More Help for Ontario Tourism Sector Coming Next Week, Queens Park Says

More Help for Ontario Tourism Sector Coming Next Week, Queens Park Says

March 12, 2021 ctn_admin

More help is coming next week for Ontario’s beleaguered tourism and travel industry, Tourism Minister Lisa MacLeod said today (March 12).

MacLeod told participants on a media call that she can’t reveal details but that there will be added relief for the “hardest hit sectors” rolling out next week, including tourism, sports, and cultural industries.

“Hundreds of millions will be going out,” she said.

MacLeod said the Ontario tourism task force that was announced last week, with former Ontario MPP Tim Hudak in charge, will report back to her by April 15.

She said she understands the pressures that tourism operators are under when it comes to making plans for everything from 1,000 Island boat trips to museum hours and festival operations. The same goes for sports groups and summer camps.

“Our behaviour in the next couple of weeks will determine what kind of summer we will have,” she said. “I think as we get more people vaccinated, as we get the variants of concern under control and we stop the spread of COVID-19, we might be in a good position by late summer, early fall, but it’s far too early to tell where we’ll be on that.”

MacLeod, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture, touched briefly on the travel tax credit that the Ontario government announced last year, a $150 million plan that will allow Ontario residents to get a 20 per cent return on money they spend on tourism and travel within the province, up to $200.

“If a family of three or four is spending $1000 and they know they’re going to get $200 back they might end up spending the $1200,” MacLeod said when the plan was announced. “I think we’ll start to see that money circulating across the province.”

Discover Ontario display at Yonge-Dundas Square. JIM BYERS PHOTO

The minister today said that government officials are “building out itineraries across Ontario so when it’s safe to do and we can visit each other again that we’ll be able to flick the switch with branding and marketing and the ability to let people know what they can take in.”

MacLeod said she wants to help Ontario’s “Gateway Cities,” Toronto and Ottawa, but that Queen’s Park also is looking at “signature destinations” such as Niagara, the 1,000 Islands, Blue Mountain, Northern Ontario and Muskoka.

She said the government wants to build out products to encourage staycations but also make investments to encourage more international travel to Ontario when the time is right.

MacLeod said she understands the Ontario tourism sector needs more help.

“I know who’s been hurt, and we know we’re going to need to support you. I feel a sense of optimism and a sense of the ability for us to get up and going again. We know some sectors will be busy this summer, and I think there’s a lot of pent-up demand.”