff outreach to Haldimand County businesses to better understand their challenges and provide support. It became clear that it was of great importance to support our local businesses through the pandemic and promoting to residents and neighbouring communities became the focus, as COVID 19 restrictions curbed wider marketing campaigns. A brand element was created to tie in an overarching series of campaigns promoting local tourism businesses. The graphic element allowed businesses to incorporate it in their own promotions and gave a cohesive branding to the projects undertaken. The Real. Local. slogan ties in to Haldimand’s current branding with the tagline Real. Potential.

Tourism Hamilton

The much-anticipated release of the 2nd season of the hit Netflix show Umbrella Academy represented an opportunity for Tourism Hamilton to promote the city as both a tourism and filming destination. The top-10 Netflix show was released on July 31, 2020 and featured a Hamilton-based actor and 38 locations around Hamilton. Tourism Hamilton capitalized on this opportunity with the launch of an Umbrella Academy-inspired campaign which included: A Perfect Day in Hamilton, a first-person, morning-to-night itinerary by Umbrella Academy actor T.J. McGibbon describing her ‘perfect day in Hamilton’ with her favourite places to eat and play in her hometown; Film Location Map: an interactive mapping tool letting fans learn more about the show’s diverse shoot locations across the city with backdrops ranging from quaint and historic to rural and pastoral. Many of the sites, like Dundurn Castle or Dyment’s double as popular visitor attractions.

Festivals & Events

Westben Centre for Connection & Creativity Through Music

In March 2020 when the pandemic was declared in Ontario, Westben Centre for Connection & Creativity Through Music (Westben Concerts at The Barn) went from having 90 concert and community events to zero events, from welcoming 10,000 annual visitors to welcoming zero visitors. Westben is located just outside the small town of Campbellford, Ontario in the rolling farmlands of Trent Hills in Northumberland County, two hours east of Toronto. The main concert venue is a beautiful 400 seat timber-framed barn located on a 50-acre farm. For over 20 years Westben has presented multi genre concerts and one-of-a-kind experiences amongst breathtaking nature. The Trent Hills rural community was devasted as many communities were by the pandemic. Westben’s Sunshine Ahead! campaign was created to bring some sunshine and stimulate economic growth to help our community locally and connect with global communities. Sunshine Ahead! campaign consisted of 8 innovative products and over 100 videos. All programs were free to the public so they could garner maximum reach and be accessible to everyone. The goal was to reach and connect with a broader audience so when we could return to live events, we would have an audience that was already connected to Westben and would be ready to return to live events.

Food Service

WindsorEats

With COVID restrictions making it extremely difficult for hospitality and tourism businesses, in addition to many other initiatives, WindsorEats created an Outdoor Food Hall. An outdoor, covered municipal rink was converted into a dining hall which allowed us to leverage the 100 person capacity for outdoor events at the time once the region entered into Stage 2 of reopening. Early on in the pandemic, WindsorEats submitted a proposal to the City of Windsor for the creation of an outdoor food hall. In May 2020, through the Small Business Action Plan, Windsor City Council formally approved the proposal for the use of Lanspeary Rink as an Outdoor Food Hall to assist those businesses that normally relied on festivals and events to generate revenue or those who did not have access to brick and mortar or outdoor patios. In order to create a system that limited contact points between vendors and consumers, WindsorEats created an online order system.

Francophone Tourism Operator

The Iron Kettle Bed & Breakfast

At the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, LeBlanc-Beaudoin and his wife Ginette had to quickly adapt their business model in order to weather the financial storm, suspending their overnight accommodations and shifting their focus to the culinary side of the operation. In February this year, Iron Kettle launched ironkettletakeout.com, a dedicated website for ordering take-out. And in March, Iron Kettle celebrated their 7th anniversary. While Ben and Ginette look forward to welcoming guests back to their Bed & Breakfast when it’s safe to do so, Iron Kettle continues to offer takeout. Their Bread Boutique too remains open, offering beautiful loaves that represent Iron Kettle’s passion and spirit, to the people of Comber.

Independent Business

GroundLevel Insights Inc.

We are pleased to present the GroundLevel Insights, CANATRACE™ platform as a candidate for the TIAO Innovation Award. In October 2020, seeing the need for businesses across the Province to collect contact tracing and symptom screening data, and the burden this placed on industry operators, our company GroundLevel Insights wanted to find a way to help. Shortly thereafter we launched a 100% FREE (and fully bi-lingual) tool called CANATRACE™ to help businesses keep up with the ever-changing requirements for employee and guest COVID screening. We built this service as our way to help and give back to other businesses around us and since our launch in November almost 8,000 businesses across Canada are now using it. From bars/restaurants (Starbucks, Oliver & Bonacini) to factories, farms, and tourist resorts (Blue Mountain, Hidden Valley) and major entertainment venues like Bingemans, Wet n’ Wild, the National Gallery of Canada, and the recent events such as the Calgary Stampede and Beyond Monet exhibits. Here is the website for more info: www.canatrace.co

Indigenous Tourism Operator

TJ Stables

Creating the Spirit Horse Encounter Experience This experience collaborated with an indigenous bakery, Indigenous knowledge keeper, drummer, artist and Local brewing company and winery. During Covid it gave opportunity to family bubbles to enjoy a private local activity while gaining cultural knowledge and the Spirit Horses bridged cultural understanding. Guests were allowed to ask questions to the Indigenous guides in an intimate setting.The Awaken your Spirit experience introduced non indigenous people to a different way of life. The Metis camp is totally authentic and uses only materials found in the 19thcentury. All refuse is organic, and the horses even recycle the hay! (Which then goes on the Garden!)

Marine

Thrive Tours

Thrive Tours has been facilitating cultural wellness events during the summer and fall of 2020 in Sheshegwaning First Nations and in the Algoma region. These wellness events provided a land-based component that allowed all the participants to explore within their community and territories. They provided a healthy outlet for individuals to stay connected with the land and their friends and families in a holistic way. The activities that were provided were canoeing and kayaking on flat water lakes as well as teaching outdoor skills to allow the participants to feel more self-sufficient outdoors. Indigenous culture and history were also shared and information about the flora and fauna of those areas.

Outdoor

Toronto Zoo's Scenic Safari Drive Thru

It was only about one month in to the initial onset of the pandemic in 2020 (April), and while Attractions, Restaurants, Recreational Activities, Retail and more in Toronto and more widely in Ontario were all closing due to the lockdown, the Toronto Zoo team began thinking fast and furiously about how to adapt and reinvent the Zoo experience. Within weeks, the team of Guest Experience, Facilities, Wildlife Care, Communications staff and many more staff were able to quickly and creatively develop an entirely new experience offering for our guests and our community: The NEW Toronto Zoo Scenic Safari Drive Thru Experience! By making use of the large space that the Toronto Zoo grounds occupy, and coming up with an innovative new routing that took our guests on a drive through areas they could never have previously accessed via vehicle, the Scenic Safari was a most welcome opportunity for our guests and community at a time that there was truly nothing else open for them to enjoy recreationally.

Regional Tourism Organization

Hamilton Halton Brant Regional Tourism Association -  Local Marketing Campaigns  (Response to COVID-19 Crisis)

HHBRTA innovated its marketing efforts in response to the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic crisis, HHBRTA took steps to adjust its marketing activities in March2020to pivot and to invest in hyper local marketing initiatives to support local businesses impacted by economic shutdown per government edict. Additionally, HHBRTA evolved its local marketing efforts to align with opening phases allowed by Public Health and government. Travelling when safe, then travelling safely and spending locally have been key messages in marketing efforts. This continued through the whole year and the RTO remained flexible to implement marketing that would support local businesses to stay alive. Business as Usual marketing for the fiscal year was not the priority.Marketing tactics werel ess focussed on content marketing designed to drive partner referrals in favour of more localized support marketing messages of a more general nature. Additionally, paid media and e-marketing tactics designed to drive traffic directly to local DMO or other sites were factored in the RTO’s role in driving referrals.

Resource Based Tourism

Thrive Tours

All of the Ontario residents that took the opportunityto utilize Thrive Tours’ experiences all seemed to take away a sense of new or renewed connection to the land and waters within Ontario. Through informative exploration, those individuals and families were able to experience their own province like they have not before. Most of the guests were used to travelling out ofprovince and most notably down towards the United States. Through interpretive Indigenous guided tours, these guests were able to understand much more about the history of the Indigenous people and our ways which seemed to make them provide a better context of the historical utilization of the areas that were being showcased.

Transportation

Ottawa Boat Cruise/Robert Taillefer/Virtual Tours and EKEAU launch

While OBC was waiting on its season to open, virtual tours of the boats and history of the National Capital Region were created and launched in 8 different languages, all accessible through OBC’s user friendly app. Therefore, people could still enjoy the views and history of our region in the comfort of their home while remembering to come in person to live the experience once open! In order to be able to welcome guests safely on its cruises, OBC did a revamp of their website to emphasize guests to buy their tickets online along with QR codes at different locations downtown Ottawa. OBC also redesigned the interior of the boats to respect social distancing and doing everything required to keep guests safe.

