The State of the Destination Executive Summary provides insights from the data collected, identifying key visitor trends and competitive dynamics that will inform the Destination Master Plan.
Toronto is developing its first Destination Master Plan—a bold, collaborative roadmap to guide the growth of the city’s visitor economy over the next decade.
The Destination Master Plan
As Canada’s largest and most-visited city, Toronto is a vibrant hub of culture, innovation, and global connection. To ensure the city remains competitive and welcoming to both visitors and residents, we’re creating a Destination Master Plan to guide the city’s next chapter.
Building on the city’s strong visitor economy—the total economic activity generated by visitors to Toronto for leisure, business or events, which included nearly $9 billion in spending in 2024—the Destination Master Plan will create a 10-year strategic roadmap for sustainable tourism growth that benefits all.
10-Year Strategic Road Map
The Destination Master Plan will be a 10-year strategic roadmap underpinned by a detailed market analysis and benchmarking of Toronto’s visitor experience. It will identify projects, infrastructure needs, amenities, and experiences to enhance Toronto’s competitive position and to enhance the visitor experience. A multi-year implementation plan will also be developed.
Work on Toronto’s first-ever Destination Master Plan is underway and is expected to conclude by early 2026.
An Inclusive, Data-Driven Process
The Destination Master Plan is being developed through an inclusive, collaborative and data-driven process with opportunities for broad participation and input from a diverse and wide-ranging group of stakeholders.
Leaders from the government, the tourism and hospitality community, and key economic sectors were invited to participate in focus groups and one-on-one interviews. More than 175 organizations participated in the spring 2025 consultations.
This past June, 586 respondents participated in a survey that was distributed through Destination Toronto’s industry channels and amplified by the DMP Steering Committee and other partner newsletters.
The consultations and widely shared survey ensured broad participation from businesses and organizations within the city’s visitor economy.
The Destination Master Plan Steering Committee
A Steering Committee of industry experts and leaders is providing strategic direction throughout the planning process to ensure the plan reflects the diverse perspectives of Toronto’s tourism and hospitality sector. The committee members include:
- Sara Anghel, CEO - Greater Toronto Hotel Association
- Cameron Bailey, CEO - Toronto International Film Festival
- Kendra Bator, General Manager - Mirvish Productions
- Dolf DeJong, CEO - Toronto Zoo
- Kathy Haley, CEO - Metro Toronto Convention Centre
- Pauline Larsen, Executive Director - Downtown Yonge Business Improvement Area
- Stephen Lund, CEO - Toronto Global
- Roselle Martino, Executive Vice President of Policy, Advocacy, and Stakeholder Engagement - Toronto Region Board of Trade
- Karen Mazurkewich, Vice President of Stakeholder Relations and Communications - Greater Toronto Airports Authority
- Kojo Modeste, CEO - Pride Toronto
- Andrew O’Neil, Vice President of Development - Oxford Properties
- Jennifer Sullivan, Vice President of Operations and General Manager - Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment
- Pat Tobin, General Manager of Economic Development and Culture - City of Toronto
- Andrew Weir, CEO - Destination Toronto
- George Zegarac, CEO - Waterfront Toronto
To conduct research and support the development of the roadmap, Destination Toronto has engaged Resonance Consultancy, a Canadian-based, global leader in tourism and economic development. Resonance has completed similar plans for major North American cities including LA, Houston, San Diego, and Pittsburgh.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Destination Master Plan (DMP)?
Building on the city’s strong visitor economy–which generated nearly $9 billion in visitor spending in 2024–the Destination Master Plan will create a 10-year strategic roadmap for sustainable tourism growth that benefits both visitors and residents.
What is the State of the Destination Executive Summary?
The State of the Destination Executive Summary provides insights from the research completed and data collected in the first phases of the initiative. It identifies key visitor trends, competitive dynamics, and community priorities that will inform the Destination Master Plan. Highlighting both opportunities and challenges, the State of the Destination Executive Summary shaped discussions in visioning workshops, a subsequent phase of industry consultation in fall 2025. These workshops focused on transforming the research findings and stakeholder insights into actionable strategic recommendations.
What will be included in the DMP?
The Destination Master Plan will reflect evolving traveller motivations, market trends and environmental realities. It will identify opportunities for infrastructure improvements and new visitor experiences that will drive local economic growth and spread the benefits of tourism across Toronto’s communities, neighbourhoods, and businesses.
Reflecting shared aspirations for Toronto to maximize the potential of the visitor economy, it will provide guidance for future planning, with an implementation plan and clear set of actions and responsibilities.
When will the DMP be shared?
The Destination Master Plan is expected to be completed in early 2026. Please sign up to our Terminal 2 newsletter, follow our LinkedIn page; or bookmark this page for updates.
Why is the DMP work being done now?
Toronto’s tourism and hospitality sector is a major source of economic prosperity and the source of one of the city’s most resilient service exports. A Destination Master Plan will ensure sustainable growth of the visitor economy and the city’s long-term competitiveness and create a shared vision to inform decision-making across the public and private sectors.
Who participated in the focus groups and visioning workshops?
Facilitated focus groups and visioning workshops included a cross-section of participants from different sectors and communities. While many tourism and hospitality businesses were represented, participants also came from sectors like government, transportation, infrastructure, real estate, arts and culture and higher education and training.
Why is Destination Toronto spearheading this initiative?
Destination Toronto markets and promotes the city to attract visitors and major meetings and events and supports local businesses to maximize the opportunities of the visitor economy.
Destination Toronto is uniquely positioned to assemble key players in tourism, hospitality, and beyond for the discussions and research needed to develop the DMP.
While Destination Toronto is facilitating this initiative, the DMP will be a shared vision for all Toronto stakeholders, and the implementation plan will likely include action items for private, public, and non-profit sectors.
Who is Destination Toronto?
Toronto’s visitor economy is a vital economic engine for the city, generating nearly $9 billion in visitor spending in 2024. Destination Toronto’s purpose is to ignite the city’s visitor economy to enrich and empower its communities. Destination Toronto is a non-profit, member-based organization that operates in partnership with the City of Toronto and the tourism and hospitality community,. Destination Toronto promotes the city to attract visitors and major meetings and events, and supports local businesses to maximize the opportunities of the visitor economy.
How can I get involved?
A survey was distributed widely to Toronto’s tourism and hospitality community earlier this year to ensure broad participation and input from a diverse and wide-ranging group of stakeholders. The opportunity to provide input into the Destination Master Plan has now closed. The next opportunity for involvement will come in early 2026 with the release of the plan. For more information please contact Annie Ewing, Destination Development Manager.
Contact the DMP team
To learn more about the Destination Master Plan, please reach out to Destination Development Manager, Annie Ewing. For media inquiries, please reach out to Sr. Manager of Corporate Communications, Kathy Motton.
Annie Ewing Destination Development Manager
Kathy Motton Senior Manager of Corporate Communications
Phone
Funded By:
