OTTAWA, ON, Aug. 13, 2021 /CNW/ - The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, today announced the appointment of the Honourable Liza Frulla as Chair of the Board of Directors of Destination Canada, effective August 6, 2021. The appointment was made following an open, transparent and merit-based selection process.
Ms. Frulla has been CEO and Director of the Institut de tourisme et d'hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ) for several years and chaired its governance committee while she was a member of the ITHQ Board of Directors.
In 2018 and 2019, she was a member of the Advisory Council on Jobs and the Visitor Economy, whose recommendations played an important role in the development of Creating Middle Class Jobs: A Federal Tourism Growth Strategy.
In the course of her rich career, Ms. Frulla has been a federal minister and a Quebec minister, and she has made a significant contribution to the Canadian arts and culture sector. She holds a B.A. from Collège Basile-Moreau and a degree in education from the Université de Montréal.
Destination Canada's mission is to influence supply and build demand for the benefit of locals, communities and visitors through leading research, alignment with public and private sectors, destination development, and marketing Canada nationally and abroad. In addition, its Business Events team leverages in-depth global market analysis to target international clusters aligned with Canada's priority economic sectors.
The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected global tourism. Destination Canada, a federal Crown corporation, has been agile in expanding its focus from international marketing to domestic marketing to encourage the safe travel of Canadians within our borders and support Canada's tourism sector during this challenging period. It has established a strong foundation to support the sector's recovery and future resilience.
Quotes
"We know the tremendous contribution of the tourism sector to our communities, large and small. It supports good jobs in rural areas, small towns, Indigenous communities and big cities from coast to coast to coast. Ms. Frulla has an excellent track record in the hospitality industry and in the tourism sector as a whole. Her wealth of experience will truly be an asset that will help steer Destination Canada throughout the recovery of Canada's visitor economy."
– The Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages
"Liza Frulla is a respected, trusted and active member of the Canadian tourism sector, bringing incredible depth of knowledge. Her leadership and excellent track record will be a tremendous asset to Destination Canada and will help in the recovery and future resilience of the country's visitor economy. I also wish to thank Monique Gomel for her strong leadership as Interim Board Chair during the selection process."
– Marsha Walden, President and Chief Executive Officer, Destination Canada
Quick facts
- In 2019, a record 22.1 million tourists travelled to Canada.
- Tourism expenditures reached an estimated $104.4 billion that year.
- In 2019, tourism directly supported approximately 692,000 jobs in communities across Canada and contributed an estimated $45.1 billion in gross domestic product.
- To ensure that Canada is a destination of choice when domestic and international travel resumes more fully, the Government of Canada provided an additional $100 million over three years to Destination Canada for marketing campaigns to encourage Canadians and international visitors to discover and explore the country.
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SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Catherine Mounier-Desrochers, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages, [email protected]; Media Relations, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 343-291-1777, [email protected]
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