Andrew Siegwart & Madison Simmons on the Ontario Election's Impact on Tourism

Mary Anne Ivison (Voiceover)  0:01  
This is forward motion discussions about the important topic shaping Ontario's tourism industry. Here's your host, Andrew sigward. We

Andrew Siegwart  0:10  
are speaking today with Madison Simmons, tayos, VP of public affairs. We are going to dissect the recent provincial election, and we're going to talk about what's in store for the Ontario tourism strategy going forward, this should be a good conversation. Joining us today is tayo s own Madison Simmons, VP of public affairs, and we are here to talk about the results of the recent provincial election and a number of other topics that are that are related and of interest. So first and foremost, welcome Madison. How are you? Thank you. I'm good. How are you? Why don't you just start off by giving everyone a little bit of your back story.

Madison Simmons  0:47  
I'm Madison Simmons. I am currently the Vice President of Public Affairs for tile. Before joining tile, I worked at the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, or tyac in Ottawa, where I focused on federal level tourism issues. My time at TACC was a really great learning experience, especially as we worked on support efforts for the industry during the pandemic. So it was definitely fast paced and very rewarding. And I had the chance to connect with many of Ontario's tourism leaders during this time. Prior to TAC, I worked at a public affairs firm in Ottawa, so Tye was one of my clients here, along with a number of other tourism and hospitality client, and that's when my, I think my passion for the industry really took off. I actually graduated from the University of Guelph with a degree in tourism management, so I've always known this with the field I wanted to be in, but now getting to work directly with the industry in this role is incredibly exciting,

Andrew Siegwart  1:35  
and you've certainly been at the table during very many exciting times, whether it was during the pandemic, or recently, there's lots happening that's keeping us all on our toes. So we're really glad you're with us and part of the team. Thank you. So the election results are in Premier, Ford has secured a third consecutive majority, a record, or a recent record, for sure, I'm wondering if you could maybe walk everyone through your perspective on the results and what they're telling us about the mood of Ontarians and the business community the

Madison Simmons  2:06  
results are in. And I think when they really suggest right now that Ontarians are focused on economic issues, a big one being trade relations with the UN that's clearly top of mind for a lot of people right now, for businesses, for re election, likely brings some familiarity and comfort, especially in such uncertain time, his party has been pretty vocal about protecting Ontario's economic interest, particularly when it comes to these looming us tariffs. So for companies worried about how this might impact their operations, there's a bit of reassurance there. If we look at voter turnout, it ended up being a little higher than in 2022 with about 45% of eligible voters cast from their ballots. There was some concern going into this with about low turnout, especially since the election was held in the middle of winter, but it looked like people still showed up. Yeah, in

Andrew Siegwart  2:54  
spite of some pretty intense weather conditions the day of too Right? And as

Madison Simmons  2:59  
for the rest of the political landscape, the NDP held onto its position as the official opposition. They lost just one seat. The Liberals gained a bit of ground, adding five seats, and they saw a significant boost in their popular vote, while also gaining official party status. The Greens maintained their two seats and the one independent seat stayed put. So all in all, I think these results really highlight how much Ontarians are prioritizing economic and trade issues. And with Ford's re election, it seems like the mandate to guide the province through these potential trade challenges is clear.

Andrew Siegwart  3:30  
What I read from the outcomes is that it seems like all parties are readying to get back to work as soon as possible with their sort of either renewed mandates or new positions to get working for Ontarians. And I think that's probably a positive outcome, one of the, one of the things that I note so during the during the election, of course, you see all parties challenge each other in terms of their approaches, what they're what they're proposing to do. And yet, shortly thereafter, we heard, as an example, Merit styles, the continued Leader of the Opposition sort of come forward and say, you know, we will work with the premier on the tariff issue. So do you have a sense Madison that from an all party perspective, we're going to see good collaboration going forward on some of the critical issues that Ontario faces, absolutely

Madison Simmons  4:24  
I think that's all we can hope for. I think this is a critical time, and all elected officials are going to want to band together to do what's best for Ontario.

Andrew Siegwart  4:34  
Let's talk about tayos provincial election campaign a little bit, as many listeners will know, we spent some time launching the Ontario needs tourism campaign, really, as soon as the election was called, and the idea for us was to really engage the industry in sharing our perspective at this point in time. Could you talk a little bit about why we did that, and what we achieved in some of the metrics? And also Madison, from your perspective, working with different associations and different clients. Why does it matter for associations like ours to engage in that way?

Madison Simmons  5:09  
So as you mentioned, tile launched this pre election campaign with really one big goal, and that was to educate candidates on just how important tourism is as a key driver of economic growth in Ontario, as the provincial advocacy body for tourism, we really wanted to make sure we quickly got our main messages out there, highlighted the issues that we in the industry care about and really amplifying the voices of our members when talking to candidates across the province. The big tactic that we focused on was our letter writing campaign through the Ontario means tourism website, and I'll just stop quickly here, to give a really big shout out to all of our members in the entire industry for getting behind this. We had over 1200 letters that were sent to candidates and party leaders across the province. So that's a that's a big deal, like you mentioned. I know some in the industry might be wondering another letter writing campaign, what difference does sending these letters really make when candidates keep seeing the same strong message from their constituents, it definitely gets their attention. So this is important. It's a way of saying, hey, this issue matters, and we're paying attention to what your party's saying about it. On top of that, we kept up the momentum at tile with supportive messages to all party leaders, and we made sure to push out our content across our biggest social media channels. So across our biggest social media channels. Over the four weeks, we saw more than 48,000 impression and we had some really great engagement with our content. So overall, it was a busy, impactful campaign, and we're excited to see how these efforts will help keep tourism top of mind for all of those that were elected and just can't thank our members in the industry enough for supporting us. One

