Month Ahead, Kudos, Getting to Know You, and more
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DESTINATIONS INTERNATIONAL RECAP
Don Welsh, President and CEO & Foundation Executive Director from Destinations International, acknowledges Team Toronto and shares a brief recap of all the exciting news and announcements presented during the 2022 Annual Convention in Toronto in the below video.
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Over 800 destination organization professionals and 500 partners and business members attended.
Destination organization attendees by region:
 
From around the world:
Team Toronto helped Destinations International set a new benchmark of excellence for the annual convention, which will next be hosted in Dallas, July 18–20, 2023. Thank you again to everyone for their support in making this event a success!
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DID YOU CATCH THE MOST RECENT TERMINAL ARTICLES?
Sharing a round-up of articles in the Research & Insights Terminal that you may have missed:
An Enticing Invitation: You Gotta See What We See
A Q&A with three destination leaders: What is the expected impact of MICHELIN Guide Toronto?
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WELCOME
Welcoming our newest Destination Toronto team members:
Shrouq El Masri, Accounting Coordinator, (she/her) Shrouq likes to play volleyball at Woodbine beach on the weekends, she loves to read (goal of 75 books this year! almost there!), and please ignore her budgies if they start chirping while in meetings! Shrouq will be your main contact for any AP questions or concerns.
Bronte Dowse, Marketing Coordinator, (she/her) Bronte began with our marketing team a few months back on an internship through Humber College's Public Relations post-graduate program. She successfully completed this program and, along the way, made a pretty great impression on our team! In this new role, Bronte will support the overall dept. administration, in addition to continuing her great work in editorial ideation and content research, fact-checking and maintenance.
If you've not done so yet, feel free to send a note to say hi and welcome them to the team!
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Do you have a win or kudos you want included in next month's newsletter? Email us with your shout out!
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An at-a-glance look at the month ahead for the DT teams.
DEPARTMENT NEWS: WHAT'S ON THIS MONTH
GLOBAL SALES & SERVICES
GSS Activities for the month of September
- Destination Celebration - Minneapolis, MN, September 7, 2022
- HMI Annual Conference - Montreal, September 7 2022
- Marriott TIFF FAM - Toronto, September 8-11, 2022
- Sales Mission: Chicago, September 14-17, 2022
- DCBE Life Sciences event - Pharma Forum & Dinner - Maryland, September 12-13
- London Canada Week - UK, September 19-23, 2022
- IT&CM Asia and CTW APAC - Bangkok, Thailand, September 20-28, 2022
- ASAE Summit Awards Dinner - Washington, DC, September 29, 2022
- Client Event: Dallas, December TBA 2022
- PCMA Foundation Partnership Summit - Miami, FL, September 15-18, 2022
- Innovation Tech TO - A Toronto education event, September 26-28, 2022
- PCMA Convening EMEA - Vienna, Austria, September 28-30, 2022
Destination Services Happenings
Client Events:
- Marriott CRN TIFF Client Event - September 8-11, 2022
- Innovation Tech Future Festival Client Event - September 26-28, 2022
Site Planning Visits:
- North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASSPA) - September 12-13, 2022
- Hospitality Financial & Technology Professionals (HITEC), September 26-28, 2022
TRAVEL TRADE
- In partnership with First Class Holidays, Destination Canada and Air Canada, Travel Trade is hosting two Product Testing Fam Tours from the UK over the dates of Sept 16-19 and September 23-26, 2022
- In partnership with Kuoni Reisen, Destination Ontario and Jonview, Travel Trade is hosting 12 German travel agents on a Product Testing Fam Tour September 24-26, 2022
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GLOBAL MARKETING
- Media Relations team hosting individual media to experience what the city has to offer during TIFF
- MICHELIN Star Reveal event on September 13 - MR Team hosting a cross-market press trip, September 12-16. Marketing and content plan in development for launch September 9th
- Attending Society of American Travel Writers annual Conference and Media Marketplace, September 8-12, 2022
- Hosting cross-market press trip, Toronto as a Music City, September 22-25, 2022
- August Top 6 in the 6ix e-news deployed August 24. The next issue is scheduled for September 27, 2022
- Promotion of Toronto Defiant Esports event at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, September 8-11, 2022
- Financial Times Globetrotter Toronto City Guide in market
- Now Playing Toronto is partnering with Nuit Blanche to help amplify and promote event
- Now Playing Toronto Sponsoring the Dora Awards Jon Kaplan Audience Choice Award -voting is now open until September 12, 2022
- Destination Ontario Fall Spotlight Program launches on September 2 with a focus on culinary content and will include MICHELIN post MSR event September 13, 2022
- You Gotta See What We See campaign: July 11 - October 31, 2022. The campaign showcases Toronto through five proud and passionate Toronto insiders. Chef Nick Liu, Actor and Writer Simu Liu are live. Toronto Raptors Host Mariah Amber, Content Creator Santee Siouxx, & Host and Reporter Sonia Mangat going live w/o September 6, 2022.
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DESTINATION DEVELOPMENT
- Toronto - and the culinary world - will learn which Toronto restaurants have earned coveted Michelin distinctions when the full Toronto Michelin Guide is revealed on Sept. 13. This event is at the heart of an international media fam in Toronto as well as a content strategy to share the news and full culinary story as broadly as possible.
