Northern Ontario tourism industry members gather in North Bay for summit

Strong attendance and record sponsorship at the Northern Ontario Tourism Summit in North Bay is a good sign the industry is recovering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, says Destination Northern Ontario.

"Seeing that more dollars are being spent to sponsor events like this is a good indicator that things are looking up, that there's a lot of optimism and that the visitors are coming," said Marla Tremblay, a francophone tourism specialist with Destination Northern Ontario.

Tremblay said the sold-out conference brings together tourism operators and businesses that benefit from more visitors to the north, including hotels and restaurants.

"That's a big reason why we're here today," she said.

"What we're hearing about is opportunities for growth, opportunities for improving [our] product and attracting people for the economy."

Tanya Bédard, the executive director of Tourism North Bay, said it's the first time the city has hosted the conference, now in its tenth year. She says it gives North Bay a chance to showcase what it has to offer tourists.

"We are truly a four season destination," she said.

"We have some work to do in order to continue to build our product and our offering, especially hearing some of the trends that have been discussed here today."

Also discussed during the three day summit are subjects like Indigenous and Francophone tourism, an update on the return of the Northlander train, tips on content creation and promotion of businesses on the internet, and Chinese interest in Northern Ontario as a place to visit.