TIAO taps into opportunities a day-long forum

The Travel Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) hosted a one-day Tourism Opportunities Forum designed for tourism leaders, municipalities, and industry partners to provide them with the latest insights and move forward with clarity, strategy and momentum.

This year’s forum focuses on marketing, with tactical sessions that offered participants help with turning insight into action.

During the day-long events, participants one of the issues that took centre stage was the fact that AI is redefining how travellers discover destinations, but also reminded the audience that the “why” behind those travellers’ decisions remains deeply human.

Other key highlights and insights from the different sessions offered during the course of the day included:

• Ontario remains the top choice for domestic travel.
• Tourism revenue across Canada grew 3% in 2025, despite economic uncertainty.
• While website traffic may decline as travellers increasingly rely on AI tools, a drop in clicks does not mean a drop in influence.
• Real stories and authentic experiences remain essential to tourism marketing — even in an AI-driven landscape.
• A growing number of travellers are already using AI to help plan their trips.

And during the Heated Rivalry panel, those attending heard a compelling discussion about how film and television can spark destination awareness and create fun and creative tourism opportunities for communities and businesses.

Go to https://www.tiaontario.ca/cpages/homepage for more.