City of Peterborough Seeks Community Input to Shape Tourism Strategy
/The City of Peterborough is developing a tourism strategy to guide the growth of Peterborough as a competitive, sustainable and four-season destination and is seeking community input.
Photo courtesy of the City of Peterborough.
Over the coming weeks and months, the community will have opportunities to participate in conversations and other engagement activities that will help shape the future of tourism in Peterborough.
The City has engaged Bannikin, an Ontario-based tourism consultancy with extensive experience in developing tourism strategies for communities and destination marketing organizations according to a press release. A proposed Tourism Strategy is expected to be presented to City Council in spring 2026. As the busy summer tourism season comes to a close for another year, this project will focus on community engagement activities, including connecting with tourism-sector businesses and the broader community.
“Tourism is vital to the City of Peterborough – it enhances quality of life, generates economic returns for businesses, and creates jobs for community members,” said Mayor Jeff Leal. “This new Tourism Strategy will provide a road map for collaborating on tourism development, management, and marketing.”
Meaningful community engagement is at the foundation of this tourism strategy development work and several opportunities for community participation are built into this project across fall 2025.
An online survey is now open and responses will be accepted through to the end of October. Additional information and updates, including dates and times for in-person ‘community café’ sessions, will be available in the coming weeks and will be published on the Connect Peterborough website.
An overview of engagement activities is included below:
Online Community+ Survey throughout the month of October
Virtual Key Informant Interviews throughout October
To engage selected voices from the community, including elected officials, City staff, local partners and collaborators, and leaders from Hiawatha First Nation and Curve Lake First Nation
Virtual Focus Groups in early to mid-November
To engage representatives of key interest groups and representatives of tourism business clusters
In-person Community Cafés in mid-November
To engage with residents, including re-engaging with those who have participated in other engagement activities like the online survey
