With the support of the Government of Canada’s Canadian Experience Fund, TIAC has launched our pan-Canadian, capacity-building workshop series which will support SMEs’ in rural and secondary markets. The Elevating Canadian Experiences program was originally designed to help bolster Canada’s tourism expansion in potential growth areas while the COVID-19 global health pandemic has drastically changed the tourism landscape in Canada. In response, TIAC has pivoted the design of the workshops to reflect the new tourism reality for most operators.

We have already successfully delivered our online series of sessions for three destinations: Yarmouth and the Acadian Shore(NS) Saskatoon (SK) and in the Yukon Territory. We have a full docket in the months to come.  We will be delivering additional online sessions in late September and early October in: Winnipeg (MB), Brandon (MB), Alberta, New Brunswick, Laurentians (QC), Lower Saint-Lawrence (QC) and that’s just to name a few. 

These sessions offer capacity building content and strategy development with a focus on:

• Support for rural and secondary market tourism: Currently, only three provinces and their largest cities are the primary destination for the vast majority of visitors coming to Canada.
• Support for winter and shoulder season development: Despite Canada being known for its winters, only 1% of activities are winter-based, which creates challenges for tourism operators trying to optimize the use of talent and capital investments.
• Support for culinary tourism development: Approximately one fifth of spending by international travelers in Canada is on food and beverage. By increasing visitor demand for local food and drink, food tourism contributes to the long-term sustainability of local agriculture, food systems, communities and culture.
• With a variety of ongoing and shifting travel restrictions, there is opportunity to attract domestic travelers to destinations outside major urban centres - and to expand marketing to international travelers as soon as it is safe to do so.

For additional information on the benefits of our workshops, please visit us at www.elevatingcanadianexperiences.ca.

Registration is now open – visit our Upcoming Events tab on our Elevating Canadian Experiences website to learn more!