Municipal Accommodation Tax Association of The Town of South Bruce Peninsula – Tourism Strategy
The Board of Directors for the new Municipal Accommodation Tax Association (MATA) of the Town of South Bruce Peninsula have partnered with
Regional Tourism Organization 7 (RTO7) in developing a comprehensive and sustainable 5-year tourism strategy and 1-year action plan (work plan) that aligns with RTO7’s broader objectives for regional tourism. The resulting tourism strategy will enable the Municipal Accommodation Tax Association to make informed decisions about future investment in tourism. The plan will be based on solid research and a commitment to a strategic approach for investing Municipal Accommodation Tax (MAT) revenues and optimizing outcomes for local tourism operators and stakeholders.
“Our Board takes our role in promoting local tourism seriously, and we want to ensure that we use an informed and strategic approach to the distribution of these annual funds,” states Robert Trask, MATA Chair and CEO of Chesley Lake Camp Association Ltd. “To support our work, we have contracted the firm of MGA - McQueen Galloway Associates to develop a 5-year strategy and action plan”.
The tourism strategy will be developed through expressed stakeholder needs, tourism trends, best practices in destination marketing, and the local capacity to grow tourism in a sustainable manner. Interviews with key tourism stakeholders have already commenced and will continue throughout the duration of this process.
Engagement Opportunities
The project is guided by a steering committee comprised of local tourism stakeholders. “Engaging tourism stakeholders and partners is of critical importance to this strategy” explained Wiarton and District Chamber of Commerce board member, Joe Vanderzand, “and we want to encourage all of them to participate in our upcoming dedicated virtual stakeholder meetings.” These meetings are scheduled on:
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June 12, 7:00 pm and June 15, 9:30 am
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Interested stakeholders can attend by using the following link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87905626169
The meeting room will open approximately 15 minutes prior to the meeting start time.
Please
complete this short registration form to let us know which session you will attend.
An on-line survey will also be made available (link will be posted to the project landing page below when available) from June 20 through to July 5, 2023. Individual conversations can also be arranged by reaching out to
Tracey@mgagroup.ca or calling 905 749 2152.
For further information, please visit the
project landing page. Please forward this information to any relevant interested parties.
What is the MAT?
Municipal Accommodation Taxes (MAT) are applied to guest rates that use short term accommodations such as hotels, motels, rental properties, and transient campgrounds. Municipalities that implement the tax must do so under the regulations outlined by the province. While the municipality is responsible for collecting the MAT, they are required to allocate 50% of these revenues to a Destination Marketing Organization (DMO). The DMO for South Bruce Peninsula is MATA – Municipal Tax Accommodation Association.
With MAT revenues received annually by MATA, this newly formed Association (comprised of tourism stakeholders) is responsible for the distribution and investment of these funds that must be spent on tourism related promotion and products.
Let’s make this a Plan truly created and made by South Bruce Peninsula tourism operators with input from supporting organizations.
Contacts:
View and download this information as a PDF.