Hamilton area receives funding to support tourism sector during COVID-19
- Craig Clark
- 17 Jul 2020
The Hamilton region will receive more than $700,000 from the Ontario government in order to bolster tourism in the area amid COVID-19.
About $350,000 of the funding will go toward the regional tourism association’s Stay and Play campaign that is designed to encourage locals to spend time at attractions within the Hamilton region.
This is an effort to control the spread of the virus during the province’s phased reopening plan to reduce the number of people travelling to other municipalities and support local attractions.
Yesterday I joined Minister @MacLeodLisa at @TheAGH to announce over $700,000 in tourism supports across the Hamilton region. Our government is committed to supporting the province’s tourism and arts sectors as attractions safely reopen.#HamOnt
More: https://t.co/3giRrVXXmK pic.twitter.com/I9ORjiaRaH
— Donna Skelly (@SkellyHamilton) July 16, 2020
The other half of the funding will go toward supporting events and festivals that were cancelled due to the pandemic. Hamilton festivals and events, such as Supercrawl and the Art Gallery of Hamilton Film Festival, have been announcing cancellations since March.
One of the most recent cancellations in the city was the annual Santa Claus Parade, which was the event furthest into the future that has been cancelled so far.
Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism, and Culture Lisa MacLeod made the funding announcement at the Art Gallery of Hamilton (AGH) on Wednesday.
MacLeod said that it’s time for residents to start discovering the world-class tourism attractions in their own communities to help rebuild the sector after the shutdown.
Tourist attractions have been some of the hardest hit during COVID-19 due to the ongoing travel ban.
The AGH reopened on Thursday. Restaurant patios have been open in the city for a few weeks, many utilizing city-sanctioned dining districts and patio extensions. Other local attractions have continued to reopen with advanced health and safety measures.
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