About OHTO

OHTO Annual General Meeting

The 2026 Ontario’s Highlands Tourism Organization’s (OHTO) Annual General Meeting was held on Wednesday, October 7, 2026.  

Watch the recording  |  Download the AGM slide deck |  Download the 2026 AGM Delegate Package 

The OHTO Board of Directors and staff are thankful for the opportunity to share with the Ontario's Highlands tourism community the OHTO programs, partnerships, and strategies that are supporting rural tourism and driving local community development across the region.

We were excited to see so many people invested in the future of tourism in Ontario’s Highlands as we celebrated successes in promoting local businesses and supporting operators. The gathering reinforced the value of working together to strengthen our communities through responsible tourism, and we’re excited to build on that progress with you.

The 2026-2027 OHTO Board of Directors is looking forward to the term ahead and congratulates the new and returning Directors:

  • Tim Porter, Tweed & Company Theatre – Hastings County (Returning)
  • Nawar Elkhouri Hage, Myers Cave Resort - Frontenac County
  • Chris Houston, Canadian Peace Museum - Hastings County
  • Joel Kowalski, Wilderness Tours - Renfrew County

We also enjoyed our guest speakers, Emily Baillie (Compass Content Marketing) and Joel Greaves (Somewhere Inn), for this year's feature presentation that explored how tourism operators can use AI to streamline everyday tasks, improve productivity, strengthen marketing and support the guest experience.

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the AGM, and we look forward to seeing you at the 2027 AGM.

- The OHTO Team  

Questions? Get in touch with Kasey Rogerson, Director of Industry Development, at kasey.rogerson@ohto.ca or email info@ohto.ca for general inquiries.

Recording Disclaimer: The event will be recorded (both visual and audio) through Zoom and the recording will be made available for public viewing. If you do not wish to be featured but would like to view and listen to the conference, you can simply turn off your video and stay muted during the conference. 

Email Marketing Disclaimer: By registering for this event, you are also signing up to receive future tourism industry emails from OHTO. You can unsubscribe at any time, but we don't think you'll want to! 

Emily Baillie is an AI educator, trainer and professor who helps tourism operators and organizations use AI in practical, approachable and human-centred ways. Through her business, Compass Content Marketing, she has trained more than 4,000 professionals across Canada, including tourism and hospitality leaders. With more than a decade of post-secondary teaching experience, Emily is known for turning complex technology into clear, actionable strategies that can save time, strengthen marketing and support business growth. She believes technology should work for people—not the other way around—and has appeared on CBC News Network as a commentator on AI and marketing. 

Joel Greaves is the founder of Somewhere Inn, an upscale boutique hotel brand built in Ontario's favourite drive-to tourism markets. The group operates properties in Calabogie and Collingwood, with more locations launching across the province soon. Somewhere Inn takes independent properties and rebuilds them into design-led stays. The company is founder-led and lean. Joel works across brand, acquisitions, finance and operations. He moved to Calabogie for the property's opening year in 2021 and still gets back about once a month to work alongside the general manager and on-site team who run the day-to-day. Joel lives in Toronto with his wife and two young daughters. 

Only OHTO Members will be eligible to vote and/or pass motions during the Annual General Meeting and only one person per organization will be able to vote. This person is identified as the "Owner" of your membership listing with OHTO in our Member Portal (via Whereabouts). 

Not sure if you are a member? To be a member of OHTO, you must register and claim your listing in our Member Portal (via Whereabouts). You can also contact membership@ohto.ca to confirm your membership and confirm who holds voting rights for your organization.

Want to Become a Member? If you are not a member and wish to become one, you can sign up for free here.  

The 2026 AGM is being held virtually and will be facilitated using Zoom. The Zoom meeting link will be provided following registration in an automated email from Zoom directly. Be sure to check your spam folder and reach out to the OHTO team if you don’t receive the meeting link by email at info@ohto.ca.

If you have not previously used Zoom, we highly recommend you download the app either to your smartphone, tablet, or desktop in advance of the conference to ensure everything loads correctly.  Click here to download Zoom.