Andrew Siegwart  6:40  
of the things that I really enjoyed watching was we had a ready to go letter that people could could send relatively quickly, but we saw a lot of people actually add unique messaging and perspectives from their local community to sort of outreach directly to those running to be an MPP. And one of the things that I find is really helpful is when you have that base message, but then you can customize it, and you can personalize and so I read a lot of great letters from our members right in local communities talking about how our asks impact their local community. And I think that's really important. And I think for all of us going forward, local matters and connecting to folks on the ground, either in your municipality, your MPP or your MPs in your community, it's probably going to be more important than ever.

Speaker 1  7:29  
Grassroots level efforts are critical. You know, one of

Andrew Siegwart  7:33  
the things Madison that was, I think, a key message in our campaign, above and beyond our key asks, was a sense that we wanted all candidates to to understand that tourism is a sector that can help stabilize the economy at this point in time. So I'm wondering, you know, you've, you've spoken to our members, we did a survey to try to get a sense of how tariff dispute might impact the sector. Can you maybe share with us where, where you think there are risks for tourism on the horizon, but also where tourism may have some opportunities to to help Ontario's economy? Yeah,

Madison Simmons  8:13  
so we know that tariffs will, of course, impact costs for many of our operators. Many of our operators source a lot of their goods from from the UN but we also know that with this news, Canadians are planning to travel more domestically right now, and that our visitors from the United States are still interested in coming here. So if we make those efforts to really continue to diversify and grow and reach out to the right markets right now, we can Jordan can be seen to maybe maintain that stable position, while other sectors may be really heavily impacted by tariffs, and there's no doubt that tourism will feel this as well. We may not feel the same impact, and need to let our elected officials know that we're a sector worthy of investment, ensuring that we're healthy, so that we could continue to be somewhat of a light through this tumultuous times for that economic growth for the province, what's

Andrew Siegwart  9:02  
going to be incumbent upon that is to talk about how investments may drive return on investment, whether that's through spending in local communities, whether that's through raising tax dollars. So you know, the visitor economy's impact is so vast, it can be leveraged. And I think that was one of the key messages we wanted to leave, and certainly something we'll be talking about as we go forward. When we were leading up to election day, we wanted to put a survey out into the market. One of the things we were concerned about was that with so much talk about Canada, US trade, that some messages or some needs or challenges might be overlooked. So maybe can you share with us what we found in that survey, and any perspective that you have on what we should be thinking about going forward as a result?

Madison Simmons  9:48  
So in the last week of the election, we reached out to our members to really get a sense of what issues were top of mind for them, for their businesses, and really for the entire industry. As you mentioned, we knew. That the big topics like tariffs in the economy would be front and center, of course, but didn't want to overlook some of the other key challenges facing tourism businesses during the election cycle. Not surprisingly, the number one concern was affordability, the rising cost of living and how it's putting pressure on consumers. And right behind that, the relationship with the US was a big worry, especially around potential impacts on us visitor numbers and the possibility of tariffs. But I think the pressure on consumers is important to note here that people are feeling that uncertainty once again on what their numbers are going to look like. Other significant concerns included the risks to post secondary tourism, hospitality and culinary programs, plus the ongoing struggle with the availability of affordable housing, which just continues to affect the industry. A lot of these issues didn't get as much attention during the campaign as they normally would have if the economic and political climate were different. But it's it's encouraging to see that some good measures in these areas were highlighted in the PC platform that we can continue to work on.

Andrew Siegwart  10:59  
I do think it is very interesting that concern about affordability has come through. And I have a theory, and I want to just put it past you. And maybe you know, feel free to weigh in. My sense is that you know this sector went through such a shock and such a disruption through 2020, through 2023 and in many respects, we're still recovering, and we're still we are still building back, and we have not recovered the losses, and we're still looking to sort of reset a growth path. So even though 2020 four's numbers and the estimates are coming in right now and they're showing pretty good progress on a number of fronts, sales, domestic and US visits have grown International, still a bit soft. I think people were feeling through 2024 that we were starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. And then this kind of risk on the horizon right now has just sparked quite a bit of fear and uncertainty. And you know, the best way to reduce market strength is through uncertainty. From your perspective, you think that that's what's really underpinning that, that sense of concern. Yeah,

Madison Simmons  12:10  
I think businesses and operators across the province and across the country are are just disappointed that they're feeling this way again when we were just getting our legs back under us again. So I think really, when we when it comes down to it, that is the main concern for for the industry, as we're we're looking ahead into such uncertain times, and that may be why we kind of saw the results that we did.

Andrew Siegwart  12:36  
It's really coming through the the business community is telling us very clearly what they're concerned about. It's interesting to see that post secondary schools and the education system, as well as housing, are coming forward as concerns. And really what that means is there's a big concern about the workforce. We're looking at getting back to growth. We need a robust workforce, and we and we need that workforce to be mobile across the province to sort of spur that growth. So that's a really important thing that we're going to have to look at, and it didn't get enough coverage during the the election period, for sure. So one of the things that I think is important, and I'd like to sort of switch gears a little bit, we put our messaging out there on pre election asks, so to speak, one of the things that we did was we included a number of recommendations that are aimed at helping to bolster the visitor economy so that we can protect Ontario's overall economy. And we had the sense from our members that some of these concerns, like workforce and infrastructure were also really critical, and we wanted to bring forward some recommendations that would not only take us through another year of growth, but also buffer some impacts on some of these trade disputes. Let's go through some of those asks, and let's just talk about them and discuss sort of why they mattered. So one of the first requests that we put forward was an ask for an additional $15 million to fund marketing and market outreach through destination Ontario. So I'm wondering, Madison, can you talk a little bit about why that ask was included, and what we expect could be an outcome of that funding increase?

Madison Simmons  14:19  
So title adds to boost destination Ontario's budget by $15 million annually. And firstly, that ask was really to just keep pace with other provinces. Right now, Ontario receives approximately ten million less in marketing funding than each of its BC, Alberta and Quebec counterparts. So we really need to get on par and competitive there. But especially at this time, we believe that this boost would really help enable that competitive domestic and international visitor attraction angle to drive spending, increased tax revenue, and really overall contribute to increased regional economic development.

Andrew Siegwart  14:56  
We have this situation across the country. Where at every provincial level and territorial level, there is a regional marketing entity, right? So they're all funded by their respective governments, and they all work really hard to promote their destinations and their and their economic development. So really, what we're asking here is for Ontario to keep up at this with the same level of investments that other provinces and territories are driving so that Ontario can remain competitive with its Canadian counterparts, and also so that Team Canada can be as strong as possible and win in the global competition for visitors. Is that right? Yes, exactly one of the things that we have seen in our analysis of marketing over the last few years, and some of this was driven by the pandemic, but there was a sense that we were doing a lot of market outreach domestically, promoting Ontario's destinations to Ontarians. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's a there's an approach here in this ask to encourage all parties to start diversifying markets and to market beyond Ontario. Can you sort of describe a little bit more about what what we see there as a potential outcome for the future?

Madison Simmons  16:09  
Sure. So this fund has done great things for Ontario's festivals and events in the previous years. We know many festivals events depend on this funding to deliver their experience in and these are events that drive visitation and spending in the province. They play a huge role in highlighting things like our agriculture, our food offerings, art, music, diversity, one Ontario has to offer to visitors. So Tyler has heard from a few members on challenges with this program, things like restrictions on timing and event like necessary for application approval. We're really saying that we believe experience Ontario could be better leveraged to support tourism and provide an even greater return on provincial investment with some flight application changes and tweaks and with an increase in annual funding of 10 million which would bring the total budget to $30 million annually, moving forward.

Andrew Siegwart  17:03  
Another area where we have put forward some interesting opportunities is around investing more in either sport or business event development in the province. Can you talk a little bit about

Madison Simmons  17:15  
that? Both of these factors are critical to tourism overall in Ontario and in Canada, entire was proposing a $20 million annual fund to provide grants or loans or financing support to municipalities and destination in the bidding for and hosting of sport and business events. International and national sport and business events significantly boost our visitor economy, like I mentioned, so many parts of the industry see returns here, sport complexes, convention centers, accommodations, food services, accommodation providers, and we see many of these people that come for these events experience the destination and become a return visitor. So these are just critical to the visitor economy overall, but right now we're seeing that increasing global competition, who have competitive bid support programs, coupled with inflation and rising costs that have ultimately increased the expense of marketing and selling, event bin Ontario destinations are at a disadvantage. What we've been using in our conversations with the provincial government thus far is kind of comparing to a federal program that was launched the International Convention attraction fund. And this fund supports bids by Canadian cities to host major international conventions. Since its launch in early 2024 I kept has supported 21 successful bids with 7.4 million committed, and that's resulted in 16 point 4 million in direct economic impact per $1 million invested. So the ROI on this program is fantastic, and we'd, of course, be looking to see similar results in the province with a program like this. That's

Andrew Siegwart  18:53  
not only driving direct community spend, but it's driving tax dollars. Yes, that actually pay for the investment and then some. You know, when we when you talk about items like sport or opportunities like sport, the competition to land sporting events is global, and it's heating up, and we have emerging destinations all across the world who want to establish their country or their region's brand through sport in order to leverage the great assets that we have and the in the great history and sport brands. You know, it takes investment, doesn't it?

Madison Simmons  19:30  
And that's not just in the bidding process or the marketing, but that's in the infrastructure that we have to offer to Team visitors and to enter really host these events,

Andrew Siegwart  19:39  
business events in general drive a significant amount of tourism spend. I believe I've heard the term about 40% of tourism spend comes from business and corporate travel.

Madison Simmons  19:51  
Yeah, it's extremely important. Business events are huge, a big piece of Canada's tourism economy, and they represent 40% of all tourism spending. Canada, yeah,

Andrew Siegwart  20:01  
so it's significant, and it's worth it's worth the investment. It's also interesting because there are two benefits. So people come on business, they experience a destination, perhaps they haven't been there before. It gives them a sense that they can return and that they might want to bring their families, or they travel with their families. And also, when you come to Ontario for a business event, you are gaining exposure to the economic engine of the province, and those visits can spur investment down the track. So conferences aren't just the venue that they are hosted in. They are the topic. They are the local participants, that it is the industry that gets involved. So really it's an opportunity to grow economic development through business events, which is, again, a net positive for provinces, governments, consumers, employment, etc. So these are real collaborative initiatives that help grow the economy beyond the visitor economy, and I think that's why they're so important, right?

Madison Simmons  21:03  
We often see visitors that come for an event like this, extending their trip or bringing family and spending even more than than leisure travelers. And one other note I think is important here is the booking process for events like this. So these have been years out, and that's why these uncertain times impact this sector and in a different way. We might not see that that decline immediately, but we would see a decline in bookings here, though, which will impact us down the line. So something to keep in

Andrew Siegwart  21:34  
mind, it's a really good point, because corporate bookings and business travel can be a bit of a barometer what businesses are thinking about today could impact decisions a bit down the track. You know, I know you probably can't really share much on this, but I just want to say at this point time, I know one of the concerns that we're hearing from industry right now is that because of some shifting dynamics at that geopolitical level, if you think about the relationship between Canada and the US, or some of the policies that are rolling out in the United States, it could impact business travel from a number of fronts. So I know that's something we're definitely paying attention to. You're

Madison Simmons  22:11  
right. Changes in administration and changes in spending, even just as we look at the United States, are going to heavily impact bookings that we see in Ontario and in Canada. So it is something to pay close attention to,

Andrew Siegwart  22:26  
and I think particularly in the realm of anything to do with de and I I think we're going to see some sensitivities there that we're going to have to really pay attention to, and I think every destination is going to have to pay attention to. So we put forward a number of recommendations that look at a co investment to grow the economy, to grow the tax base, and to stimulate employment and spend and I think one of the other things that I just want to point out about those is that they are set up in such a way where in most of those contexts, funding or investment can be available To as many stakeholders as possible. So for example, destination Ontario, or growing marketing, there's an opportunity through investing more in marketing, there's an opportunity for more partnerships, working with destinations and operators across the province, and maybe being a bit more creative with those extra funds. The calculus here was that those dollars could really be leveraged to support the whole sector, and I think that's going to be really important as we go forward. And there are many folks who will be listening to this interview that are either hyper local or regional marketing entities. The idea here is that there could be more collaboration with more investment, and that's what we would be expecting to see. Is that not correct? That's absolutely correct. I'm gonna shift gears a little bit to some infrastructure challenges and opportunities. So one of the one of the things that we highlighted, and it didn't get a lot of play during the election, but we felt it was really important to highlight, and that was the impact and the status of our transportation sector and its its role in tourism economy growth. So I wonder if you could talk a little bit about some of our recommendations and why we included them at

Madison Simmons  24:09  
a high level, working to stress to government that ample investment and planning need to continue to build really comprehensive public transit connections, both within and between communities, and that importantly, they should facilitate multi modal transportation. So, so that means ensuring, for example, passenger rail and bus stops are accessible by ride share, or that public transit options are available to equally get to and from airport.

Andrew Siegwart  24:35  
You're talking about that last kilometer piece, right? So people can travel to certain points. But how do they get to their their point of destination

Madison Simmons  24:42  
exactly, especially for those that don't have the opportunity to rely on a private car to get them at that little bit of the way and beyond our urban centers and especially in the rural and remote regions of the province, the mobility between destinations continues to just be such a challenge, the ease and the affordable. Ability of coming to Ontario and wanting to see multi multiple destinations, multi destination travel continues to lay behind our global competitors. A few examples of our recommendations to improve accessibility and connectivity in this area are things like making sure we include private motor coach operators in transit funding eligibility, continuing to allocate funding for highway enhancements. That's something we saw across all party platforms, expanding regional and local public transportation that also was given prominence, as well maintaining funding levels for the EV charge on program to expand EV charging infrastructure in rural and seasonal destinations, and expanding our go train service. So we specifically asked for all day two way trips between, for example, Niagara Falls and Toronto, that corridor there. This

Andrew Siegwart  25:49  
isn't necessarily an ask which suggests that there aren't investments being made. In fact, there's a lot of good investments being made in transportation infrastructure, and we certainly recognize that. I think the the objective here is to more clearly articulate how these investments not only benefit Ontarians, commuters and locals, but also their potential to stimulate the the tourism economy and other sectors economies. I think this is really important work. And there's another piece as well, which is highlighting the importance of inbound from international visits and destinations, right? We have seen some mid sized markets lose air service for a variety of reasons, so we've also been raising awareness of that so that we can see Flight Service get back to the levels we experienced before the pandemic. Right gaps

Madison Simmons  26:46  
in this infrastructure really limit our reliable options for both domestic and visitors. An example we've been using is pre pandemic, there were 47 flights per day from Toronto to Northern Ontario airport, and that's decreed to 15 flights per day currently. So investment in this infrastructure is really what's needed to get a get back to a competitive position. Oh, both for our visitors and for our residents.

Andrew Siegwart  27:18  
Where transportation was covered in the election, there was some some interesting proposals to address gridlock. And you know, while I think everyone can relate to that from a commuter perspective, if you're trying to navigate, let's say the GTA as an example, or other larger markets, that kind of experience does have an impact on visitor economy and visitors and so that is, you know, we see those as positive discussions for sure. Yeah, I couldn't

Madison Simmons  27:47  
agree more. We highlighted that in our analysis on kind of what, what impacts tourism from the platform. And on the flip side, just as important as in the northern and rural community, the safety of their their highway

Andrew Siegwart  27:59  
experience, safety and security are important. And, you know, we want people to experience the north, and it's such an incredible part of our experience Ontario. You know, you gotta, you gotta let visitors know that that it's a safe way to drive, there's resources and services along the way, and

Madison Simmons  28:18  
that it's an option. Yeah, we have people coming from, you know, different countries, and they'd like to see Toronto and and Thunder Bay. And while it's a we have a massive province, we should have the options and opportunity for people to be able to do that. In

Andrew Siegwart  28:33  
many ways, I sort of see Ontario's focus on expanding its transportation infrastructure. It's responding to how the province's economy is growing, and it's responding to how the overall population is growing. This is where I see our industry growing alongside of that, and so working with levels of government, partnering on how these transportation networks can better serve visitors as well as locals, is a really great opportunity, and doing it in tandem makes a lot of sense. I often talk about Northwestern Ontario. There's another layer. So we're seeing expansions potentially, of critical minerals and mining. There's a nuclear waste repository going up to Northwestern Ontario. We need those highways to be safer, not only for people who live there, who are getting back and forth across the province, not only for tourists who we want to to experience Ontario, but also for this next wave of industrial growth. If we plan all of these in tandem, then you can see the multiplier effect economically and so part of why we want to make sure we're having conversations alongside other sectors is it's just more efficient to plan for it and do it all at the same time and collaborate where where possible. And I just love the example of Northwestern Ontario, the. Mining sector, the resources sector wants to see growth and wants to see investments, and so too does the visitor economy and tourism. So why don't we work together? I think that's kind of what we're trying to get at here right now. Another, another important aspect of where we are in tourism is our is our labor force, and some of the challenges that we're seeing in the education system and, of course, some of the changes that have been made to the immigration system by the federal government. So can you walk us through, you know, some of the asks that we put forward to the province at this stage to help stabilize the workforce and labor market?

Madison Simmons  30:40  
Sure, I think I'll start with the post graduate work permit situation. I think while this decision made late last year to exclude international student studying in hospitality, tourism and culinary programs, was likely to tackle labor shortages in specific industries, this move is going to harm an essential source of skilled workers, and it's going to worsen the difficulties tourism employers are already facing in attracting and retaining talent. We've seen multiple program closures across Ontario already, but we know that we won't feel the full impact of this for for a few years. So that's that's a daunting thought. Title is recommending a system where graduation and work permits are aligned with regional labor market needs, possibly through something like a quota based system. And we're recommending that tourism programs at public colleges and polytechnics be added back to the list of eligible PG WP programs.

Andrew Siegwart  31:35  
And in order to achieve that, it would require industry and the provincial government to come forward to the federal government to request those changes and signal support for them. Is that correct? That's correct? Yes. So our ask of the province this time around was to work together to advocate at the federal level.

Madison Simmons  31:54  
We did see support there, which we were really grateful for. So, Oh, could you elaborate on that? Yeah, So collaboration is is obviously critical here. We've been working with Taya on this issue at a federal level, and we saw some great support out of the Ministry of colleges and universities that wrote a great letter to minister Miller outlining WIC programs should be added back to that list. So we were very thankful to see that, and hope that we can continue on that momentum.

Andrew Siegwart  32:21  
On this front, we're certainly spending a bit of time focusing on how we can react to those changes. So the reductions in international students, the reductions in international workers, and also to, I guess, better leverage the opportunities, and to focus on where there are skill gaps and to make those links stronger. In addition to that, we've also put forward some recommendations on how we can better leverage those who are not in the workforce right now in Ontario. So maybe can you talk a little bit about that? Yeah, we've

Madison Simmons  32:55  
been looking to collaborate with both the tourism industry and the employment service agencies to connect underemployed Ontarians with meaningful tourism job opportunities, whether that be through the

Andrew Siegwart  33:07  
SDF Skills Development Fund, exactly,

Madison Simmons  33:10  
yes. Thank you, and returning the SDF to funding multi year Workforce Development contracts for strategic provincial industry workforce projects that really support retention and skills development. But that's that's a different angle that we've also often been talking about.

Andrew Siegwart  33:26  
We heard from all of the folks running in this election, a big focus on skilled trades, a big focus on manufacturing healthcare as well. Big, big discussions about investing and training in healthcare. And one of the reasons why we wanted to ensure that we talked about these challenges is there are many job opportunities and career paths in tourism, and often they are overlooked when we talk about investment in skills training, jobs development, and we know that there's a huge opportunity in the tourism sector and huge benefits to tourism jobs. So for us, the goal is to keep reminding levels of government about that, and I think that's where highlighting which roles have the biggest shortages and job vacancies, and then working really hard to make those connections is going to be really important,

Madison Simmons  34:22  
yeah, and I think we've got a lot of work to do on perception, and that's been something that the industry has worked on for years. But many of our occupations are classified, you know, with the coding system, as unskilled, and we're really working to change that, because it's not something we believe is true.

Andrew Siegwart  34:39  
There are a number of skills in our sector that revolve around things like empathy, communication, problem solving, the ability to sell, the ability to communicate. These are often called soft skills, and I'm using air quotes, but the reality. Is those are intensely valuable skills in our service economy. And one of the things that we have been doing, working with our partners, is to raise awareness of those skills and how important they are. The reality is, a lot of folks who come and work, particularly in entry level positions in tourism, develop those skills, and then they become very useful foundational skills in many other sectors, including the growth path in tourism. So yeah, you're right. We have to do a better job of of educating governments and the public of how important these skills are and how valuable they are. Absolutely. One of the other pieces that we we highlighted was a conversation about and recommendations regarding the municipal accommodation tax. And I'm sure a lot of people probably look at this and are thinking, why are we getting so into the weeds on some of these recommendations and reforms? So I'm gonna start out by highlighting the the rationale, and then I'm gonna ask you, Madison, if you could sort of talk a little bit about what we've recommended at a structural level, one of the things that's really important to know about tourism is that our economy is highly decentralized and hyper local. Policy development, through the municipal accommodation tax and its associated regulation dating back to the end of 2017 has put a lever in place where local governments can raise funds to fund tourism, marketing and development, but to also fund municipalities. We also know that municipalities are struggling under the weight of high costs, increasing mandates to deliver a lot of services, and some challenges in raising revenues. So this program has in many ways, been an important part of not only growing tourism, but for municipalities to raise revenues, to manage their costs and to manage some of their funding shortfalls. So it's really important that we get this right and that this program continues to drive outcomes. So I'm wondering if you can talk a little bit about some of the recommendations that we put forward and why they're there.

Madison Simmons  37:08  
And my mind's going to this is a great point to kind of draw back to you talking about the importance of collaboration and consultation, and yes, improvements to things like like infrastructure in a local community benefits the local residents, the local economy, but also the broader visitor economy. So that's just an important note here. But as you mentioned, these regulations were put in place in 2017 we think they delivered significant booths to the local visitor economy world that they've been implemented in and municipal revenues across the province, but we've seen several gaps that can be closed to improve performance here. So we put together nine enhancements to the regulations that we're recommending and the result of risk feedback from both the industry and municipality side, overall, we're really looking for consistency across the province in implementation and to ensure that consultation is taking place on all sides of the processes, decisions and long term planning that come with implementing this municipal accommodation tax, a few examples of our recommendations are ensuring fair rate change processes, an efficient allocation of Matt funds to the eligible tourism entities in each community, and eliminating the rent tape slowing down investment impact in this community.

Andrew Siegwart  38:27  
I was at a Toronto Board of Trade event just last week. A lot of the speakers were talking about the need to get more productivity gains in Canada, and specifically in Ontario, and even at that municipal level. And I think this, this topic is an example of where our productivity as a province could improve because of the the nature of that regulation. It's up to each municipality to study it, assess it, and implement there's some really strong reasons for that, and it makes a lot of sense. It's localized, but we have seen a lot of spending on consultants and legal fees times, you know, every municipality that's gone through an implementation and they've had to figure these things out on their own. If we had more clarity in the regulations, we could have saved those municipalities the time and the money, and we could have had industry and municipal partners come to the table to get to collaborating much quicker. This, to me, is an example of we don't want to just update the regulations for the sake of updating the regulations. Our recommendations are squared upon making it easier more effective, not only to implement, but also that once it's once these maps are in place, that municipalities and industries can work together more collaboratively to drive better outcomes. And so one of the reasons why I think we will continue to push this recommendation and to continue to advocate for it is it's one of the ways we we can see that productivity gains can be made and we can move. Move on toward best practices and getting things done instead of all of the challenges that many stakeholders have had to experience implementing these programs. And

Madison Simmons  40:09  
it's important to know we have a number of communities that have implemented this well and are seeing great results, and we've got those best practices examples, and we're really looking exactly to implement across the province, so we all can be operating at that level when

Andrew Siegwart  40:26  
the players in the local community come together, work together, and they they plan together, and then decisions are made. That's the best case scenario. Exactly the the opposite of that is when there isn't enough consultation, or there isn't enough transparency, and decisions are made without that consultation, work being done that is veering away from best practice, so I think we can distill it down to that in terms of our recommendations. Is that correct? Yes,

Madison Simmons  40:53  
while noting that every every community, municipality, is unique, and the decisions will be different, but the process to get there needs to involve all parties.

Andrew Siegwart  41:04  
Our advocacy isn't about a particular way of doing it, a particular rate. It's about the process to get there exactly. Thank you for walking us through many of those points. I think they're really important, and I think I could distill them down to two thoughts, two recommendations, and it's really about going forward. We've learned a lot over the last four or five years, and I think we've learned that economic development requires deep collaboration and strategic thinking. And what we're bringing to the table our thoughts on where there are alignment between the tourism industry and levels of government and how we can collaborate to make strategic gains. I think that that is really a great place for us to think about the future and where we'll go. So we're at a point now where, you know, the election just took place last week. What can we expect over the next few weeks to come from the new government?

Madison Simmons  42:06  
Yeah, so on a process sign we're waiting for Premier porn to be officially sworn in, he'll need to reappoint Cabinet members. There will be, of course, a bit of a transition period here. But honestly, with the current economic and political climate, I think it should be a pretty short cross send. We are hoping to do the budget introduced soon. I have heard it could even happen this month, but for sure, we're looking at some time in the spring, from a title perspective. During this time, we will keep pushing our document, our pre budget document, and our ask, especially with any new faces in the tourism portfolio. We work with many different industries on a consistent basis. Many of them have mandate that line up with the recommendations that we're pushing for for the industry, and that's not going to change. So we'll need to keep up that communication, and we'll also continue to get our message out to both new and returning MPP from all parties to continue to build that broad support. It's

Andrew Siegwart  43:03  
an anticipated, quick return to business and work exactly Madison. I think what's been interesting is, as we looked at the provincial election and as we looked at what was happening on the Canada US trade dynamics, we put forward a series of asks and recommendations that really spoke to both of those issues, and part of what we put forward was we have some ideas on what we can do to buffer the impact through some investments from infrastructure, workforce and regulatory changes. That continues, but we have more work to do on the strategic front, don't

Madison Simmons  43:40  
we? Yes, we do. I think that many of our members will be interested in hearing how the Ontario tourism strategic plan is is shaping up. Perhaps we should highlight some key findings that have emerged so far and what's what's on the horizon as we move forward,

Andrew Siegwart  43:54  
as as many listeners will know. Tayo commissioned the creation of an Ontario tourism strategy. It will be the first sectoral strategy for tourism since about 2016 and tayo chose to facilitate this work. So we have been the chief facilitator of this initiative, and we're working with all of the stakeholders across the province, starting with owner operators, working with all of the support organizations, engaging with different tourism agencies, levels of government, etc, to get input and insights. And we have had exceptional input from the sector. Well over 1000 businesses have participated in our consultations to date. And we are at a point right now where we've got a lot of intel from the industry in terms of what the strategic pillars are and what we where we need to focus our energies. And we are just working right now on finalizing the action plan, which should be coming forward in a few weeks. We are finalizing our 10. Dues with another industry panel I'll share with you kind of what those six priorities are that the industry have told us matter as we go forward and we look toward growth. So priority number one is around strategic investment in capacity building. So what tourism operators and tourism communities have said across Ontario is that they believe they can grow with more investment in infrastructure so that could include things like new attractions, new cultural experiences, new accommodations, conference centers, festivals, etc. And in particular, this has come from communities that are still a little seasonal or have much more opportunity for this growth and demand for this growth. So that is coming forward as a real opportunity. And even in many of our gateway communities, they see and recommend opportunities to grow tourism assets, I think one of the to do's that are going to accompany that is going to be a really good asset development map, where we articulate exactly where we want to see that investment and where the industry thinks these projects and initiatives can take place. So we see that as a real, really good opportunity. Point number two, aligned with what we were talking about during the pre budget is a is a request, an identification that our transportation infrastructure, in order for us to get to the next level of growth, in terms of economic growth, jobs growth, tax revenue, we need those gaps to be closed in the transportation infrastructure, and so that's a key priority for the industry. Point number three, very important is that we diversify our markets, and that Ontario starts to grow its visits from a more diverse pool of potential customers. So looking at the rest of Canada, looking at overseas markets, looking at the United States, prioritizing things like the business sector and many other markets. So that has come forward as a strategy. We want to move beyond just marketing hyper locally to expanding now there's a lot at play in that discussion, everything from balancing the needs of local residents, balancing the domestic and US potential with overseas, looking at items like environmental sustainability and all of that. So it's a very big topic, but at the end of the day, if the sector and the economy is going to grow, we have to have a diverse market approach. So that is something that's come forward. Sustainability still remains a priority for operators in tourism, and this was an interesting finding for us, many operators do not want to pull back on the gains made in greening our industry however they want, and operators are looking for more supports and help to do a better job. So that's everything from how to better manage waste, how to get the right industry certifications, how to have the right metrics in place to make meaningful improvements. We heard a lot of requests for support in terms of sourcing. So how do I source local? How do I find suppliers who offer a greener option? So I think there's some opportunity there. We've also heard a number of businesses talking about wanting to learn how to better market what they're doing in this space, so that those customers who want to travel or want to experience environmentally proactive offerings that they can find them. So a bit of a marketing opportunity there as well. Of course, we have to balance that with the economic challenges that we face. But operators have said we think this is a strategic advantage Ontario's one of Ontario's biggest drivers is, in fact, our natural beauty, our iconic experiences, and so we want to protect those in order to grow workforce remains a big priority in workforce development, and that's another strategic pillar that we'll be fleshing out. I think we're going to be looking at three things in this space. Point number one is, how do we attract more workers? By telling the story of tourism opportunities, sort of what we talked about earlier. Point number two is going to focus a lot on the infrastructure gaps that are reducing labor mobility. So transportation, that discussion around last mile or last kilometer transportation is as much important for workers as it is for visitors. And then, thirdly, it's how do we improve the retention of our employees through continuing to evolve, uh, HR, practices and experiences of employees within our businesses. So those are the three areas of focus. And then last but not least, what operators have been sharing with us is that they'd like to see all of our support organizations in the sector. We. Work more closely together, eliminate overlap and be more efficient, to make sure that as many people can can benefit from the initiatives that all of these support organizations drive and deliver. So what does that really mean at the end of the day? It means, you know, between all of the sector specific organizations, the destination marketing organizations, the regional tourism organizations, Tao, the Ministry of Tourism, culture and gaming and other ministries. How do we work more closely together to drive a strategy that brings alignment and growth? That's the ultimate purpose for driving a strategy like this? I believe that the metrics that we set for ourselves and the targets we set for ourselves, for things like, where do we want sales to go? What's the level of GDP we expect in a five year horizon? How many? How are we going to grow employment, and what are the tax dollars going to look like to go back to the province once we articulate those numbers, I do believe that it's going to really help us get that teamwork built. And so on that front, one of the things that we're doing as a next step on the project is we're taking those six priorities, we're creating more tactical to do's, and then we're creating an economic model that will show what we expect to drive in terms of all those metrics. And so that's really what the strategy is aimed to do, and what it should deliver going forward. What I really hope and expect from this initiative is that it's going to allow us to focus on what the sector needs for the future. It's going to allow us to have more effective conversations with different levels of government, and it's going to allow us to connect and collaborate more with partners on the ground to achieve those results. So we're really looking forward to this being presented in full over the coming months, and it'll be a central part of our work with the province and industry as we go forward in 2025

