June 15, 2020
Tourism Mississauga, the City’s new destination marketing organization, held its first meeting today with its new Board of Directors. The board is made up primarily of members from Mississauga’s tourism sector who will provide strategic direction to tourism activities and initiatives in Mississauga.
“I’m delighted to work with my fellow colleagues on Council and especially excited to work together with the various stakeholders.
The committee will implement and execute tourism to help make a difference for our City’s tourist industry as well enhance a social and cultural environment.” says Councillor Dasko.
“As we begin our recovery efforts and start to slowly reopen our city, we will be focusing on helping our key sectors like tourism bounce back and galvanize our economy. Our new Tourism Mississauga Board of Directors will focus on how to best drive tourism to our City and encourage people to support ‘Mississauga Made’ in light of our new reality,” said Mayor Bonnie Crombie. “On behalf of Mississauga City Council, we thank these industry representatives for stepping up to take on these roles and for being ambassadors for all that our city has to offer.”
The board consists of three City Councillors, as well as external stakeholders representing Mississauga’s tourism sectors:
City Council Members:
- Ward 1 Councillor Stephen Dasko
- Ward 5 Councillor Carolyn Parrish
- Ward 9 Councillor Pat Saito
Members representing the accommodation/hotel sector:
- Terry Mundell, Greater Toronto Hotel Association
- Toni Frankfurter, Waterside Inn
- Peter Eriksson, Hilton Hotel
- Frank Russo, Four Points Toronto Airport Hotel
Members representing other services/organizations/venues sector:
- Lorrie McKee, Greater Toronto Airport Authority
- Sam Kohli, BIA/Business Center/Appraiser
- Brad Butt, Mississauga Board of Trade
Members representing the retail/restaurant/culinary sector:
- Lesley Boughen, Oxford Properties Group
Members representing the attractions/festival/event sector:
- Eileen Keown, Mississauga Symphony Orchestra
- Ron Duquette, Retired Corporate Filmmaker
“The new board brings together the right mix of sector-level representation and experience that reflects Mississauga’s growing tourism industry,” said Shari Lichterman, Commissioner, Community Services and Chief Executive Officer, Tourism Mississauga. “I look forward to working with these highly-experienced individuals to promote Mississauga as a tourism destination and to plan the recovery for this hard-hit sector.”
For more information about Tourism Mississauga, visit visitmississauga.ca.
Background:
In 2017, the Government of Ontario introduced a regulation permitting municipalities to implement a Municipal Accommodations Tax (MAT). On February 7, 2018, Mississauga City Council approved the implementation of the MAT. This law went into effect on April 1, 2018. Government of Ontario legislation requires 50 per cent of the MAT funds collected by a municipality be directed to an eligible non-profit organization.
In July 2019, City Council approved plans to create a Tourism Municipal Services Corporation now known as Tourism Mississauga. It is the destination marketing organization for Mississauga with a mandate of implementing the City’s Tourism Master Plan.