Indigenous Tourism Ontario (ITO) and the Tourism Innovation Lab launch new program – Anishinabek News
December 4, 2024
AUNDECK OMNI KANING — Indigenous Tourism Ontario (ITO) and the Tourism Innovation Lab have launched the Indigenous Culinary Tourism Skode Program to inspire Indigenous entrepreneurs, businesses, non-profits, and community groups to present their new Indigenous culinary ideas. An information session about the fifth edition of the Skode Program, which features a Finalist’s Pitch Session in February and a Live Pitch Session at the Little NHL in March where the grand prize winner is selected, is scheduled for Dec. 12 at 11:30 a.m., with the deadline to apply on Jan. 15. Information is available online.
“It’s kind of like a tourism Dragon’s Den,” says Lisa-Marie Lavallee, operations lead and executive support at ITO. “We have participants that submit applications with their new ideas, they sit in front of a panel of judges and from that winners are selected. We bring those finalists on to a Live Pitch that we do at the Little NHL — they’ll do a Live Pitch in front of a different set of judges from which a grand prize winner is selected.”
