Step back into the Roaring Twenties with The Rum Runners Tour — the award-winning theatrical adventure everyone’s raving about!
Hop aboard for a 3-hour thrill ride filled with gangsters, rumrunners, comedy, music, and a lively speakeasy lunch show. From back-alley stories to larger-than-life characters, this is Windsor’s Prohibition era brought roaring back to life. This learning tour will be fully immersive, and you'll get to experience one of Windsor's most unique experiences! Oh, and it happens to be an Ontario's Southwest Signature Experience, too!
Cost: $40.00
Explore Windsor through the stories, places and flavours that connect its Black history to the present. Join W.E Ride & Dine Windsor, and historian Irene Moore Davis for a guided journey tracing the pursuit of freedom and the lasting contributions of Black communities. Along the way, enjoy food tastings and conversations that bring these stories to life. Leave inspired by how history, storytelling and cuisine can create meaningful visitor experiences.
Cost: $40.00
Join us as we venture through downtown Windsor to uncover the stories, spaces, and creative energy that make this city one of a kind. From unexpected artistic encounters to local gems hiding in plain sight, this experience is designed to spark curiosity and encourage you to look at a destination a little differently.
Along the way, we'll step into the colourful world of renowned street artist Denial for an immersive experience at his new creative space, FUN, with a little local food and beverage flavour woven into the adventure.
Discover how local character, storytelling, and a sense of place can turn an ordinary outing into an extraordinary visitor experience.
Cost: $40.00
Every tourism business has a story worth telling, but can you share yours in 30 seconds or less?
Inspired by the legacy of the late Darren Winger, who believed that storytelling was at the heart of tourism, this interactive workshop celebrates the power of sharing authentic stories, making meaningful connections, and bringing the people and places behind our industry to life.
Whether you're a new tourism business finding your voice or an established operator looking to refresh your message, this hands-on session will help you turn your story into a memorable elevator pitch that leaves a lasting impression. Through practical coaching, storytelling tips, and a little friendly encouragement, you'll learn how to communicate what makes your business unique and make every second count.
Then, it's your turn to give it a spin! Put your new pitch to the test for a chance to win exciting marketing prizes for your organization and help your story reach even further. Enjoy a delicious lunch, connect with fellow tourism professionals, and leave with fresh ideas, new connections, and a pitch you'll be excited to share.
Bring your story, and get ready to make your 30 seconds count!
Cost: $30.00
Maria Fortunato, Executive Director of RTO3 – Hamilton Halton Brant, provides a regional snapshot of tourism performance, emerging opportunities and the priorities shaping the future of tourism across Hamilton, Halton and Brant. Hear what the latest insights mean for our industry and what’s next for the region.
Discover how changing your state of mind fundamentally changes your “Zone of Possibilities.” When you’re operating in a flow state, it isn’t luck or coincidence. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Yan Markson offers a fresh, engaging take on how a growth mindset and self-reinvention can help you spot opportunities, innovate, and thrive in a fast-paced world.
Backed by behavioral psychology and cognitive science, this interactive keynote shows the real, measurable impact of perception and state of mind on success. Yan leverages live & interactive mentalism and storytelling to illustrate the power of perception and inspires the audience to set intentions, create smart goals, reframe challenges and take ownership over their own story.
This keynote inspires you to “change your normal to change your life.” It’s packed with tangible and actionable takeaways, while Yan’s unique style of fun, interactive presentation and intelligent humor ensures they’ll stick. Once you experience this, you’ll never see yourself.
Sponsored by TWEPI
Information Coming Soon
What are employees looking for from their employers today, and what makes good people want to stay? Drawing on experience employing and supporting a large and diverse workforce, Anthony and/or Brendon of Talent Employment Inc. will share what they’ve learned about the benefits, practices and everyday supports that matter to employees. From flexibility and frequent pay to travel support, communication and simply making sure people have what they need to succeed, this session will look beyond compensation. Attendees will hear practical ideas for improving the employee experience and reducing turnover. The goal: becoming the kind of employer good people want to work for and stay with.
Travellers aren't just Googling anymore — they're asking ChatGPT, Gemini, and AI-powered search where to stay, eat, and play, and those tools only recommend businesses whose websites they can read, understand, and trust. This session goes past the AI hype and into the mechanics: how different content management systems help or hurt your visibility, how AI actually parses and structures your content, and how to build pages that work twice — engaging the human scrolling on their phone while giving the machine clear, confident answers it can serve back to travellers. You'll leave with a practical checklist of changes to make to your own site, most of which don't require a developer.
The most memorable trips often come down to the people we meet and the things we get to do. Hear from three regional Signature Experience operators about creating those connections, sharing local stories, and bringing value to their communities. Bring your questions for an open, relatable conversation.
Faciliated by Emma Rowley, Ontario's Southwest
Practical guidance on turning an idea into an event, including where to start and how to organize the work.
Tourism marketing has spent a decade getting more optimized and less distinctive. Every decision runs through data and "best practices", and the personality gets lost along the way. Meanwhile travellers are choosing the businesses that feel like they're run by an actual person. In this closing keynote, Conner Galway shares original research and real examples of small businesses whose honest, imperfect, occasionally unlikely stories broke through, why people book with humans rather than brands, and how to find the story only your business can tell.