OMCA
210 - 320 North Queen Street M9C 5K4 Toronto, ON, Canada

Thankful for our wonderful members this Canadian Thanksgiving weekend! Please celebrate safely and take the opportunity to count your blessings during these difficult times. OMCA staff will be taking an extra day this long weekend and will be right back at it Tuesday morning. #HappyThanksgiving2020

Hats off to member Angie Ricci of Angel Tours for pivoting gracefully in challenging times. Keep the innovative ideas coming, OMCA members! #betttogether #omcaresilience

There is never a dull moment at OMCA! OMCA President and CEO ,Doug Switzer, has recently announced his retirement, effective April 30th, 2021.

Hats off to member Angie Ricci of Angel Tours for pivoting gracefully in challenging times. Keep the innovative ideas coming, OMCA members! #betttogether #omcaresilience

A big thank you to @RadonicRodgersStrategy and all participants and supporters for a successful filming session last week. We are creating a video to highlight how safe it is to travel by motor coach during COVID-19. We can't wait to see how it turns out. Who else is excited to see the finished product?

Take note of #worlddayagainsttraffickinginpersons Find out more about @BusingOTL on our website and learn how you can make a difference.

A letter we sent to Premier Ford along with Ministers Elliott, MacLeod and Phillips today: Dear Premier Ford, My name is Troy Young, and I am the CEO of Attract...ions Ontario. I am writing to you today to plead for support for our attractions that have still be denied the ability to open under the phased approach to reopening Ontario's economy. Simply put, Premier, many of our members, are in a critical position. Today marks 16 weeks - four months - since attractions across the province were shuttered by the provincial government as a measure to fight and stop the spread of COVID-19. There is no chance to recover the revenue they have lost, and many are days away from closing permanently. We had hoped there would have been an announcement yesterday about moving into phase 3; as Minister Elliott noted today, 23 of 34 public health units indicated no new cases. We were told we needed to close our businesses to flatten the curve; the curve has been flattened, and our businesses either need to be allowed to reopen or begin to receive immediate financial aid to save their livelihoods. The myriad of indoor bowling alleys, climbing gyms, miniature golf, laser tag, axe throwing, roller rinks, paintball, etc. that help makes Ontario communities vibrant have created opening guidelines that will make them as safe as going to a grocery store and pushing a cart around or heading to their local indoor malls. They have watched businesses all around them reopen while they don't even seem to be on the government's radar. Many listened to the Phase 2 announcement in disbelief that there was no consideration for them to reopen, except for Niagara Falls, which permitted indoor attractions to reopen. The double-standard did not go unnoticed. In addition to the economic ramifications continued shuttering of these businesses has a genuine social impact on the communities they serve. For many residents, the active entertainment provided by these attractions is good for their mental health. Reopening their familiar entertainment destinations will provide the community with a sense of normalcy that they have been longing for. Tour operations, like tour boats in Niagara and along with the Thousand Islands, should be allowed to open. In some cases, these boats have capacities of over 500 people. They cannot run efficiently being limited to 10 people in total (including crew). An exemption based on the size of the boat and safe operating procedures should be made. We would also advocate for our waterparks and amusement parks. Public pools were allowed to reopen, but waterparks were not; the reason given was the high touch areas of a waterpark. However, unlike a public pool, physical distancing can be maintained in the lines for the various elements of a waterpark. And the most common high touch area is going to be the ladders in and out of a pool; these exist at public pools, but they were allowed to open without restriction. Lastly, we would make a case for our amusement parks. Evidence has shown that outdoor experiences have less risk than being indoors for the transmission of COVID-19. Many of our parks, such as Canada's Wonderland, have comprehensive plans in place to operate at a low capacity, virtual queues, half-capacity rides, and sanitation of all touchpoints between each ride. We contend that these types of experiences would be safer for the public than being in an indoor shopping mall, which has been allowed to open. Like our waterparks, our amusement parks have a limited timeframe in which to operate. Many have pegged July 15 as their last opportunity to open; if they cannot, their season will be lost. If the province is unwilling to allow these indoor recreational facilities, tour operations, waterparks and amusement parks to reopen, we hope there would be a financial aid package to help these businesses out. Otherwise, a catastrophic failure in our tourism sector will occur. This will have negative impacts on the other parts of the sector that have been allowed to open. We need immediate action. On behalf of all of the attractions that service Ontario residents and visitors, I implore you to consider allowing them to reopen now. Another week and for many, it will be too late, which is going to have both immediate and long-term ramifications on communities across this province - both in terms of being able to attract and keep residents and attracting visitors for sports tournaments, meetings and leisure. They are ready to open safely. Please, allow it to happen before it is too late. Even if it's a phase 2a. Troy Young, CEO Attractions Ontario

Take note of #worlddayagainsttraffickinginpersons Find out more about @BusingOTL on our website and learn how you can make a difference.

Check out OMCA's Doug Switzer and Mardi Schueler chatting with Groups Today about the group travel industry!

Apologies for those ready to register today; we have had to reschedule the opening of Marketplace Registration to July 6th to ensure a user-friendly experience. bit.ly/VirtualOMCA Contact us if you have any questions.

A primary goal for our Coach Operators is to maintain consumer confidence in travelling by bus. By collaborating to create a comprehensive document on the measures of our industry will take to protect the health and safety of their passengers, it is our hope that when travel resumes, there will be no doubt that the motor coach is a very safe mode of transportation. https://www.omca.com/covid-19/covid-19-motor-coach-measures/

Tourism organizations have come together to send the following joint letter to Premier Doug Ford with a simple request. Allow businesses in the tourism and trav...el sector in Ontario to open immediately based on their ability to demonstrate that they are operating in accordance to the guidelines set out by WSPS. As each business is unique, some will be able to open immediately, others will open when they are ready to do so. All sectors of the travel and tourism industry in Ontario are part of the same economic ecosystem. When one succeeds, so too do the others. The COVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost a health crisis, however, it is also an economic crisis, and we are prepared to work collaboratively with government The letter was signed by; Dave MacNeil - Chief Executive Officer - Festivals & Events Ontario Doug Switzer - President and CEO - OMCA Rebecca Mackenzie - President - CTA: Culinary Tourism Alliance Don Cleary - President - Marriott International, Canada. Troy Young - President - Attractions Ontario Laurie Marcil - Executive Director - Nature and Outdoor Tourism Ontario Terry Mundell - President & CEO - Greater Toronto Hotel Association Rick Layzell - President & CEO - Boating Ontario Alexandra Anderson - Executive Director - Camping In Ontario Grace Sammut - Executive Director - Resorts of Ontario Steve Ball - President - Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association Beth Potter - President and CEO - Tourism Industry Association of Ontario Tony Elenis - President & CEO - Ontario Restaurant Hotel & Motel Association

OMCA Member 417 Bus Line Ltd. has stepped up to promote resilience in the industry by painting an inspirational image on their vehicle. Read the full article at https://bit.ly/3bcS8nk How are you promoting #OMCAresilience? Let us know at https://bit.ly/OMCAresilience

Pennsylvania's Americana Region is doing awesome things while in lockdown. Tell us what your company is doing to show #OMCAresilience! https://bit.ly/OMCAresilience

Laid off? Working from home? Having trouble accessing your company emails? Provide OMCA with the best contact information to send you updates and communications. https://omca.wufoo.com/forms/temporary-contact-information/

Join us in a member webinar tomorrow to discuss government assistance, how to access it, and what we are doing to acquire more assistance. Register now to save your spot: https://bit.ly/3enRcPV