Madison Simmons  51:53  
think it's, yeah, it's fantastic. I don't think it's surprising what these six pillars have told us, but I think it's so important that we have this industry led a strategy showing the alignment of the of the entire industry as we move forward, for us to be able to set those goals and actually start, you know, progressing and moving forward and looking to

Andrew Siegwart  52:13  
the and what, and what the industry is going to see as a next step. Because what I've just shared with you are strategic pillars. They are not action items yet, but the action items are coming, and they're going to be focused, and they're going to be focused on where we can move the dial and where we can make the most impact. And again, I'm going to come back to this productivity challenge that we are experiencing in Canada's economy. Part of that is because I think a lot of industries have not been able to focus and so that's going to be the trick for us. Is, how do we have an action plan that focuses on areas where we can make gains and where we can advance and where we can deliver the most impact to the most number of stakeholders? And that's really the trick as we go forward and making sure that what we do has the most impact on the most number of players is going to be critical.

Madison Simmons  53:05  
The Productivity discussion is a big part of the federal liberal leadership race, and I think it's a is an important piece to raise weight forward.

Andrew Siegwart  53:15  
It's true. We are hearing it in every in every conversation right now, and I believe the reason we are is because we are confronted by it, through this dynamic with Canada US relations, and as we see risks in our expected trade relationships, you know, I think we've taken for granted our trading partnerships. Another great example is interprovincial trade. So the gaps that we have on interprovincial trade represent productivity challenges. The sooner we can address those issues and focus on those, I think the more empowered and confident our sector is going to feel, and I think that's ultimately what I hope for our strategy as well. While there is so much uncertainty in our economy, the more focused we can be, the more clear we can be, and where we have meaningful, tactical items that we're going to drive, it's going to make people feel a little more confident in where we're going, and it should help people make more decisions, make more investments, and to focus on the future. So, you know, for me, it's interesting where we are right now. I mean, it's, March 3. On the day that we're recording this, we could have very different positions tomorrow or the next day. Things change very fast right now. But I think the message that I want to leave everyone with is that the more we focus on what we need to achieve and what our targets are within our industry and where we can control and where we can make changes, the better off we will be. And so yes, we have to be dialed into these national and international shifts and changes, but the more we stay focused on what we know we need to achieve for our sector, I think the better we will be. And so that's gonna that's gonna be a real challenge for everyone to pay attention to what's happening globally. Stay focused. Focused on an action plan, and I believe that's what our strategy is going to help us achieve.

Madison Simmons  55:03  
I couldn't agree more, and I know the team at Tio is is really looking forward to to building this out and looking ahead to the future. So if our members or anyone in the industry had further questions or concerns, where can they reach out to get more information support from Tio

Andrew Siegwart  55:19  
any listener or any member or anyone interested in what we're doing, can always find information at our website, Tia ontario.ca. And of course, you can reach out to me anytime a sigwart at Tia ontario.ca. I really, for those of you who have listened to this discussion all the way through the end, I know that policy post election assessments, pre budget submissions and strategic plans are not the sexiest topics, and we know it's hard to stay focused when we're when we're getting into the minutia, but this is what we're here for. This is tayo ultimate job. We are here to assess the situation, bring forward policy recommendations and drive them so that what we can end up doing at the end of the day is getting alignment with policy makers on those items that matter most, so that we can drive change. And so thank you for engaging with us, and for all of the engagement that you participated in in the in the pre election campaign that sets us up to be successful. So when I look back at the last year, over 1000 operators and businesses worked with us to develop our strategy. Over 1000 participants got letters to candidates running in the last election. We have a significant amount of engagement and participation, and as we go forward, we're going to need to double those numbers and keep advancing that level of engagement so that we can achieve the results that we need to achieve. So I just want to thank everyone. Please reach out through the channels, either our website or email. You can find us on all socials as well. We want to hear not only what you like about what we're talking about. We also want to hear where you disagree with us. We want to hear if you have different ideas or options. Tayo makes decisions based on its membership and feedback and our deep consultation in the market. We're all ears. Feel free to reach out, and thanks so much for joining us for this discussion about where the election has landed, what we can expect in the short term, and where we're looking at making gains in the long term through a strategic plan, we look forward to keeping everyone up to date as the months and years progress and thank you medicine for all of your your hard work and your leadership in this important work.

Madison Simmons  57:34  
Thank you so much. It's it's a privilege to work in this industry and to be able to advocate for for what it means to move it forward. Thanks

Mary Anne Ivison (Voiceover)  57:42  
for listening to forward motion. This show is created by the tourism industry association of Ontario and is recognized by government as the voice of tourism and produced by everyone at the sound off media company. You.