Tourism Toronto to leverage strong summer event line-up in marketing the region to travellers

TORONTO, May 3 /PRNewswire/ — Tourism across the Toronto region was bolstered in 2006 by record visitor numbers from overseas countries and from within Canada, Tourism Toronto reported today. Growth in these markets helped to offset continued challenges in the U.S. tourism market.

“In 2006 it was a mixed picture for Toronto’s tourism sector,” said Lyle Hall, Chair of Tourism Toronto’s Board of Directors. “While American visitors remain a difficult market, the real success story is the overseas markets like China, Korea and Mexico that now account for a quarter of all tourism spending in Toronto.”

Overall, approximately 19.7 million visitors spent $4.5 billion in the Toronto region last year:

- 15.4 million Canadians spent approximately $2.2 billion, accounting for 78 per cent of visitors and 50 per cent of visitor spending
- 2.7 million Americans spent $1.2 billion, accounting for 14 per cent of visitors and 26 per cent of spending
- 1.6 million overseas visitors (all foreign countries except U.S.) spent $1.1 billion, accounting for 8 per cent of visitors and 24 per cent of spending

Tourism Toronto’s new President and CEO, David Whitaker, who joined the organization this week, said, “The challenges facing Toronto, like many Canadian destinations, are well known. Heightened competition for travel customers, along with new passport rules and the rising Canadian dollar, force us to identify new markets and be as creative as possible in our sales and marketing.”

“At the same time, we have some tremendous opportunities starting with a very strong line-up of summer events and festivals,” said Whitaker.

Speaking to hundreds of members of the region’s tourism industry at Tourism Toronto’s annual meeting, Mr. Whitaker highlighted the importance of leveraging all of the new tourism experiences to cultivate a “sense of place” about Toronto in visitors’ minds.

“We’ll keep working to make sure the entire region is seen as a prestige travel destination for business and pleasure. By doing that, we help ensure that tourism remains a vital industry contributing economically and socially to our community.”

“It is a privilege to market the Toronto region. I am excited to be working with the fine team of sales and marketing professionals at Tourism Toronto, and the thousands of people across the region who work hard every day to ensure visitors have a memorable travel experience.”

Tourism Toronto is an industry association of more than 1,100 members established to strategically sell and market the Greater Toronto Region as a remarkable destination for tourists, convention delegates and business travelers around the globe. Tourism produces more than $4 billion in direct spending in the region and supports nearly 100,000 jobs. For more information on Tourism Toronto, please visit, www.torontotourism.com.