Ontario’s Highlands Builds Global Momentum at Rendez-vous Canada 2026

Ontario’s Highlands made a strong impression on the international travel trade at Rendez-vous Canada 2026, held May 26 to 29 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

Co-produced by Destination Canada and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, Rendez-vous Canada (RVC) connects qualified travel buyers with Canadian tourism businesses and destinations, creating opportunities for new itineraries, partnerships and future bookings.

This signature international tourism marketplace brought together more than 1,450 buyers and sellers, and included a record 518 buyers representing 24 international and domestic markets. These numbers are an encouraging sign of the growing global demand for Canadian travel experiences.

For the Ontario’s Highlands Tourism Organization (OHTO) Travel Trade Partnership, the event delivered valuable buyer connections, strong partner participation and enthusiastic feedback from buyers who experienced the region firsthand.

A Strong Presence on the Marketplace Floor

OHTO Travel Trade Specialist, Holly Blefgen, managed the Ontario’s Highlands booth throughout the event, working alongside six key seller representatives.

The booth featured experiences and accommodations from OWL Rafting, Madawaska Kanu Centre, Haliburton Forest & Wild Life Reserve, Elmhirst’s Resort and Ontario Parks. Together, these partners helped buyers understand the range of outdoor adventure, nature, accommodation and touring opportunities available across the region.

Additional partners joined OHTO on the show floor for a day of buyer engagement, including Haliburton County, the City of Peterborough, the Canadian Canoe Museum, Somewhere Inn, Perth Parkside Inn & Spa, Westben Concerts at the Barn and the County of Peterborough.

This shared presence allowed buyers to see see how accommodations, outdoor adventures, cultural attractions, communities and culinary experiences can be combined into compelling multi-day itineraries.

More Than 70 Buyer Appointments

Over the course of RVC, OHTO completed more than 70 of its 78 scheduled appointments with tour operators and receptive tour operators. Buyers represented the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong and other priority markets.

Each appointment provided an opportunity to introduce new products, strengthen existing relationships, follow up on previous sales activity and identify experiences suited to international itineraries. 

OHTO also continued these discussions beyond the formal appointment schedule. The team hosted a dinner with the CEO of UK tour operator Magnetic North, breakfast with CANADVAC CEO John Simon and Product Manager Christina Wentzell, and breakfast with buyers who had participated in the pre-RVC familiarization tour.

The results demonstrate what OHTO’s collaborative travel trade model was designed to accomplish: provide tourism businesses and destination partners with coordinated, professional representation in international markets while sharing the investment and effort required to maintain those relationships.

Bringing Buyers into Ontario’s Highlands

Destination Ontario offered 17 pre- and post-RVC familiarization tours, each lasting three nights and four days. Through its Travel Trade Partnership, OHTO financially supported and delivered two of these programs: a pre-RVC tour through the western part of the partnership region and a post-RVC tour through the east.
Each tour welcomed eight buyers, giving 16 travel professionals the opportunity to experience Ontario’s Highlands directly.

The pre-RVC group included representatives from Jonview, Meridia Reisen, Kuoni, NAAR, Konrad Travel, Gate 1 Travel, CanaDream and Tiqets. The post-RVC group included buyers and representatives from Wings on the World, Nanuk, Kensington Tours, Altai, Imagine Canada, Springtour, Destination Canada France and Destination Ontario France.

These tours allowed buyers to experience the details that cannot always be communicated during a short trade-show appointment: the warmth of a welcome, the quality of an accommodation, the flavour of a local meal, the pace of an itinerary and the feeling of travelling through the region’s communities and landscapes.
They also gave participating businesses the opportunity to hear direct buyer feedback, better understand international visitor expectations and demonstrate their ability to deliver high-quality, bookable experiences.

Exceeding Expectations

Following the post-RVC tour, Geoffrey Duval of Destination Ontario France shared an enthusiastic message with the OHTO team.

“I had heard great things about the region, but experiencing it firsthand exceeded all expectations.”

He described Ontario’s Highlands as authentic, welcoming and diverse, with an exceptional mix of accommodations, activities, excursions, food experiences and natural landscapes.

Geoffrey also recognized the care shown by the region’s tourism partners. He praised the hospitality received at every stop, the quality and variety of local menus, the professionalism of the group’s driver and the smooth coordination of the tour.

Geoffrey returned to France with new product ideas, memorable experiences and, in his words, “a strong desire to encourage French travellers to explore this beautiful region.”

This kind of response is a valuable outcome of familiarization travel. 

Building Business for 2027 and Beyond

OHTO’s partners reported record forward sales for 2027, while feedback from participating buyers indicated that the Travel Trade Partnership exceeded their expectations.

These results reflect years of shared investment by tourism businesses, municipalities, destination organizations and regional partners. They also reinforce the importance of maintaining consistent representation in international markets.

OHTO extends its gratitude to every operator, community and partner that supported the marketplace program and familiarization tours. The success of RVC 2026 belongs to the partnership as a whole.

Looking Ahead to Calgary

Rendez-vous Canada will celebrate its 50th anniversary in Calgary, Alberta, from April 28 to May 1, 2027.
The milestone event will once again connect international travel buyers with Canadian destinations and tourism businesses, building on the record participation and strong sales activity generated in Toronto.