A Strategic Vision for Sustainable Tourism Growth
As the regional tourism organization for Niagara, responsible for coordinating, promoting, and supporting tourism development across the region, Tourism Partnership of Niagara (TPN) recognized the need to adapt to evolving visitor expectations, seasonality challenges, and increased competition from other destinations.
To address these challenges, TPN partnered with Resonance to develop a three-year strategic plan to position Niagara as a globally recognized, year-round destination. The plan was built on extensive internal and external stakeholder engagement, including interviews and workshops with community leaders, and regional partners, ensuring a collaborative and inclusive approach.
In preparing the plan, Resonance helped the organization better understand the overall impact of tourism across the region and the core markets supporting the prosperity of communities. Tourism is a critical driver of Niagara’s economy, contributing nearly $3.4 billion in total visitor spending in 2023. Tourism supports a substantial part of the regional economy, with more than 4,300 tourism-related businesses and nearly 40,000 jobs recorded.
The three-year strategic plan represents a significant shift in TPN’s role and focus. Collectively, we recognized that a more strategic and collaborative direction is needed to support tourism growth across the region. Rather than solely emphasizing marketing, TPN is committed to gathering and sharing market intelligence, fostering collaboration among key stakeholders, and advancing Niagara’s tourism sector—sometimes from the forefront, other times from behind the scenes—toward a more resilient and prosperous future. It focuses on five key strategic drivers that will guide the region’s tourism development:
- Marketing — Creating a unified and compelling brand story that elevates Niagara’s profile as a year-round destination, highlighting its cultural diversity, natural attractions, and unique experiences.
- Product Development — Supporting the development of new tourism products and experiences, including festivals, events, and themed itineraries, to attract visitors throughout the year and increase length of stay.
- Investment — Reducing barriers to tourism investment and fostering public-private partnerships to stimulate economic development and innovation in the tourism sector.
- Workforce Support — Strengthening the tourism workforce through skills training, talent attraction, and support for tourism operators, ensuring that businesses are equipped to thrive in a competitive environment.
- Industry Advancement — Enhancing coordination among stakeholders and leveraging real-time data insights to inform strategic decisions and measure success.
Through the Tourism Partnership of Niagara’s strategic plan, the region is set to strengthen its leadership role in Canadian tourism by fostering destination intelligence, regional collaboration, and industry leadership. By focusing on strategic alignment and shared goals, TPN aims to enhance the visitor experience while supporting local communities and businesses. As implementation progresses, the Niagara region is poised to become a benchmark for tourism excellence, balancing economic impact with community wellbeing.
