Tourism experts in the north say investments needed to address key gaps

Tourism experts say people from near and far want to explore all northern Ontario has to offer.

But there are gaps that are holding the region back from fully benefiting from the travel industry.

“Leisure visits are quite strong and you're seeing accommodations, attractions, food and beverage, those sectors have been faring better,” said Andrew Siegwart, Tourism Industry Association of Ontario CEO and president.

“One area in the tourism ecosystem that hasn't quite returned is ... business and corporate travel and a lot of those conventions and events. So we're still waiting to see those bounce back.”

Siegwart said northern Ontario has seen a spike in domestic visits in recent years but international travel isn’t quite where it used to be.

That’s where he said the industry can work with government to address key infrastructure gaps over the coming years.

• Download our app to get local alerts on your device
• Get the latest local updates right to your inbox

“Whether that's addressing declining air service in northern Ontario, whether that's looking at more attainable housing or whether collaborating with governments to lay down more EV infrastructure,” Siegwart said.

“So that these growing (number of) electric vehicles can actually travel north with confidence.”

Destination Northern Ontario said that pre-pandemic, about $1.6 billion in tourism receipts in northern Ontario contributed to $450 million towards Ontario’s GDP each year.