Owners of independently owned and operated tourism businesses in BruceGreySimcoe can now access support through the unique T3 Accelerator program.
Click to watch the video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-dXaS2bmbA
Owners of established tourism businesses now have support available through a unique program in Bruce, Grey and Simcoe counties. T3Accelerator, launched by Regional Tourism Organization 7 and the Centre for Business and Economic Development in Collingwood, invites independently owned and operated tourism businesses to apply for coaching assistance to help their business develop and succeed. Once accepted into T3 Accelerator, an extensive assessment of business operations and tourism offerings is undertaken by an experienced team of general business and tourism specialists to identify business development strategies for your business. Owners then receive suitable coaching and resources from the T3 Team and partner organizations.
For the past several months, seven businesses have been participating in the pilot and the feedback has been very positive.
“Success is what the program is all about and with the coaching we have tapped into resources we didn’t know were available to us” says Peter Doner and Barbara Barta of Oasis by the Bay Vacation Suites. “T3 made us stop and re-evaluate our business. I’ve taken a lot away that has shifted our focus to be more targeted,” Barta adds.
The structure of T3 Accelerator was developed after extensive research and consulting local tourism businesses. T3 Accelerator was built upon a similar program run for almost a decade in Northumberland County. Bill Sullivan, RTO7 CEO, says “I am blown away by the level of commitment that the team members have invested into developing this program. This is a unique support program that will have a significant impact on those tourism businesses involved.”
“Small business represents one of the most important facets of our economy and this exciting coaching program is already proving to be a great tool to those involved.” states Gillian Fairley, General Manager of the Centre for Business and Economic Development.
Central to the program are volunteer coaches. Scott Allison, one of the T3 coaches is sharing his professional knowledge and experience gained during his own career in the hotel and travel industries including 10 years on the board of Destination Canada. Like Mr. Allison, many of the T3 coaches have retired to live in our amenity-rich community.
Mr. Allison explains “tourism’s lifeblood is driven by entrepreneurs and their visions.”He added “helping local business owners succeed is in itself rewarding, and being part of the T3team has given me great satisfaction.”
Program details can be found on the RTO7.ca website.
For more information:
Sue Ainley
Project Coordinator, T3 Accelerator
sue@ainleygroup.com