Wednesday, May 6, 2026 – The Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission, Tourism Thunder Bay, recently attended the Travel Media Association of Canada conference in Richmond, British Columbia April 29th to May 2nd.
This four-day annual conference brings domestic and international destinations, content creators and travel media together for four days of networking, appointments and best practice education. This year, Tourism Thunder Bay engaged twenty-one media through individual appointments, elevating Thunder Bay’s awareness to national and international audiences. The CEDC’s Tourism Digital and Travel Media Officer, Erin Simmons, represented the organization this year.
“Content generation and travel media relations are critical elements of Tourism Thunder Bay’s overall marketing and communications strategy.” According to Tourism Manager, Paul Pepe. “Attending TMAC generates dozens of travel media and content leads for us, leading to significant destination awareness and substantial earned media value that exceeded $31.75 million in 2025. This contributes to elevating the community’s reputation as a travel destination and leads to increased visitation and visitor retention.”
Arienne Parzei of “See You Soon Travels” was a finalist in this year’s TMAC Awards in the short form video content category with “Must Do Activities in Thunder Bay.”, generating additional media attention for the city. Arienne was one of twenty-one content creators and media hosted by Tourism Thunder Bay in 2025.
Tourism Thunder Bay, in partnerships that include Destination Ontario, Ontario Parks and other tourism organizations, is welcoming ten travel media and content creators to the community in 2026 and working to secure other media representing domestic, US and international markets for the remainder of this year and into 2027.
