Tourism Industry of Ontario (TIAO) and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) released the inaugural State of the Ontario Tourism Industry Report.
Ontario’s tourism industry is a vital contributor to the economy, representing $36 billion of the province’s GDP. While domestic and inbound travel improved in the latter half of 2022, the industry is not expected to recover from the pandemic until 2025.
This report calls for a comprehensive strategy that addresses workforce development, regulatory burdens, infrastructure deficits and regional disparities. Recommendations were informed by two policy roundtables held in the Summer and Fall of 2022, bringing together tourism operators, industry experts, associations, chambers of commerce, and boards of trade from across the province.
Many of our shared advocacy points were also mentioned in this report such as making a larger portion of the loans forgivable and extending payback dates of COVID support programs, working with the insurance industry to explore solutions to rising commercial insurance premiums and reduced liability coverage, continue to support targeted workforce development programs and more.
We would like to thank TIAO, the OCC and their supporting partners for their hard work on this report.