- The new Toronto VIP Pass will be available to use for clients this month. The pass intended for site inspections and fams is now digitally powered through the Bandwango platform. The pass will be available later in September with the first group of attractions, and more attractions and experiences will be added in the coming weeks.
- The first phase of our new Destination Insights Dashboard launches this month featuring accommodations performance data and core marketing metrics and analytics. The B.I. team will begin a process of training so that staff can access and leverage the dashboards.
- The Toronto Inc partnership kicks off an aggressive series of fall activations with a booth at the upcoming Elevate Tech Festival in Toronto, alongside the City of Toronto Economic Development team. Further fall activations include in-market missions at SIBOS in Amsterdam and at WebSummit in Lisbon.
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Health & Safety Procedures Update
The new Health & Safety Procedures (edited Aug 2022) can be found in the HR Handbook under My Employment on the Intranet.
Please reach out to Rocco Fazzolari at rfazzolari@destinationtoronto.com if you have any questions.
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Each edition of PULSE, we’re asking 3 questions to 3 phenomenal DT team members. We’re willing to bet you’ll learn a few tidbits about some of our fave DT people.
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Mara Rodas (she/her)
Sales Coordinator, Global Sales & Service
What is the most unique thing you have within reach of your desk?
Hmm.. apart from snacks… during the height of the pandemic, I knew a lot of people who started their own businesses. From 2020 to 2021, I started to become obsessed with hair scrunchies so I started to order a lot of it from local women who made their own. Last year, one of the women I ordered from gifted me her own handmade wooden scrunchie holder/stand (her new product!) and it is right by me, so whenever I have a bad hair day (which is all the time!) and I have to hop on a meeting, I have a tower of many many scrunchies to choose from!
Tell us about your most memorable trip?
Just before pandemic hit, I visited Japan end of 2019. It was two weeks’ worth of food and cultural adventure, being able to squeeze 7 prefectures (or cities) in 4 regions (Osaka, Nara, Hiroshima, Nagoya, Kobe, Kyoto, and Tokyo). And yes I had sushi in each stop; I would say the one in Nagoya remains to be my ultimate favorite, from the taste, quality, and experience. If Japan is on your list, try to experience an onsen (I’ll let you look it up!). Honestly, I could talk about my trip forever but let’s just say it would be a dream to live there!
What’s something in Toronto that is at the top of your Never Have I Ever bucket list?
I’ve been wanting to brave the Edgewalk at the CN Tower but I specifically want to do it on my birthday (or birthday week). The last two years before the pandemic hit did not work out and since I already have plans for my birthday this year, it’s going to have to wait again until 2023 and hopefully then there’ll be no more disruptions (cross that - I mean excuses ;) ).
Apart from wanting to brave CN Tower’s EdgeWalk, I’ve recently read about Monkey’s Paw situated in Bloor and Dufferin. This rare bookstore has been around for a long time but I’ve only heard of it this summer (I am definitely late to the party).. The store’s owner created Biblio-mat – the world’s first antique book vending machine. Never Have I Ever dispensed an antique book from a vending machine so I definitely would love to experience exchanging $5 (used to only cost $2) for a classic!
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Debbie Miller (she/her/they)
Sales Director, Canadian Corporate
What is your favourite WFH accessory?
AfterShokz Bone Conduction Headphones.
Tell us about your most memorable trip.
My most memorable trip was to Europe in 2017 with my daughter, Vanessa. We travelled by planes, trains and automobiles through London, Manchester, Paris, Rome and Florence. It felt very liberating and time stood still for two weeks as we explored different spaces and place, and ate great food!
What’s your favourite season in Toronto, and why?
Fall. The weather is great and perfect for walking. The changing colours of the leaves create a beautiful landscape. It also gets darker earlier and the city starts to sparkle with all the lights from the skyline. Less leisure tourists, but more corporate meetings. The city shifts gears to corporate business and you can really see and feel the power of this financial capital in all its glory.
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Aimy Thai (she/her)
Marketing Specialist
What is your favourite WFH accessory?
Definitely my throw blanket. I used to have a thin “blanket scarf” at my desk so I’d consider this an upgrade. Even if you can’t see it while on calls with me, more likely than not am I cozied up with it. One of the many WFH perks.
What is your favourite destination outside of Toronto?
New York City. There’s nothing better than a quick flight, amazing food, endless sample sales and world class entertainment. Feels like home, yet different.
What’s your favourite Toronto restaurant?
There used to be a tiny French restaurant called Chantecler in Parkdale but they unfortunately had to close due to a fire in 2019. The service was unmatched and it was the only place I would trust to order steak tartare - everything tasted even better if you were lucky enough to get seated at what I considered the chef's table. Happy to report that they have just announced Chantecler 2.0 coming soon!
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CELEBRATING WORK ANNIVERSARIES!
Andrew Weir - seventeen year anniversary (September 6, 2005)
Scott Ventresca - sixteen year anniversary (September 12, 2006)
Jeremy Maunder - twelve year anniversary (September 20, 2010)
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