Tourism + Tech Initiative

One of our goals is to cultivate and propel collaborations between the tourism and tech sectors to spark new innovations, offerings, and product delivery - an endeavor that is more important now than ever for businesses and organizations to be competitive and resilient.
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Sparking Tourism 4.0 & Digital Services Support

​The Ontario Tourism Innovation Lab has partnered with WEtech Alliance to launch Sparking Tourism 4.0, a Community Collaboration Project as part of the Digital Main Street Future Proof Program in Southwestern Ontario.

Leveraging the Lab’s "Spark" Program, Sparking Tourism 4.0 aims to connect tourism businesses and entrepreneurs with technology experts and providers to create and develop new and/or enhanced tourism opportunities, experiences and partnerships in the region to support the futureproofing of the region and the tourism industry.

"Spark" Program finalists in participating regions will be eligible to receive a digital services package valued at up to $10,000 to support technology development and adoption of their project.  

Finalists will be asked to provide a response to the question below after the pitch sessions, and then interviews will be held to select one from each participating region to receive the package.

How could technology support the development, implementation, future-proofing, and possible expansion of your idea? If so what kind of technology, and how would you leverage it? ​

Participating Regions:  
Chatham-Kent (Round 2) - 2 "Spark" Program finalists will be selected to receive the Digital Services Support Package valued at up to $10,000
Windsor Essex (Round 2) - 2 "Spark" Program finalists will be selected to receive the Digital Services Support Package valued at up to $10,000

To learn more about the Digital Main Street Program go to www.wetech-alliance.com/dms.

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​Digital Shift Virtual Workshops for the Tourism Sector

The workshops are aimed at supporting sustainable digital adoption for hard-hit tourism businesses in Ontario planning for COVID-19 recovery. Each one-hour workshop includes a Zoom-side chat with a “Shift Expert” in addition to a run-through of WEtech Alliance's Digital Shift tools and templates.

​Each virtual workshop features:

ZOOM-SIDE-CHAT – Leveraging the incredible depth of expertise found within the Ontario Tourism Innovation Lab network, each workshop will conclude with a conversation with Ontario “Shift Experts” who have made digital pivots to their own business, and can share the tangible learnings and potential pitfalls of finding new ways to deliver value online.

REACT – Immediate response opportunities to the current situation, a deep dive into data, stories, and success in their industry from a global perspective – Learning how to use the WEtech Alliance SHIFT business experiment template, which aims to help businesses create low cost experiments to test out new markets, models, and customers.

PLAN – Using a 3-month milestone tracker, businesses will learn the fundamental skill of re-assessing their value proposition, and exploring what needs to change, stay the same, or stay fluid in order to push forward.

RECOVER – Building on the first two tools, businesses will learn how to assess their experiments to determine if they have long term and sustainable changes they can make, or assess the need to go back to the innovation well for more ideas.

WEtech Alliance's custom Digital Shift workbook and calculator are sent to registered participants prior to the virtual workshops.

The Digital Shift Series has been made possible with the support of the Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, and is open to small businesses in Ontario.

​There is no cost to attend but space is limited. 

STAY TUNED FOR UPDATES ON OUR NEXT DIGITAL SHIFT SESSIONS. 
WATCH PREVIOUS SESSIONS:

Session 1 Shift Experts:
​Adriano and Pina Cioloti, WindsorEats

Session 2 Shift Experts:
​Marijo Cuerrier and Kelsey Moniz, Belleville Downtown District BIA
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Session 3 Shift Expert:
Lara Fielding, Science North
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Session 4 Shift Experts:
Kevin Eshkawkogan, Indigenous Tourism Ontario
Melissa Hardy-Giles and Paul Giles, ORIGIN

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​Learn more about the Ontario Tourism Innovation Lab

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​- Home Base - 
Ontario Tourism Innovation Lab
c/o University of Windsor - EPICentre
​2455 Wyandotte St W, Windsor, ON, Canada N9B 3B3
​​​info@tourisminnovation.ca
1-844-455-0325 toll-free / 416-712-8819