What We Do

“The key to successful tourism destination development is highly engaged communities that take an active role in shaping their collective future. The best destinations have engagement across a broad spectrum of tourism stakeholders; business, public, financial, political and a host of others, not just tourism and marketing entities.”

Regional Tourism Organization 4 Inc. (RTO4) was incorporated in October 2010 pursuant to the Ontario Ministry of Tourism’s request to create “an organization that will coordinate the diverse interests of the tourism industry to build and support a competitive tourism region through marketing and destination management.” Our region (Ontario Tourism Region #4) encompasses Huron County, Perth County, Waterloo Region and Wellington County.

RTO4 follows a ‘goal-strategy-measurement’ model to create, implement and assess the tools and tactics that are the most appropriate for growing the tourism economy in this region.

Region DNA

Ontario Tourism Region 4 encompasses Huron County, Perth County, Waterloo Region and Wellington County

RTO4 Region Map

Guiding Principles

The foundational beliefs that shape how we work, what we prioritize, and how we engage partners, especially in a landscape of competing demands and limited resources:

These are our beliefs; they aren’t always popular:

  • Tourism is not a democracy.
  • Fix what’s broken.
  • Amplity the authentic voice and the real experience.
  • There’s probably not an app that will solve all your problems.
  • Don’t confuse the airwaves: use the brands and channels that are already out there.
  • Nobody remembers your tourism logo. Focus on sharing stories.
  • Successful projects happen where the partners’ priorities overlap.
  • Visitors don’t see borders.
  • Go beyond eat-play-stay. What makes you unique?
  • The world does not need another directory.
  • Find your ideal visitor-you don’t have to be everything to everyone.
  • Use data, not hunches, to drive decision-making|

Destination Development Process

The goal of the RTO4 Destination Development process is to create vibrant destinations by emphasizing capacity building, a culture of innovation, and the transfer of key skills to Destination Network partners, as well as unlocking co-investment from traditional and non-traditional stakeholders; in essence, a virtuous loop of continuous destination improvement.
RTO4 Destination Development Process Info Graphic

RTO4 Destination Development Process

The goal of the RTO4 Destination development process is to create vibrant destinations by building capacity through research, education, collaborative investment, & co-created solutions.

DNA:

Develop consensus on the essence of a place and its people.

Network:

Identify and align a diverse group of key destination partners.

Storytelling:

Create and amplify engaging content.

Hygiene:

Identify, fix and enhance physical and digital visitor experience issues.

Animation:

Create and enhance experiences that align with DNA.

Capacity Building:

Implementing workshops, training, coaching.

Research:

Facilitate data-driven decision making.

Why We Unbrand Ourselves?

RTO4 is not a brand.

A look at the successes and failures of previous regional models in the province points to the fact that the umbrella branding of RTOs caused consumer confusion and friction with branded destinations and operators. Therefore, instead of consumer-facing assets, RTO4 focuses on using resources to enhance existing demand generators and amplify, disseminate brands within the RTO4 region that are provincially significant.