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What We Do
Development Process
Latest Projects
News
Business Plan
Meet The Team
Staff
Resources and Tools
Digital Curriculum
Case Studies
Research
Sustainability Pledge
Contact Us
Open RFPs


What We Do
Development Process
Latest Projects
News
Business Plan
Meet The Team
Staff
Resources and Tools
Digital Curriculum
Case Studies
Research
Sustainability Pledge
Contact Us
Open RFPs



Homeadmin2024-11-26T20:52:56+00:00


WHAT WE DO

“The key to successful tourism destination development is highly engaged
communities that take an active role in shaping their collective future. The
best destinations have engagement across a broad spectrum of tourism
stakeholders; business, public, financial, political and a host of others, not
just tourism and marketing entities.”

Regional Tourism Organization 4 Inc. (RTO4) was incorporated in October 2010
pursuant to the Ontario Ministry of Tourism’s request to create “an organization
that will coordinate the diverse interests of the tourism industry to build and
support a competitive tourism region through marketing and destination
management.” Our region (Ontario Tourism Region #4) encompasses Huron County,
Perth County, Waterloo Region and Wellington County.

RTO4 follows a ‘goal-strategy-measurement’ model to create, implement and assess
the tools and tactics that are the most appropriate for growing the tourism
economy in this region.


REGION DNA



Ontario Tourism Region 4 encompasses Huron County, Perth County, Waterloo Region
and Wellington County




LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We acknowledge that the region encompassing Huron County, Perth County, Waterloo
Region, and Wellington County is the traditional territory of the Attawandaron
(Neutral), Anishinaabek, and Haudenosaunee Peoples. These lands have long been a
place of gathering, exchange, and connection for Indigenous Peoples. We
recognize that each place within this territory holds its own history of
settlement and colonialism, and that the 11 treaties and agreements related to
these lands tell only a small part of the larger story.

This land acknowledgment is a declaration of our collective responsibility to
honor this place and its peoples’ histories, rights, and continued presence. It
is also implicitly a recognition of the historical and ongoing impacts of
colonization. We are grateful for the opportunity to live, work, and create on
this territory, and we commit to listening, learning, and working in partnership
with Indigenous communities towards truth, reconciliation, and decolonization.


GUIDING PRINCIPLES

RTO4 follows a purpose-built model based on a process of
‘goal-strategy-measurement’ to create, implement and assess the tools and
tactics that are the most appropriate for growing the tourism economy in this
region. The team operates on five guiding principles:

 * Hygiene First – a critical focus on working with stakeholders to identify and
   fix those things that impede tourism growth
 * Destination Network – a holistic view of destinations that engages multiple
   stakeholders in shaping a community’s collective tourism future
 * Shared Story Brand – redefining brand in the modern media world as the sum
   total of shared stories and experiences about a given destination
 * A relentless focus on the visitor experience
 * Enabling Engagement – working with stakeholders to strengthen their ability
   to engage consumers




DESTINATION DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

The goal of the RTO4 Destination Development process is to create vibrant
destinations by emphasizing capacity building, a culture of innovation, and the
transfer of key skills to Destination Network partners, as well as unlocking
co-investment from traditional and non-traditional stakeholders; in essence, a
virtuous loop of continuous destination improvement.

LEARN MORE


ACCESSIBLE INFO GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION

RTO4 Destination Development Process

Phase one – align and engage the Destination network:

 * Destination Network – Identify and align a diverse group of Destination
   stakeholders
 * Destination DNA – Develop consensus on the essence of a place and it’s people

Phase two – Collaborative Destination network projects focusing on DNA and
Visitor Experience:

 * Hygiene – Identify, fix and enhance physical and digital experience issues
 * Animation – Create and enhance experiences that align with the DNA
 * Storytelling – Increase the efficacy of DNA storytelling and amplification


WHY WE UNBRAND OURSELVES?

RTO4 is not a brand.

A look at the successes and failures of previous regional models in the province
points to the fact that the umbrella branding of RTOs caused consumer confusion
and friction with branded destinations and operators. Therefore, instead of
consumer-facing assets, RTO4 focuses on using resources to enhance existing
demand generators and amplify, disseminate brands within the RTO4 region that
are provincially significant.


LEARN MORE


LATEST PROJECTS

 * 


2024 EXPERIENCE ONTARIO GRANT WRITING WORKSHOP

By Charlotte Moore|2024-11-14T20:16:27+00:00November 14, 2024|



Join RTO4 in participating in this workshop hosted by Sweety Goswami (Regional
Tourism Advisor for the Ministry of Tourism, Culture [...]

Read More

 * 


SKILLS & STRATEGIES SERIES

By Andrea Gardi|2024-10-29T19:46:54+00:00October 29, 2024|



We are starting our Skills & Strategies Series this fall with three one-hour
lunch presentations about storytelling. Each session is [...]

Read More

 * 


2024-2025 PARTNERSHIP LAUNCH

By Andrea Gardi|2024-11-07T15:55:34+00:00October 18, 2024|



RTO4’s Partnership Program is a co-investment initiative designed to foster
tourism across our region, which includes Huron, Perth, and Wellington [...]

Read More




LATEST NEWS


CANADA SUMMER JOBS PROGRAM. NOW OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS

By Karen Mitchell|2023-12-11T19:32:40+00:00December 11, 2023|



The Canada Summer Jobs Wage Subsidy intake is now open. More information below.
Application deadline Wednesday, January 10, 2024 at [...]

Read More



FEDERAL TOURISM GROWTH PROGRAM IN SOUTHERN ONTARIO HAS LAUNCHED!

By Karen Mitchell|2023-12-01T19:24:18+00:00December 1, 2023|



Delivered by Canada's regional development agencies (RDAs), the Tourism Growth
Program (TGP) provides $108 million over 3 years to support [...]

Read More



ELECTRIC VEHICLE (EV) CHARGEON PROGRAM HAS LAUNCHED.

By Karen Mitchell|2023-12-01T19:21:35+00:00December 1, 2023|



The EV ChargeON program provides funding for the installation of public electric
vehicle (EV) chargers in Ontario communities outside of [...]

Read More



FUNDING





RESOURCES

 * Tourism, Culture and Sport
 * Destination Ontario
 * Sport Hosting Office



CONTACT

(519) 271-7000

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