51st ICCA Congress

International Congress and Convention Association.

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Session sponsored by:

Models for Structuring City Convention Bureaux and Other Marketing Organizations

Tuesday 23 Oct 11:00

International Congress and Convention Association.

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Alice AuDirector of Sales,

International Meetings & Events

Tourism Toronto – Toronto Convention and Visitors Association

International Congress and Convention Association.

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Located on the shores of Lake OntarioMajor air travel hub to Canada & the US

Population:5.5 million in Greater Toronto Region

Annual visitors:26 million

Economic Impact: $4.4 Billion

TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA

International Congress and Convention Association.

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• 1926 – Toronto Convention & Tourist Bureau was formed as a not-for-profit co-operative marketing/sales & visitor services organization by the Hotel Association of Toronto and the Toronto Board of Trade

• Initial Funding Model – Public/Private • City provided grants to TT for destination

marketing services ($600,000) • TT staff of (3)

History and Funding

International Congress and Convention Association.

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• 1986 – TT incorporated as a non-profit association as the Metro Toronto Convention & Visitors Association (known as Tourism Toronto) representing 750 member organizations

• 1988 - City of Toronto grant reached a high of $10M

History and Funding

International Congress and Convention Association.

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• 1995-1998, grant level diminished from $6.17M to $4.31M

• January, 2000 – City’s Economic Development & Parks Committee recommended grant increase to $4.5M

Tourism Toronto reconfirmed our mandate:• Destination Marketing Services • Advertising, promotion & media service• Visitor information• Market Research

Structure & Role of Tourism Toronto

International Congress and Convention Association.

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• 1998 – Amalgamation of the City of Toronto with 5 boroughs resulted in MTCVA’s name change to the Toronto Convention & Visitors Association (TVCA or Tourism Toronto)

• TT charged to market the entire Greater Toronto region

Tourism Toronto Name Change

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• Report to 42 member Board of Directors, including 7 members of City Council / Mayor served as Honorary Chair

• Performance measures determine funding commitments each year

• Annual Marketing & Business Plan submission to City Council

• Semi-annual briefing by TT’s President to Council on the state of tourism industry

• Annual audited statement by chartered accountant to City’s standards & practices

Former Governance

International Congress and Convention Association.

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• Since the end of 2003, the City ceased to provide financial grants to Tourism Toronto

• Early 2003 - Due to the SARS pandemic that spread from HK to 37 countries, Toronto’s business & tourism industry badly affected with massive layoffs in hotel sector

• Tourism Toronto and the GTHA rallied support of the hotel community – agreed to establish the DMF – destination marketing fee (3% room levy) collected by the GTHA

Private Sector Funding Support

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• DMF agreement renewable every 3 years• TT became 100% funded by industry

(private sector) 90% of which comes from DMF / Balance from fixed rate membership dues per category

• TT’s budget increased from $7M to $25M Major restructuring & increased staff to 55

• TT maximized financial contributions from & partnerships with private sector to cover cost of co-operative marketing activities

Private Sector Funding Support

International Congress and Convention Association.

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• By end of 2004, TT had a staff of 70 focusing on business development from all markets and hoped to recover from the damage to the convention and tourism industry

• Much effort put into marketing and media relations to manage desired outcome of an enhanced public perspective of our multicultural city

Disaster Management

International Congress and Convention Association.

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• In July 2010, the Provincial Government amalgamated the tax system to Harmonized Sales Tax (HST 13%)

• DMF ceased to exist as the Province took ownership of the DMF and controlled the funding to TT

• TT’s funding returned to (Public/Private) Government (92% - $28.5M out of a budget of $31M) / Industry (8% or $2.5M)

Return to Public / Private Funding

International Congress and Convention Association.

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• Tourism Toronto has a membership of over 1200 members from the hospitality & tourism-related organizations

• HQ’d in Toronto with offices in Mississauga, Ottawa, Chicago & Washington DC

• TT’s Partners include the Greater Toronto Hotel Association, City of Toronto, Ontario Ministry of Tourism & Culture, Canadian Tourism Commission, City of Mississauga, City of Brampton, Air Canada & Via Rail

Public/Private Sector Partnership

International Congress and Convention Association.

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• Staff of 80 reports to a 22 member Board of Directors drawn from broad spectrum of Greater Toronto’s tourism industry, Municipal & Provincial Government

• Focus on driving business tourism, conventions, special events and leisure trade sales

• Extensive consumer marketing campaigns and media relations program in key cities

to drive visitors to our urban escape

Tourism Toronto’s Current Structure

International Congress and Convention Association.

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Organizational Chart Tourism Toronto Team Deployment 2012

International Congress and Convention Association.

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• Quarterly sales advisory committee meetings with our hotels and convention centres help us assess the need periods and in turn direct our sales focus to meet the targeted needs

• In 2011, the MC&IT sales team secured 526,554 total room-nights in future bookings, with a projected direct visitor spend of approximately $326 million which will support 242,000 jobs in our hospitality & related industry

MC&IT Sales & Measurement

International Congress and Convention Association.

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CON’s •Unpredictable funding support from the Government impedes long term planningPRO’s •Creates ongoing communication channel between the bureau and the hospitality community and encourage partnership to build towards mutual success

Pro’s & Con’s with our funding model

51st ICCA Congress

International Congress and Convention Association.

Twitter: #ICCA12

Session sponsored by:

Thank you!