Canada's Tourism Ministers Support Marketing Campaign in the U.S.

Enhancing the competitiveness of Canadian tourism and fostering cooperation across Canada were the key themes today at the Canadian Council of Tourism Ministers' meeting, which was co-chaired by the Honorable Bardish Chagger, Minister of Small Business and Tourism, and the Honorable Ron Lemieux, Manitoba's Minister of Tourism, Culture, Heritage, Sport and Consumer Protection.

Provinces, territories, municipalities, industry and Destination Canada are working together on-and co-investing in-a comprehensive, three-year, industry-aligned marketing campaign in the U.S. Launching in spring 2016, the Connecting America marketing campaign will help boost travel and tourism.

The ministers provided updates on Indigenous tourism projects and discussed their respective governments' successes and challenges. They heard from Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) and the Aboriginal Tourism Association of Canada (ATAC) about findings of the National Aboriginal Tourism Research Project 2015. INAC and ATAC outlined a strategic plan for the future on how to best support continued growth.

New efforts to streamline visa application processes and the growth of the sharing economy were also discussed.

Finally, the ministers identified as a priority the creation of a new strategy to support continued collaboration on tourism.