By Melissa Twist, Director, Regional Tourism for the South Georgian Bay Tourism Association
With an educational background in tourism and environmental studies, it was a natural fit for me to work for an organization that shared the beauty and artistry of this region with the world. Over five years, SGB Tourism has had a major influence on our region’s tourism. During the great upheaval to the industry since the first wave of provincial shutdowns due to COVID-19 began in early 2020, our organization, like many others, has been working hard to keep its relevance. Collaboration has been key to our success.
SGB Tourism, Theatre Collingwood, and Blue Mountain Foundation for the Arts are lead partners in bringing this region’s arts and culture strategy to life. The Power of Arts and Culture called for the creation of a network of arts networks to learn together, share best practices, and collaborate on projects to strengthen this important part of our communities. The new SGB Arts Network was born from this process.
SGB Tourism is taking the lead in this collaborative work to develop a new website to become the go-to destination to find out all things art & culture in our region. The new SGB Tourism website launched in April, and the arts & culture page will launch later this spring. The goal of the website is to have a centralized area where the arts and cultural community can share upcoming events.
There will be three phases of stakeholder engagement to incorporate additional feedback to enhance its effectiveness. Stay tuned by subscribing to the SGB Tourism newsletter.
If you are an artist, arts organization, arts and culture business, or involved in community arts and want to get listed, please join for a complimentary basic listing. You can post on the website today by following this link.
I look forward to connecting with everyone and welcome you to reach out to me anytime.