Building on 80+ years of successful fall conferences for the outfitting sector, the Northern Ontario Tourism Summit was developed as a partnership event between Nature and Outdoor Tourism Ontario and Destination Northern Ontario to bring together tourism businesses, organizations and suppliers as well as all levels of government at a single event to find solutions to challenges facing the industry.

The Northern Ontario Industry Leader Awards recognize excellence in the province's tourism industry. Recipients provide outstanding leadership, exemplify best business practices, innovative marketing and deliver tourism experiences that contribute to the success of Ontario's tourism industry, which generates over $36 billion in economic activity and supporting more than 400,000 jobs.