TIAC’s mandate is clear – we want to increase international visitation to Canada. The ‘Beyond Takeoff’ session will look at how we bring more visitors in, and how we get them to explore more of Canada.

While many different topics will be discussed by our panel on the subject, the bottom line is that secondary markets (both at home and abroad) will help us reach our growth targets and diversify our tourism offering.

At home, our destination marketing organizations (DMOs) are responsible for inspiring travellers and connecting them to local businesses. More and more, we’re seeing travellers want a more local travel experience. The key is getting traveler attention first. Marketing investments to Destination Canada can help forge these partnerships and connect travellers to cities they may never have even heard of. If we do this effectively, we can hopefully avoid ‘Overtourism’ issues we see in other countries around the world.

Overseas, we also need to work on giving travellers better access to Canada. This includes more flights and connections from new airports, and investing in Visa Application Centres outside of the biggest urban centres in places like China and India.

The Beyond Takeoff panel is sure to touch on these and many more topics so we can reach our visitor goals for 2021!