Goldie Ghamari - Question Period - Supporting Tourism in Ontario

00:00:00.000 Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

00:00:07.680 Late last year, our government for the people announced that Ontario would be developing a new

00:00:12.720 tourism strategy to make us more competitive for tourism operators, more appealing to visitors,

00:00:18.320 and to allow for greater job creation in the industry. In fact, I was very pleased to join

00:00:23.840 the minister this past January at his roundtable in Ottawa, engaging with some of our key stakeholders,

00:00:29.520 including several from my riding of Carleton, like Saunders Farm.

00:00:33.200 But this strategy also includes engaging Ontarians via the government's online tourism strategy.

00:00:40.000 And so through you, Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please provide this House with an update

00:00:44.960 on our government's online tourism strategy consultations?

00:00:48.080 The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

00:00:51.680 Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the member from Carleton for that question.

00:00:55.760 As of yesterday, I'm pleased to report that we've received over 7,000 responses

00:01:02.000 from visitors from Ontario and beyond, industry stakeholders and students from

00:01:06.960 across the province. I'd like to encourage all members of the House to

00:01:10.740 encourage their constituents to get online and take part in this important

00:01:15.860 survey. I'd also like to give a gentle reminder to everyone that you have until

00:01:19.940 the end of the month to submit your ideas. Over the last few months, I have

00:01:24.880 had the chance to meet with tourism stakeholders from all areas of the

00:01:28.480 province and I'm proud to say that part of our consultations have we've heard

00:01:32.500 from stakeholders in Northern Ontario our Indigenous stakeholders and these two

00:01:37.280 sectors Mr. Speaker have an enormous potential for growth response sector in

00:01:42.660 the near future our new tourism strategy will ensure that we encourage growth in

00:01:46.900 this important sector is part of our government's approach to make Ontario

00:01:50.440 open for business and open for jobs.

Goldie Ghamari - February 27, 2019