Winter

Destination Stratford

Launched in 2020 during the pandemic, the Lights On Stratford annual winter festival transformed Stratford's heritage downtown core and park system with luminous art and interactive light installations. Free to the public and designed to be safely enjoyed with physical distancing and on-site staff, Lights On Stratford represented one of the few in-person festivals to happen during the pandemic in 2020. Lights On Stratford didn’t exist, even conceptually, until August, 2020. The first confirmed funding arrived in late August, and 80 days later – all during a pandemic – a new cultural festival was launched. Over the next 55 days, we brought light and delight to Stratford, illuminating our heritage buildings, theatres, parks and storefronts. Stratford’s mayor declared that “Lights On Stratford is a tremendous success!” and the outpouring of heartfelt thanks from all those who participated has been incredible.

COLLABORATION

Accommodation

Comedy on the River (Comedy Country, Cabin Fever Kayaks, Black River Cottages and others)

Comedy on the River is a unique response to the pandemic that brings together big laughs, calm waters, a sunset paddle and the tastes of the Black River area. Comedy Country's producer Paul Snepsts and Cabin Fever Kayak's owner Tim Snyder worked together to develop the Comedy on the River concept, which launched in August 2020. In imagining a pandemic response, Snepsts wanted to do more than simply set up an outdoor stage and put some comedians in front of an audience. Comedy Country's tagline is "big laughs in rural places" - a sense of place has always been important to the way the series approached programming and venue selection. The Black River became a huge inspiration for this program. Snyder and Snepsts jammed the idea together and found a terrific partner in Black River Cottages who offered their dock as the stage for the shows.

Attractions

Explore South River

The Explore South River project was designed to inspire community exploration and discovery and to provide visitors and residents with access to a wide range of experiences from their mobile device. Handheld websites and apps have been an essential part of our lives for over a decade. Nevertheless, handheld community tourism initiatives have often missed the mark when it comes to providing a user experience that meets community, tourism operator and visitor needs. PARC Association worked with over 30 community partners to develop an inclusive handheld digital app that includes all existing community assets as well as an inclusive events calendar of all public arts, recreation, culture, entertainment events happening in the South River area. 

Beverages

Collective Arts Brewery Toronto

"The one area I’d like to highlight is our commitment to our community and the emphasis of collaboration our Director of Spaces, Dan Johnston has put on the company during these challenging times. Not only was it a difficult time for us, ALL craft breweries were struggling. Our business offered take-out, so loyal customers had the ability to come and pick up drinks as they were passing by. If you look at our Collective Arts Toronto Instagram page - you will see the emphasis we placed on working with other breweries during these tough times."

Convention, Conference, Event Planner

Tourism Vaughan - Breaking News FAM Tour

A virtual familiarization tour (FAM) was held to create Vaughan experiences to educate meeting planners about facilities and resources that Vaughan has for hosting meetings. The audience was meeting planners from corporate and non-profit sectors. The virtual format enabled us to follow public health guidelines but still market Vaughan to meeting planners to book meetings when it is safe to do so. Virtual isn’t as engaging as in-person but we bridged the gap by offering live demonstrations and a trivia contest. Any meeting leads generated by this event will have a significant impact on Vaughan’s economy through direct, indirect and induced spending.

Cycling

Destination Northern Ontario & Waterfront Regeneration Trust (Northern Ontario Cycling Expansion Initiative)

In order to develop new tourism infrastructure and product, collaboration is essential.  Despite the effects of COVID-19, DNO and the WRT worked together to better Ontario’s tourism sector. WRT provided the cycling development expertise and DNO provided the local community tourism expertise.  Together they developed and will continue to implement the Northern Ontario Cycling Initiative that will connect northern to southern Ontario in a complete provincial cycling network. Establishing this connection will bring cycle tourism benefits to the communities along Lake Huron and Lake Superior while contributing to the quality of life and local economies. The expansion will realize a major milestone for waterfront communities inspired by people - the completion of a continuous, signed route along the Canadian Shores of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.

Destination Marketing Organization

Culinary Tourism Alliance - The Great Taste of Ontario

The Great Taste of Ontario is a dynamic tourism program supporting the recovery of Ontario’s food and drink sector. In collaboration with over 80 partners (including DMOs, RTOs, Sector Organizations, media and charities), The Great Taste of Ontario encourages Ontarians to rediscover the province and boost regional economies by increasing tourism visits. Through collaboration with partners in the program, the Culinary Tourism Alliance has published hundreds of unique, food focused itineraries to help inspire local travel and help visitors plan their trips in a meaningful way. This project focuses on collaborations with partners province-wide to create an inclusive and far-reaching travel hub for hungry Ontarians. As a small organization, building this project from the ground up was no easy task - coordinating with DMOs and RTOs to create passports and itineraries, building a user-friendly experience, and actively promoting the program and its collaborators through social media, television, and print advertising.

