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Industry Report - October 2024

The 2024 to 2028 Durham Tourism Strategic Action Plan Is Now Available!

The 2024-2028 Durham Tourism Strategic Action Plan focuses on enhancing Durham’s place brand, quality of life, inclusive tourism and supporting local businesses. It aims to leverage tourism to attract talent, retain graduates and improve investment readiness, contributing to the broader economic goals. With a strong focus on developing Durham’s place brand; quality of place; efforts on inclusive tourism; supporting locally owned businesses; and, leveraging tourism industry development to attract talent, retain grads and improve investment readiness, this plan helps to achieve broad economic development goals set out in Ready Set Future: A PLACE Blueprint for Durham.


It also takes a deeper look at the Durham Tourism value proposition and brand; the landscape of tourism in a post-pandemic world; and target audiences to be developed, nurtured and attracted to Durham, with a defined action-oriented strategy to achieve the broader goals of economic development and tourism activities.

View the Durham Tourism Strategic Action Plan

Register For The Durham Music Industry Forum 

Invest Durham in collaboration with the Biltmore Theatre, St. Francis Centre for Community, Arts and Culture and The Second Wedge Brewery Co., is hosting the Durham Music Industry Foruman event series to generate and crowd-source great ideas for creating future programs, projects, and initiatives that are tailored to the unique needs of Durham’s music industry, to support and enable its growth, and create great local jobs through building the arts community.


Join local music stakeholders for an engaging event series featuring networking opportunities, refreshments, entertainment, motivational speaking, roundtable discussions and Q&A sessions. Keynote speaker Bob Egan, a veteran musician, six-time Juno Award winner and Canadian Hall of Fame inductee, will share his extensive experience, offering inspiration for new opportunities in the region.


Events take place on November 6, 13 and 27.

Reserve your spot for the Durham Music Industry Forum

Catch The DRIFF In Durham Region This Season

Don’t miss the Durham Region International Film Festival (DRIFF) from October 24 to 26!


The three-day festival showcases films at venues across Durham, including the Centennial Building in Whitby, St. Francis Centre for Community, Arts and Culture in Ajax, and Biltmore Theatre in Oshawa. Enjoy movies and shorts from international and homegrown filmmakers, and check out the Local Culinary Showcase with vendors like One More Cocoa and the Durham College Centre for Food on October 25. Guests are invited to purchase tickets for one of three events or make a weekend out of it with a three-day festival pass.

Check out the festival line up and purchase tickets

Discover Durham’s Rural Cycling Loops and Bike-Friendly Businesses 

Tourism destinations and businesses that provide cycle-friendly amenities are spotlighted as part of Durham Tourism’s new rural cycling loops. 


DurhamTourism.ca/cycling offers a user-friendly map showcasing 13 rural on-road loops across Durham Region that are designed for cyclists of various skill levels. The loop descriptions also highlight shops, restaurants and other tourism destinations that are members of the Ontario by Bike community. 

Explore Durham's rural cycling loops

2024 Ontario Tourism Summit

Join the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) for the 2024 Ontario Tourism Summit!


The two-day event takes place October 22 to 23 in Hamilton, Ontario with a focus on awareness, collaboration, and making it happen. Day one will focus on areas of workforce and infrastructure with key sessions appealing to human resources, economic development and planning regarding challenges and opportunities with infrastructure across our province, while day two will focus on the importance of data and marketing.


TIAO will be welcoming tourism professionals from around the province to gather, share, and collaborate.

Learn more and register

Grow Your Business: Starter Company Plus Program

The Business Advisory Centre of Durham’s Starter Company Plus Program is for existing business owners operating between one to three years (market ready/ready to sell), to expand (hiring employees, contractors or getting a location) or buying a business in Durham Region. The program includes:

  • Three mandatory training days over two weeks covering business concept, organization, operations and customer relations 
  • The chance to receive up to $5,000 in seed funding to kick off a new business or expand your current business 
  • The experience of running a successful business that may help you obtain more traditional financing such as a bank loan if you so require in the future
Apply now

Do It In Durham Entrepreneurship Week

Join the Business Advisory Centre of Durham (BACD) for the twelfth year of Do It In Durham Entrepreneurship Week! From November 18 to 22, join Invest Durham and BACD in celebrating entrepreneurship during Global Entrepreneurship Week.


