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 for the first time in Toronto’s history.
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 has already begun and is expected to conclude by early 2026.
An Inclusive, Data-Driven Process
The goal is for the Destination Master Plan to be 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 have been invited to participate in focus groups and one-on-one interviews. More than 175 organizations participated in the spring 2025 consultations.
A survey will be launched in June 2025 to ensure broad participation from businesses and organizations within the city’s visitor economy and beyond.
The Destination Master Plan Steering Committee
A Steering Committee of industry experts and leaders has been established to provide strategic direction throughout the planning process and 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?
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 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.
Why is the DMP work being done now?
As we shift our mindset from pandemic recovery to growth, a Destination Master Plan will ensure sustainable growth of the visitor economy and the city’s long-term competitiveness.
Destination Master Plans are a best practice for destinations and as Toronto's first joint strategy, the plan will aim to support industry-wide collaboration over the next decade.
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. Operating 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?
This is a collaborative process—and your voice matters. Whether you work in tourism, live in Toronto, or simply love the city, we want to hear from you. Throughout 2025, there will be different ways to participate. For more information please contact Annie Ewing, Destination Development Manager.
Get Involved
This is a collaborative process—and your voice matters. Whether you work in tourism, live in Toronto, or simply love the city, we want to hear from you. Take the survey before July 7 to have your feedback reflected in Toronto’s Destination Master Plan. For future updates, subscribe to our Terminal 2 newsletter.
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
Funded By:
