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Toronto Tourism

It's interesting how this British site puts Toronto as the second most visited city in North America. (by international tourists) Toronto is 14th over-all, so that's not too bad.


ARTICLE
Top 150 City Destinations: London Leads the Way
Oct 2007
by Caroline Bremner.

Euromonitor International is pleased to release the results of its first Top 150 City Destinations Ranking, providing insight into the the world's leading and most dynamic cities in terms of tourist arrivals.


London ranked top in Euromonitor International's Top 150 City Destinations. The British capital received an impressive 15.6 million international visitors in 2006, far above other world capitals such as Bangkok, Paris, Singapore or New York.


The 150 leading world destinations accounted for 27% of the global inbound tourism in terms of arrivals. Cities are the key driver of growth in the tourism industry, benefiting from the development of the air industry and the investment in infrastructure and iconic buildings. From Bilbao's Guggenheim Museum to Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Twin Towers, the new skylines of cities attract millions of tourists to their airports and hotels, boosting the tourism industry to unprecedented levels.

With China emerging as a key travel and tourism market, the prospect of city tourism cannot help but look East. Will London resist the push?

London storms ahead of the pack

London attracted 15.6 million international visitors in 2006 to rank first in Euromonitor International's Top 150 City Destinations. The gap between the UK capital and other major cities increased as the presence of tourists in London's streets increased by 13% up on 2005.

Bangkok (2), Paris (3) and Singapore (4) follow London respectively, with around ten million tourists each. Hong Kong ranked 5th with 8 million, while the six-million-club included New York (6), Dubai (7) and Rome (8).

In 2006, 27 cities received more than 3 million international arrivals and 67 cities over a million. Overall, these 150 cities received 237 million tourists, accounting for 27% of the world's inbound tourism flows. The top150 cities received 6% more tourists than in 2005.

Top 150 City Destinations 2006
City Ranking '000 tourist arrivals
London 1 15,640
Bangkok 2 10,350
Paris 3 9,700
Singapore 4 9,502
Hong Kong 5 8,139
New York City 6 6,219
Dubai 7 6,120
Rome 8 6,033
Seoul 9 4,920
Barcelona 10 4,695
Dublin 11 4,469
Bahrain 12 4,418
Shanghai 13 4,315
Toronto 14 4,160
Kuala Lumpur 15 4,125
Istanbul 16 3,994
Madrid 17 3,921
Amsterdam 18 3,901
Mecca 19 3,800
Prague 20 3,702

More from Forbes Mag. (2009 figures)



Forbes released their Top 10 Most-Visited-U.S.-Cities list. Leading the list is Orlando, Florida. Taking the Number 10 position is San Diego, California. There are some surprises in between these rankings.

Here’s the Forbes list:

Orlando, Fla.: 48 million visitors
New York City: 47 million visitors
Chicago, Ill.: 45,580,000 visitors
Anaheim/Orange County, Calif.: 42,700,000 visitors
Miami, Fla: 38,100,000 visitors
Las Vegas, Nev.: 36,351,469 visitors
Atlanta, Ga.: 35,400,000 visitors
Houston, Texas: 31,060,000 visitors
Philadelphia, Pa.: 30,320,000 visitors
San Diego, California: 29,600,000 visitors

That's old, the 2008 results from Euromonitor had Toronto right after New York (NY's number was around 7M and Toronto upto 6M) but I think they termed it as over-night visitiors. I can't find it online, but it's published in Time Out's book of World's Cities (at the back where they have all the various city stats) - leafed through it just on Friday.

EDIT: I found this, but its still not the same listing/report.. not sure what their diff criteria is, http://www.euromonitor.com/euromonitor-internationals-top-city-destination-ranking/article
 
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All of those are good points Jaycola. I don't really know the inner politics of Tourism Toronto, but now that we have tourism regions, I think it's going to become more important than ever that these regions work together to develop a more regionalized product. Whether that will happen or not is difficult to say. For the Golden Horseshoe alone we're talking about 3 separate tourism regions (Toronto, Hamilton and Niagara) who would need to cooperate and each would see a different return on investment (which is how these groups tend to think). The idea of these regions working together while also competing is tough to reconcile and I'm not sure there are any schemes in place to promote cooperation between the regions (such as, in Pennsylvania, funds used for cooperative projects between tourism regions are matched at least in part by the government).
 
I'm too lazy to go back and read what I commented on in this thread years ago but asides from the predictable discussions on marketing the solution to reviving or enhancing Tourism in Toronto is really simple: make the city more attractive to visit.

The way in which you make the city more attractive to visit is not some overwhelming nebulous concept. It is really about every individual who lives in the city pursuing and championing the areas of interests they have and enhancing their connections to people around the globe.

In terms of leisure (or non-business purposes) people want to come to Toronto for two primary reasons: to visit you, and to have stimulating experiences. So forget about what the government is or is not doing about tourism, the real question is who is visiting you and what kind of stimulating experiences are you creating for others in Toronto?

The second point, the experiences you are creating comes in active and passive form. In the passive sense you are creating stimulating experiences by doing what you do, say going to restaurants or sporting events thereby supporting those who create these experiences. But the truth is if you are not actively engaged in creating and producing such experiences yourself you are really not enhancing the richness of the life and amenities of the city and not pulling your weight with respect to making this a better and more attractive place to visit.
 
IThe way in which you make the city more attractive to visit is not some overwhelming nebulous concept. It is really about every individual who lives in the city pursuing and championing the areas of interests they have and enhancing their connections to people around the globe.

In terms of leisure (or non-business purposes) people want to come to Toronto for two primary reasons: to visit you, and to have stimulating experiences. So forget about what the government is or is not doing about tourism, the real question is who is visiting you and what kind of stimulating experiences are you creating for others in Toronto?

Funny you mention the people. A tour company in NYC launch a new city tour service called The Ride. Basically you board a coach with a panoramic view and drive through the city where actors are planted to look like they're part of the streetscape, but they act in a way that stands out for the audience. Seems like they're playing into that "Only in New York!" sentiment people seem to have. :rolleyes: I've read mixed reviews about the tour ranging from something thats worth the price to something thats a tacky tourist trap.
 
Hard to believe Toronto would get more tourists than L.A. I guess they are only including city proper here, no way TO gets more than Greater LA.

Antalya..? I've got to get out and travel more.
 
It's also pretty difficult to measure. What counts as a "tourist"? Can you be a tourist in your own town? How far away does one have to be from to become a tourist? The World Tourism Organization defines a tourist as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four (24) hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited." Is that definition appropriate? Is that the same definition used by every measuring body? Is that how things have always been measured?

I wouldn't put tons of stock in these measurements. Sure it's great to compare and contrast, but I'd argue it's better to measure your own progress with consistent parameters.
 
I like the CN Tower's idea of turning our attractions into extreme feats. Perhaps more are in order. Like 'Prevent Sky Doom from closing with your bare hands' and 'Strap yourself to the Exhibition Place wind turbine ride'.
 
Funny you mention the people. A tour company in NYC launch a new city tour service called The Ride. Basically you board a coach with a panoramic view and drive through the city where actors are planted to look like they're part of the streetscape, but they act in a way that stands out for the audience. Seems like they're playing into that "Only in New York!" sentiment people seem to have. :rolleyes: I've read mixed reviews about the tour ranging from something thats worth the price to something thats a tacky tourist trap.

That sounds tackier than a third rate musical. (and this is coming from someone that thinks first rate musicals are tacky!)
 
It's also pretty difficult to measure. What counts as a "tourist"? Can you be a tourist in your own town? How far away does one have to be from to become a tourist? The World Tourism Organization defines a tourist as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for more than twenty-four (24) hours and not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited." Is that definition appropriate? Is that the same definition used by every measuring body? Is that how things have always been measured?

I wouldn't put tons of stock in these measurements. Sure it's great to compare and contrast, but I'd argue it's better to measure your own progress with consistent parameters.

I live about an hour from Toronto and I trek to the city at least once a month for some event at the ROM, AGO, sporting event, or just a shopping/walk-about. And I do like the sight seeing/development, staying overnight whenever possible. I guess, statistically at least, this make me something of a tourist ?
 
After Confluence, the Luminato show last Friday, I chatted to a young Englishwoman ( who was in town for a couple of days on business and had also seen the show ) as we travelled south by subway. My reading of the situation was that she had rapidly become a tourist. She'd already been to the AGO and only declined to see the k.d. lang concert that night because she was too jetlagged. The more our cultural appeal expands, the more such business people and stopover visitors we'll convert.
 
Can you be a tourist in your own town?
I certainly felt like it the afternoon I took off from my downtown office, and went with my family to see The Railway Children. And I'm sure when I was walking slowly with a child along Front near York at 5 pm, everyone rushing and scurrying to the subway and GO would say I was a tourist too!

How far away does one have to be from to become a tourist?
About 100 metres by that standard! :)
 
Exactly. While the goal of tourism is to bring in dollars from outside of the economy, for tourism operators a dollar is a dollar no matter where it comes from.

How was the Railway Children by the way? is it more meant for kids or is it enjoyable for adults too?
 
Nice to hear:)

Toronto reaches tourism milestone in 2011
TORONTO — Officials say 2011 was a record year for tourism in Toronto.

Tourism Toronto says the number of hotel room nights sold surpassed 9 million for the first time.

And, for the first time since 2006, Toronto saw an increase in overnight visitors from the U.S. last year.

Tourism Toronto president David Whitaker says 2011 also saw growth in the number of visitors from overseas markets such as China, India, and Brazil.

Among the Canadian provinces, Ontario, Quebec and Alberta accounted for the most visitors to Toronto.

Due in part to increased demand, 1,118 new hotel rooms opened in Toronto in 2011, placing Toronto third in growth in North American cities behind New York City and Nashville.

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/lo...milestone-120130/20120130/?hub=TorontoNewHome


A lot more from CNW....http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/912403/toronto-reaches-milestone-in-tourism-performance
Toronto reaches milestone in tourism performance
The fastest growing markets are from overseas travellers which rose by 6.2 per cent and now account for 14 per cent of all visitors to Toronto.

The biggest growth is coming from China (34.5 per cent increase), India (13.2 per cent), Italy (9.3 per cent) and Brazil (9.2 per cent).

The top international visitor arrival markets for Toronto in 2011 were:


2011 ...Change

1 U.S. 2,043,900 +2.7%
2 U.K. 191,300 -2.6%
3 China 154,100 +34.5%
4 India 75,200 +13.2%
5 Germany 72,100 +0.2%
6 France 63,600 +1.3%
7 Japan 63,400 +0.7%
8 Italy 51,200 +9.3%
9 Brazil 44,700 +9.2%
10 S. Korea 39,900 -0.1%
 
That's great news. But we sure need more tourists. Toronto has to market itself more and pay to have articles written about it in travel magazines. It's very rare that I see anything about toronto in these magazines, whereas Sydney or Rome or Paris or ny always have a write up. I'm sure they pay for them.
 
That's great news. But we sure need more tourists. Toronto has to market itself more and pay to have articles written about it in travel magazines. It's very rare that I see anything about toronto in these magazines, whereas Sydney or Rome or Paris or ny always have a write up. I'm sure they pay for them.

The thing with Toronto's tourism is that being a newer city we lack something more iconic, beside the CN Tower, that distinguish Toronto from everyone else. Even a cliche tourist trap is better than nothing at all. People need to associate something special with Toronto and just Toronto to visit us, rather than, say Chicago or San Francisco.

Being close to Lake Ontario apparently hasn't become a selling point when it comes to tourism at all. Nobody is gonna rank Toronto' waterfront scene in terms of beauty ahead of Chicago's, which is closeby, not to mention so many large cities are either by the sea or by a river. Water is NOT special.

Our museums are second class just to be very honest, and they charge an arm and a leg, compared with the Metropolitan, MoMa, even le Louvre etc. Don't make excuses such as we are less subsidized etc. The tourists don't care. The sheer fact that Casa Loma charges $18 is pretty shocking in terms of what it offers. Even our super mini "shoe museum", which takes about 20 minutes to see, charges $14 if I am not mistaken. For someone well travelled, why should tourists spend $14 in that, compared with le Louvre, which charges similar price (10 euro)?

Yes, we have vibrant "neighbourhoods", but just by looking at how many other cities claim themselves to be "a city of neibourhoods" we can know that won't be a selling point either. How does busy Queen West stack up with SoHo in NYC, Oxford st in London, or Newbury St in Boston? Not that impressive either. Chinatown, Korea Town, Little Italy etc, if you travel enough, you have already seen enough of them, and they are all similar.

Our architecture is not strong either to be fair. Woodbine Beach is cool for locals, but let's be honest, we are not a tropical resort. People seldom come to Toronto for the beach scene.

As to the CN tower, all I can say is that it is way too pricy for what it delivers. There are so many really highbuildings for people to go up and see in the world, but CN is one of the most expensive, and there is too little offered at the top there for the hype.

The Hockey Hall of Fame is a very Canadian thing. However, how many hockey fans are there outside Canada? I myself haven't been there due to lack of interest.

On the other hand, we do have some decent theatres, restaurants etc. But I am afraid that's not enough.

Most tourists need something special about a place, something you don't see elsewhere, to be excited about, to take photos of. They don't usually care much about livable neighbourhoods as they are not living here. Even something tacky, let it be a giant ferris wheel, or a 7 star casino, is better than nothing, and I am saying it from a pure tourist perspective, not to say constructing them makes economic sense.

Street events are fun for local residents, but I don't think they help with tourism that much, unless it is really world famous, like the Rio Carnival. Nobody would fly to a foreign country just to see Nuit Blanche or Caribana.

All that being said, Toronto doesn't really excel in the tourism section because we don't have enough "touristy", which ordinary people like. If the city does envision to be a bigger tourist city, a lot is needed.
 
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