Festivals & Events

Comedy on the River (Comedy Country, Cabin Fever Kayaks, Black River Cottages and others)

Comedy on the River is a unique response to the pandemic that brings together big laughs, calm waters, a sunset paddle and the tastes of the Black River area. Comedy Country's producer Paul Snepsts and Cabin Fever Kayak's owner Tim Snyder worked together to develop the Comedy on the River concept, which launched in August 2020. In imagining a pandemic response, Snepsts wanted to do more than simply set up an outdoor stage and put some comedians in front of an audience. Comedy Country's tagline is "big laughs in rural places" - a sense of place has always been important to the way the series approached programming and venue selection. The Black River became a huge inspiration for this program. Snyder and Snepsts jammed the idea together and found a terrific partner in Black River Cottages who offered their dock as the stage for the shows.

Food Service

WindsorEats: Outdoor Food Hall & Holiday Makers Market

An outdoor, covered municipal rink was converted into a dining hall which allowed us to leverage the (at the time) 100 person capacity for outdoor events once the region entered into Stage 2 of reopening. The larger capacity allowed WindsorEats to invite restaurants with no patios as well as businesses which focused on providing food at festivals and events, which were almost non-existent during the early stages of the pandemic. To help enhance the vibrancy and sales of the Outdoor Food Hall, WindsorEats also collaborated with Emerson Supply Co. and their YQGMade brand. Emerson Supply CO. and the YQGMade brand is a small eco-sustainability themed business in Essex, Ontario, that showcases and sells products from local makers. The collaboration launched a “holiday makers market” in unison with the Outdoor Food Hall, providing these local makers a safe venue to generate revenue in the leadup to the holiday season. The holiday market was hosted on Sunday on back-to-back weekends and saw vendors generate up to 5x the revenue from other markets they attended. Emerson Supply CO. and the YQGMade brand were responsible for the liaising and procuring of vendors, and made use of WindsorEats’ vast experience organizing special events and festivals to create a layout that would be smooth and safe for vendors and visitors alike.

Independent Business

Cape Croker Park

Nathan Keeshig has been managing Cape Croker Park on behalf of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation (CNUFN) since 1995. Cape Croker Park is the largest Indigenous tourism operation in Bruce County and Nathan’s efforts have ensured that the Park remains open for the benefit of all. Bruce County lies within the traditional territory of the Saugeen Ojibwe First Nations. Cape Croker Park is one of the only places where non-Indigenous people can go to learn about the history and culture of the Anishinaabek people of theregion. Indigenous tourism is becoming increasingly important to the Canadian tourism industry and to be competitive, it is important that Bruce County and Ontario have market ready products to compete. Bruce County Tourism, RTO7 and Indigenous Tourism Ontario are all very excited to have new cultural products at Cape Croker Park to market to the region and the province. People want to have authentic Indigenous tourism experiences and thanks to Nathan’s efforts this year, they still can at Cape CrokerPark.

Indigenous Tourism Operator

Indigenous Experiences in collaboration with Ottawa Tourism (Travel Trade) - Team Ottawa Virtual Sales Blitz

Our partners wanted to bring everyone together in Ottawa in December 2020 to plan for the future. We could not have known at that time, that our meetings could not be in-person.  Together, with our Partners, we planned for a Virtual Sales Blitz on December 8 & 9, 2020. There were 96 participants from 70 Organizations who participated in the one-on-on mini-marketplace appointments during the 2-days of the event. At the time of the event, the world had not “returned to normal”, but the Partners were able to talk to the Tour Operators to determine what should be the next steps for Team Ottawa. For the December event, the Ottawa Tourism Partners provided the dreams and concepts for travel, and the Ottawa Tourism staff provided the methods of one-on-one interactions.

Marine

Comedy on the River (Comedy Country, Cabin Fever Kayaks, Black River Cottages and others)

Comedy on the River is a unique response to the pandemic that brings together big laughs, calm waters, a sunset paddle and the tastes of the Black River area. Comedy Country's producer Paul Snepsts and Cabin Fever Kayak's owner Tim Snyder worked together to develop the Comedy on the River concept, which launched in August 2020. In imagining a pandemic response, Snepsts wanted to do more than simply set up an outdoor stage and put some comedians in front of an audience. Comedy Country's tagline is "big laughs in rural places" - a sense of place has always been important to the way the series approached programming and venue selection. The Black River became a huge inspiration for this program. Snyder and Snepsts jammed the idea together and found a terrific partner in Black River Cottages who offered their dock as the stage for the shows.