Do It In Durham Entrepreneurship Week is a collaboration of Durham’s business support, educational and networking organizations who have come together to encourage and support entrepreneurs, job creators and innovators who create economic growth in the Durham Region.

Learn more and register

Local Business Highlights

Congratulations to Lightcaster Brewery on the opening of their second location in Bowmanville! The brewery and taphouse is located at 164 Baseline Road East in Bowmanville, and features a kitchen, full menu and your favourite Lightcaster beers. Whether you are a craft beer enthusiast or just looking for a cozy place to hang, we have a feeling this will be your new spot! Plan your visit to the Lightcaster Brewery Taphouse.

Congratulations to Tindall Farm and Market who recently won a “Harvest Hero” award from the Daily Bread Food Bank! Located along the Leaskdale Loop, the farm is co-owned and operated by Karyn and Ryan Tindall, and has been providing the community with top quality, fresh produce at very affordable prices for three generations. Check out this recent recognition and learn more about the great work Tindall Farm does for the community on Global News.  

On New Year’s Eve, 2023, Three Six Kitchen closed out the year, and closed its doors for six long weeks. The result? A complete interior renovation that has Bowmanville and beyond buzzing ever since. The renewed restaurant features a rich green interior, fitted with new furniture, hardwood finishes, gold accents, and a stylish new bar that blends perfectly into the dining space. View the full story on our Downtowns of Durham blog

Discover more local business news

Current News & Trends

Inside Durham with Anna Huk on Rogers TV Durham recently had Durham Tourism on their show to discuss all things farm fun this fall. Watch the full interview to learn more about our Gather at the Farm campaign and plan your fall adventure in Durham Region!


According to Foodism Toronto, Durham Region is the perfect spot for a cultured and cozy road trip (and we couldn’t agree more). This fall, take a day trip to Durham Region where you'll find art galleries, small-town charm and wonderful restaurants to cozy up. Read more.


A pair of best friends are keeping things cheeky with their homegrown pickle business—Cheeky Pickles in Whitby. From “mad hot” to “the spicy jerk” to “the O.G.” this craft picklery is serving up a variety of unique and delicious snackables. Read the full news article by blogTO.


Did you know Durham Region is home to the Apple Capital of Canada? Check out Narcity's recent feature on Apple Adventures in Durham and make a day out of exploring all things apple—including apple picking, apple cider, and apple fritter adventures.


Clarington was featured in Curiocity Toronto as the perfect town to take a road trip to this fall! Not only is it filled with scenic farmlands and waterfront views, but it’s also home to historical downtowns and charming hamlets just one hour from Toronto. Read more.

🏊 With shovels set to hit the ground in spring of 2025, Clarington’s new South Bowmanville Recreation Centre design plans are underway. Renderings show plans for a modern facility, including an indoor pool, gymnasium, multi-purpose rooms for recreation programming, and a FIFA-sized multi-sport dome with indoor walking track that can accommodate a variety of field sports. The design also features an outdoor skating trail that can be used in the warmer months as an outdoor community event space or a public market area, and a playground on the site, which is also already home to Clarington Fields. Learn more.


🏆 The Oshawa Generals are set to host the Canadian Hockey League vs USA Hockey Top NHL Prospects Challenge this November as Top 2025 NHL prospects from Ontario Hockey League, Western Hockey League and Quebec-Maritimes Junior Hockey League will face off against the United States U18 National Development Team in a two-game series in London and Oshawa. Learn more.


🏏 A new cricket pitch is now open in Whitby at Jeffery Park (220 Jeffery Street) for the community and cricket leagues to enjoy, featuring an artificial turf pitch and fresh line markings. The pitch is available for rent via email at FacilityRentals@whitby.ca or 905-668-7765 from Monday to Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Learn more about Whitby’s sport facility rentals.


🏒 The recently renovated Orono Arena is now open! The $3 million renovation included replacing the refrigerated floor under the ice pad, upgrading the changing rooms and shower areas, and replacing the rubber flooring throughout the arena. The ice pad was also updated with all-new rink boards and a heated penalty box. These upgrades will extend the arena’s lifespan by another 15 years. Learn more.

Find more sport updates in Durham Region
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For unique trip ideas or to plan your perfect day, visit DurhamTourism.ca, or call 1-800-413-0017. If this information is required in an accessible format, contact Durham Tourism.