After the AGM: What’s Next for OHTO Members

Are you disappointed at having missed OHTO’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Oct. 9, 2024, or were you front and centre and are now pumped about putting into practice inspirational takeaways gleaned during the meeting? We are here to help!

Held annually in fall, OHTO’s AGM brings tourism champions (like you!) together to talk about what happened in the previous year and what’s coming up in 2025. It’s an exciting opportunity to hear experts chat about industry trends and update tourism stakeholders on the state of tourism in the region.

This year’s AGM was an invitation for participants to “Remember When”, to reflect on where we’ve been and how that has shaped where we are today and the opportunities of tomorrow. A big focus of this year’s the AGM was OHTO’s Sustainable Tourism approach, and an invitation for participants to become part of the change and launch their own sustainable journey.

At the AGM participants were inspired by guest speaker, Ben Vadasz of Destination Think, a global tourism strategist with expertise in destination marketing. Ben turned the spotlight on local initiatives as creative solutions to community challenges, including the Haliburton Rotary Club’s Bike Share program [link to webpage on 100 Travel Innovations]

Other highlights included OHTO’s announcement of the achievement of Bronze Level Sustainable Certification from GreenStep Solutions, the launch of the Eastern Ontario Rail Trail Partnership Project, and details on OHTO’s upcoming participation and presentation at Crowdriff’s international conference, SEE2024, held this year in Austin, Texas Oct. 28-30, 2024.  

To cap off the AGM, a networking breakout session offered participants an opportunity to share ways to strengthen our communities through tourism. 

So, What’s Next? 

Now that the AGM has passed, OHTO members can begin the work of learning more about being a tourism champion through partnership with OHTO and embracing a sustainable approach to tourism, while encouraging visitors to do the same. 

To get started, OHTO members can take advantage of membership to:

• Verify membership with OHTO and claim your organization’s listing in our Member Portal
• Broaden your knowledge on tourism topics through OHTO’s recently launched education platform, Learner, available through the Member Portal
• Book a Discovery Call to chat about your experience and find out what resources are available to them
• Consider a partnership with OHTO [link to blog post] to help meet your marketing goals
• Complete OHTO’s Annual Tourism Stakeholder survey – your input matters!

Stay Tuned for More to Come

• Release of the 2025 Edition of OHTO’s Unlocking Tourism Trends research report in January. Check out last year’s report here.
• Information about next year’s marketing campaign – If Nature Had a Voice
• Be the first to know OHTO’s plans for an in-person tourism conference in 2025