Manic Monday | Don't divide... align and really conquer

The problem lies somewhere deep in history of the tourism industry. The adage "better together" while often given lip service, does not, at times, really portray the truth that often exists within the tourism sector.

There are absolutely outstanding examples of communities and alliances worldwide that have gotten past their individual egos and issues and worked to build amazingly successful tourism regions, products and experiences. But there are far too many situations where, without question, had everyone checked their agendas at the door the whole would have definitely been so much greater than the sum of their parts.

Canadian Tourism as an industry is in its infancy. But as a country we have shown the world better methods for working cooperatively in so many arenas. It is time to adopt this approach in Tourism. To move it forward and realize our potential we need to shut down in-fighting; put an end to the silo activities of our efforts; take control of our direction as an industry; refuse to be splintered by special interest groups; and work collectively. We must refuse to take a back seat to other industries continually failing to achieve our full potential. We have the power, the vision, the ability and the desire to realize an incredible success but only if unite our voices will we really be heard and will our aspirations for world class tourism products be realized...

Glenn Mandziuk, TOTA President & CEO