Ontario’s Southwest Signature Experience Program
What is the Ontario’s Southwest (OSW) Signature Experience program?
The OSW Signature Experience program has been created with the purpose of featuring unique experiences within the region and introducing the Ontario Signature Experience and the Canada Signature Experience programs, initiatives that promote the sale of tourism experiences through travel trade.
We aren’t accepting applications for OSW Signature Experiences at this time. Sign up for our industry newsletter (here) to stay in the loop on future intakes and additional opportunities available to you and your business.
If you have any questions about the OSW Signature Experience Program, please reach out to kelleagh@swotc.ca.
Who are the Accredited OSW Signature Experiences?
We have a total of nine experiences that are accredited OSW Signature Experiences that you can view on their exclusive landing page on OntariosSouthwest.com.
Hike 42 by North 42 Degrees Estate Winery
Cut Your Own Flower Farm Experience by Makkink's Sunflower Farms
Harvest Brunch by Thames River Melons
Nith Whitewater Experiential Learning Adventure by Grand Experiences
What is an experience?
Experiences are about people and programming that result in learning, joy, and transformation
Programming is generally centered around one of three things:
Providing access to a special place
Sharing a skill that’s been crafted by the host
Putting purpose behind passion (e.g., eating local food)
The host brings an element to an experience that cannot be replicated
Involves not only learning a new skill but actually changing the way someone thinks about something
The experience must be bookable and have a clear outline of value proposition
What does it mean to be an OSW Signature Experience?
All accredited experiences will be able to use the OSW Signature Experience logo. This logo is a stamp of approval that communicates to your customers the high-quality value of your experience.
You will join a group of elite experience hosts whose knowledge you can tap into.
Successful OSW Signature Experience applicants will have opportunities for additional exposure in OSW’s marketing efforts e.g., social media, paid advertising, website, email blasts, and etc. Click the following links for examples of past marketing initiatives available to OSW Signature Experiences.
Content Development by Ontario’s Southwest:
Paid Advertisements:
Social Media Digital Ads
December 2021 digital ads resulted in 3,712 link clicks and a click through rate of 1.77%: compared to industry average of 0.90%.
Required Criteria
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The experience provider must be in the market delivering a tourism experience for a minimum of one year.
Experience provider must have adequate insurance:
Adequate liability insurance
If experiences require a waiver form, ensure that the contract is formulated by a legal team, and updated periodically as required.
All business and required operating licenses must be up-to-date.
All Municipal, Provincial and Federal Health & Safety Regulations must be followed.
When able, sites, facilities and services should be accessible to all, including persons with disabilities and others who have specific access requirements or other special needs. Please visit the AODA website for additional information.
Have a future marketing/operations plan in place for a minimum of 2 years.
Must have an adequate budget and business/marketing plan in place.
The experience offers programming hosted by local storytellers.
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Provide quality customer service including the ability to respond promptly to inquiries and provide confirmation of booking.
Understand that every customer contact is a chance to shine/ “moment of truth”.
Provide all necessary equipment to participate in the experience (helpful for international travellers).
Use a PRIZM customer segmentation analysis to better understand your target market (note: SWOTC may provide if you currently do not have one).
Perform regular evaluation of customer satisfaction levels (e.g., customer survey, examination of online reviews, etc.)
Complete a yearly assessment of program success (note: a form will be sent to the e-mail address of host/owner by SWOTC).
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Acknowledge the triple bottom line in your operations.
Experience providers are encouraged to participate in programs centered around regenerative business practices.
It is encouraged that a portion of the experience price is donated to a local charity or used to pay for a carbon offset (note: this is not a requirement, only a suggestion)
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Experience provider honours rates and refrains from raising prices before the expiry of the contracted agreement (amongst tour operators/tour wholesalers/customers).
Ensure the experience price includes compensation to the experience provider for their time and expertise (i.e., owner is paid for the 2 hours spent with visitors).
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Be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the travel trade.
Have a collection of images/video content to share with SWOTC and your local Destination Management Organization (DMO) for marketing purposes (note: if digital assets are not available, contact SWOTC to discuss options).
Must have a website to promote the experience and accept inquiries/bookings (note: can include a webpage on your business website).
Have a minimum of one active business social media account that is used to promote the experience (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, etc.).
Have an overview on file that provides a summary of the experience, net rates, group size, location, and images of the experience
The experience name provides an understanding of what the experience entails.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
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Yes, we ask that you submit an application for each experience that you offer since the stamp is awarded to a specific experience as opposed to an entire business.
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Once your application has been processed, you will be notified by email on whether or not you have been accepted into the OSW Signature Experience program. If successful, you will be asked to send photography of your experience (if available).
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All experiences that have been operating for less than a year are welcome to apply to the signature experience program as long as you are able to provide a detailed description of your experience, identify if you have completed experiential tourism training, and demonstrate your strategy for evaluating improvements that need to be made.
