NOTO is working hard to change some of the new rules related to the reinstated Ontario Spring Bear Hunt

By Laurie Marcil | Executive Director, NOTO

Over the summer months NOTO has been very active on the industry’s behalf on a number of issues including Bear hunt allocations and new regulations, forestry, border crossing concerns, septic system approvals, TSSA concerns, wildlife management strategies and so much more. We continue to pressure Government to listen to the concerns of tourism businesses on a daily basis.

NOTO is currently reviewing the Resource Based Tourism Policy with the help of a number of our members and friends in Government with the goal of making the policy stronger for industry. We recently sent out a Resource Based Tourism Questionnaire by email to over 1,000 tourism businesses across Ontario to learn more about the challenges they face. We would encourage each tourism business to take 10 minutes to complete the survey before September 30th.

Your input will help to strengthen our argument for the need of a more effective Resource Based Tourism Policy. We are an industry that brings significant economic return to the Province of Ontario and should be treated as an industry rather than a group of unorganized small business owners.

Here is a quick link to the survey to save you some time.

Plans are well underway for the Northern Ontario Tourism Summit which will be held in Sudbury, ON from November 14th to the 16th at the Holiday inn. We encourage everyone to attend. We have a fantastic line up of keynote speakers, interactive workshops, a ton of networking opportunities and some great fun planned. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, share and laugh with old and new friends. For more details visit the summit website today.

There is one seat open for nominations in the Northwest this year for the NOTO Board of Directors. Any NOTO member who is interested in putting their name forward can find the nomination form here.

As always I encourage any tourism operators to contact us if they have any concerns, comments, or questions about any issue that they are dealing with. We are here to support the industry and we appreciate hearing about what is happening on the ground so we can make sure our activities help.