| Journal: TWUK | Section: |
| Title: | Issue Date: 29/05/00 |
| Author: | Page Number: 47 |
| Copyright: Other |
Ontario
Ministry chief outlines plans at Rendezvous
Report by MATTHEWHAMPTON
Ontario’s first Minister for Tourism, Cam Jackson, has outlined his ministry’s objectives for this year and beyond.Speaking at Rendezvous, the main Canadian travel trade event held this year in Calgary, Jackson noted that UK visitors to Ontario last year topped 403,000 out of a total 824,000 for Canada. Ontario’s year-on-year UK figures for January and February were, so far, up 29.5% for this year.
“The UK is important to tourism in Ontario,” he said. “We want to invest more in the UK and European markets.”
Though the minister could not commit to an exact figure – the budgets are still being set – he noted that total budget for product development over the next four years is £133.3m. He added that a possible £2.2m could also be awarded by the end of this month for marketing purposes.
Jackson outlined five new markets that Ontario wants to develop. These include culinary tours, aboriginal products and golf, all of which will be of interest to the UK, as well as horticultural and learning holidays, which are more geared towards the Far East.
“Our goal is to ensure that services which the government and our tourism industry offer make selling Ontario an exciting prospect,” he added.
The Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership, established in April last year as a public-private initiative, is an example of the government’s efforts to market the province to a wider audience.
Jackson announced two new OMTP publications. Ontario’s New Product Bulletin lists all of the new product coming on stream in the province in the near future, while the Ontario Travel Trade Manual is a reference manual for tour operators giving details of all ground operators in the province and more.
n Rendezvous 2001 will be held in Toronto, Ontario, from May 12-16.
Jackson: wants to develop the golf market