Outdoor

Grow Stronger Gardening Campaign (Topsy Farms+ Kubota Canada)

In a year when visitors are not allowed to show up, how does a tourism operator show up for them? For Topsy Farms, the answer to that question was: give people something to occupy their mind and body, give them something to hope for, give them Victory Gardens. The Victory Garden helps our grandparents and great-great grandparents endure 2 world wars and The Depression.  In 1943, 40% of North American produce comes from backyard gardens. An individual is helpless to affect what happens in Europe, but that individual can assist the state through their calm independence. This is as true for the Covid-19 pandemic as it was 60 years ago. It is in this spirit that Topsy and Kubota begins the Grow Stronger gardening campaign. Grow vegetables, grow your community, grow yourself, #GrowStronger. In June of 2020, Topsy Farms builds 20 free gardens for our neighbours in 30 days (during our busiest season – lambing and haying). We tell a story of hope, of hard work, of overcoming.  Kubota Canada invests $50 - $100k in the loan of new equipment, branding, and video resources. The Grow Stronger message resonates with Canadians.

Regional Tourism Organization

Destination Northern Ontario: Northern Ontario Border Working Group Initiative

There are approximately 1.0 million United States (U.S.) visitors to Northern Ontario annually, spending $466 million.  As the COVID-19 crisis closed the border, U.S visitor spending in Northern Ontario was virtually zero.  The industry needed to be proactive in developing a safe solution to guide the government in the eventual reopening of the border for U.S. tourists. In the spirit of collaboration, Destination Northern Ontario (DNO), Nature and Outdoor Tourism Ontario (NOTO) and the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) formed the Northern Ontario Border Working Group (NOBWG) in 2020.  The two year mandate is to conduct research, liaise with officials, identify and investigate border issues in order to provide advice and solutions to government and associated agencies regarding the border. The work of the Northern Ontario Border Working Group was shared by the three organizations, with DNO taking the lead. 

Resource Based Tourism

NOTO & Destination Northern Ontario | Creation of COVID-19 Protocols for the Resource-Based Tourism Industry

In May of 2020, NOTO and DNO partnered together to create COVID-19 protocols for the resourcebased tourism industry. The final document titled COVID-19 Best Practices for the Safe Operation of Resource-Based Tourism Businesses in Northern Ontario was released on June 5th, 2020, and vetted by the Workplace Safety and Prevention Services shortly after. For this initiative, both NOTO and DNO staff undertook extensive research on COVID-19 health and safety protocols and recommendations from professional health agencies. The development process also included creating a working group of RBT operators that represented the various types of tourism facilities in the sector to ensure their input was included. Their input helped to ensure that the guidelines and best practices were practical and made sense in its implementation.

Transportation

Destination Northern Ontario & Waterfront Regeneration Trust (Northern Ontario Cycling Expansion Initiative)

In order to develop new tourism infrastructure and product, collaboration is essential.  Despite the effects of COVID-19, DNO and the WRT worked together to better Ontario’s tourism sector. WRT provided the cycling development expertise and DNO provided the local community tourism expertise.  Together they developed and will continue to implement the Northern Ontario Cycling Initiative that will connect northern to southern Ontario in a complete provincial cycling network. Establishing this connection will bring cycle tourism benefits to the communities along Lake Huron and Lake Superior while contributing to the quality of life and local economies. The expansion will realize a major milestone for waterfront communities inspired by people - the completion of a continuous, signed route along the Canadian Shores of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.

Winter

Savour Owen Sound 2020

A 2020 Owen Sound Tourism Campaign that collaborated 21 local food vendors to promote our culinarily rich City, to feature amazing food, great people, and our beautiful Scenic City during an otherwise less busy time for visitors and those in the area to venture out between seasons in our region. This highly anticipated month-long event kicked off and was strong with success and sadly, 3 weeks in was cancelled when the worldwide pandemic hit. The event was reinvented to further support our local Food & Bev establishments and continued in 2021, with a complete shift to accommodate the current state of the world during the 3^rd provincial pandemic lockdown. We pivoted our campaign to support our local businesses via online ordering, curbside pick up, take-out and delivery and will continue to adapt to whatever the future may hold so that we always support our community and the valuable businesses in it!