TOURISM COMMISSION LAUNCHES INDUSTRY WEBSITE
By Adnews Staff
The Canadian Tourism Commission, based in Ottawa, unveiled a website designed to allow companies involved in the Canadian tourism industry to better communicate with each other. Called the Canadian Tourism Exchange, the site provides reports, statistics and industry news, as well as opportunities to advertise and promote themselves and otherwise make business connections. The aim is to let companies across the country find up-to-date information about each other's offerings regardless of their size or geographical location. The CTX was started as a pilot project in March 1998. It expects to have 10,000 registered members by the end of 2000. There are currently over 9,000 businesses registered in the tourism database, a number which the site's operators hope to see rise to over 40,000 within a couple of years. Members can search this database by location, activity or person. "Today, more and more Canadians in tourism are turning to the Internet to overcome the communications difficulties that many in the industry face due to Canada's geographical vastness," said Doug Fyfe, president and CEO of the commission. The CTC was created by the federal government in 1995 to help the tourism industry maintain and improve its hold in the global tourism market. The CTX website can be found at <http://www.ctc-ctx.com>.