Ontario Tourism’s Election Playbook
Ontario's tourism association has a toolkit for the 26 October municipal elections, and the new tourism minister will speak at its Ottawa summit days before the vote.
Ontario’s tourism industry is lobbying ahead of the 26 October municipal elections. The Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) has released Tourism in Your Community, a toolkit that operators can use to brief local candidates. It covers how tourism supports local businesses, festivals and recreational spaces that residents also use. For operators, the period before the vote is a chance to raise tourism with candidates who will set local budgets and decide municipal fees for the next four years.
The province’s new tourism minister will be at TIAO’s main event of the year. Zee Hamid, who became Minister of Tourism, Culture and Gaming in Premier Doug Ford’s 10 September cabinet shuffle, replacing Stan Cho, will do a fireside chat at the 2026 Ontario Tourism Summit (OTS26). The summit runs 21 and 22 October at the Westin Ottawa under the theme “Connect & Elevate”. According to TIAO’s event page, a full two-day pass costs $995 to $1,195, and member rates are lower. The summit ends with the Ontario Tourism Awards of Excellence.
TIAO’s next date is Tourism Day at Queen’s Park on 7 December, its annual lobby day with members of provincial parliament (MPPs). It is open to TIAO members only.
If you’re travelling: Municipal councils set local taxes on visitors, such as municipal accommodation taxes on hotel stays, and decide funding for events. The people elected on 26 October will help decide what a weekend away in Ontario costs.
Takeaway: Operators, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and hotel and tour suppliers have a short window to brief candidates before 26 October and to hear the new minister set out his priorities in Ottawa five days earlier.
Sources
- Tourism Industry Association of Ontario, advocacy update newsletter ‘New Municipal Election Toolkit + Minister Zee Hamid at OTS26’, 1 Oct 2026
- https://tiaontario.ca/2026-ontario-tourism-summit
- https://yourthunderbay.ca/premier-changes-cabinet-ahead-legislature-resuming-next-month/
Jeff Cameron is a chief operating officer who writes about the business of travel: operations, pricing, loyalty and the decisions behind the trips, seen through an executive lens.