(Originally published in TOURISM)
It may come as a surprise to some that Ontario’s $21 billion tourism sector did not have a provincial advocacy organization until now. As of this year, the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) is filling this role, and the board of directors has hired 33-year veteran career civil servant and former deputy minister of tourism Bill Allen to take the helm as president. TOURISM asked him why he felt the need to undertake this new challenge:
“I am very passionate about the tourism industry,” Allen responds. “We’ve got a great province, a great country, and we should be presenting it to people from around the world. Tourism is such a positive industry. When I was in government, I was always frustrated by the fact there wasn’t one strong voice for tourism. I felt because of that Tourism was losing out to some of the other industries like the auto industry, agriculture, forestry, mining and so on, which were much better organized and presented themselves with one unified voice. That is why I am doing it. I want to see a strong voice for tourism, so we can have the same profile as some of the other industries.”
Allen explains that TIAO is the fruit of some major soul-searching among Ontario tourism operators. “There was an association called the Tourism Federation of Ontario,” he notes. “They didn’t have any staff and relied on volunteers who were trying to raise the profile of the association. Three years ago, they did a review of the industry and came to the conclusion they should have a well-resourced association with paid staff who are able to advocate on behalf of the tourism industry. Coming out of the study was the formation of the TIAO. Here is a group of tourism leaders who have come together and formed an interim board and we, the Association, came into being back in March of this year.”
Allen expects TIAO to provide significant leverage for the industry. “Without a unified voice, it is difficult for government to take industry representatives as seriously as it could, and the government may be confused by mixed messages coming from the industry. The objective of TIAO is to present that unified voice on the key issues in which the government needs to be involved, either helping to solve problems or in partnership with the industry for its enhancement.”
One of these overarching issues, according to Allen, is the competitiveness of the tourism industry compared to other jurisdictions, particularly jurisdictions outside Canada. “With the strong dollar, our industry doesn’t have the same competitive advantage, cost-wise, it used to enjoy.”
This is compounded by many other smaller issues which contribute to the competitiveness challenge, he goes on: “If you look at how a traveller makes a decision to come to a particular destination, there are three factors that have an impact. First comes the product: what is the feeling about going to a destination? What is going to excite me about it? What are the attractions? What are the things to see and do? Second comes marketing: telling people what we have. There are certainly a number of areas where we need to do a better job of marketing, compared to what other jurisdictions are doing. The third issue is: how easy is it to get here? When I say easy, I am talking about air capacity and the cost of getting here. If it costs twice as much to come to Ontario or Canada, versus going to Europe, that is a negative factor.”
On this last point Bill Allen raises issues around barriers to rubber tire traffic, notably border issues. “Is there going to be a line-up? The high level of security is a complaint we see in our research, particularly coming from the US traveller.”
One of the roles Allen would like to see played by government is to be out there prospecting those new markets: “Traditionally, Ontario has gone after the border states. They are easy pickings - you just have to drive across. Those markets are becoming more difficult to attract. We need to be looking a little farther afield. The challenge to developing new markets is that it takes time and it takes money, and the challenge for destinations is they are looking for quick and immediate resolutions. What I am suggesting is that a role for government is to go into those new markets and promote the province. Then, after they raise the awareness of the province, the individual destinations can come in and ‘close the deal and close the sale’. It is this awareness-raising our association feels is critical, and the activity that requires the backing of government dollars.”
On the subject of TIAO’s collaboration with the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership (the existing provincial marketing organization) Allen foresees a tandem cycle that pedals ahead smoothly: “Already we have a good relationship. We met with them several times, and talked about the role of the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership (OTMP) relative to our association. Clearly our association won’t be doing any marketing - this is not part of our mandate - but we will be representing a number of associations which do market, like Resorts of Ontario and the Ontario Private Campground Association, as well as destinations like Tourism Toronto, Ottawa Tourism and Tourism Niagara. When we meet with government, we would be promoting a collaborative approach to marketing with the OTMP and our members.”
Bill Allen cites TIAO’s partnership with the OTMP, which is hosting its 3rd Tourism Summit in early October, as an example of working together. “We are in this partnership with them this first year because we are a fledgling organization. It sends a very positive signal to government, as well as to the industry, that we are willing to work with the OTMP for the betterment of the industry.”
Betterment of the industry includes generating new investments, Allen believes. This is something the Ontario Ministry of Tourism is also committed to, and a pivotal element in helping maximizing industry revenues. “This gets back to the product factor. If we are not investing in new products, attractions and new reasons for people to come, then they will go somewhere else. When we are sitting down with government, we are saying we shouldn’t just focus on marketing, we need to place equal emphasis on building the product, the compelling reasons for people to visit. Investment is critical, and I think government can play two roles: one is investing in the properties that it owns (Ontario Place, the St. Lawrence Parks Commission, the Niagara Parks Commission, Fort William, for example). The good news is that the government has recently put more money into those tourism destinations. The other role in which we see government assisting is the development of a public-private sector approach to renewing and revitalizing the tourism product.”
Bill Allen's passion for the industry, the clarity of his vision and his many years of experience, bode well for the future of Ontario's new tourism industry association.
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