The province is investing $100 million through a new program to help tourism operators recover from the impacts of the pandemic.
Eligibility based on revenue loss
Businesses that help drive employment and visitors to their regions are eligible to apply, including inns and lodges, boat tours, ski centres, live performance venues, cinemas, drive-in theatres, and amusement parks.
The Ontario Tourism Recovery Program will support tourism businesses that have experienced a loss of at least 50% of eligible revenue in 2020-21 compared to 2019. Click here for more information on eligibility and how to apply.
Program funding will help successful applicants prepare to reopen safely, develop innovative tourism products, retain and create tourism jobs, and support tourism recovery in their region and throughout Ontario. Applications will open on Oct. 13.
COVID-19 crisis
Successful recipients will be able to apply funds to any eligible expenses and do what makes the most sense for their businesses, officials stated in a release. Expenses could include reopening and operating costs such as staff salaries and maintenance, health and safety measures for visitors and workers, tourism product and experience development, or marketing.
“The last 18 months of the pandemic have been the most challenging Ontario’s tourism industry has ever faced,” Heritage, Sport, Tourism, and Culture Minister Lisa MacLeod stated. “Previously an economic powerhouse for the province, tourism has been hit by the triple threat that COVID-19 represents – a health, economic, and social crisis. This critical funding will help support regionally significant businesses, while protecting jobs in communities that rely on the tourism industry.”
Click here for more outdoors news
For more on where to go, click here
To read how COVID-19 continues to impact the outdoors community, click here
Leave A Comment