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Bid To Lure Visitors Hits 'Strike Three'
9/11, Sars... now high dollar hurts efforts

Chris Wattie And Puja Uppal
National Post

Saturday, November 10, 2007



The high dollar is the final blow to Toronto's efforts to lure back American tourists, and it's time to move on, the chairman of the city's economic development and tourism committee said yesterday.

''It's three strikes and you're out, and I think we're there now. We're out, that's it,'' Councillor Kyle Rae said.

Tourism officials said they are bracing for another dramatic drop in visitors from the United States over the next few months, as the effects of the surging Canadian dollar begin taking a bite out of the $4.5-billion tourists spend in the city each year.

Mr. Rae said the city needs to focus on Europe, Latin America and Asia. Toronto Board of Trade figures show an increase of 7.2% in overseas tourists for the first half of this year over last and a 1.4% increase in Canadian visitors, more than making up for a 9% decrease in U.S. tourism.

"Our overseas visitors are up considerably, particularly from Mexico and China. And 80% of our tourists now are from other parts of Canada," said board spokesman Glen Stone.

"Even last year, when the Canadian dollar was low, the number of American tourists coming to Toronto had gone down dramatically," Mr. Stone said. "That number has been going down steadily since 2003 ... and there's no question the dollar will add to that."

Jim and Sofia Alexopoulos, who have run a hot dog stand just outside the Eaton Centre for 25 years, said yesterday their business has never been this bad.

"This year I have been down because no American people," Mr. Alexopoulos said. "No more tourists here."

"Usually we see those big tour buses but we have not seen any this year."

Julio Batres, the manager of Cucina restaurant in the entertainment district, said he has already seen one effect of the higher loonie: American customers getting irate when told they have to pay extra to settle their bill in U.S. dollars.

"They get extremely upset," he said. "They then start talking about how America is great."

Mr. Stone said the climbing Canadian dollar is just the latest in a long line of obstacles the city's tourism industry has had to overcome.

Tourism, which is tied to an estimated 100,000 jobs in the Toronto area, was hit hard by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and had not really begun to recover when the SARS scare devastated business less than two years later.

But the bad news just kept coming. The power blackout in 2003 and last year's announcement of restrictions on travel between Canada and the United States piled onto earlier factors to produce a 15% drop in U.S. tourists coming to Toronto since 2000.

"It's been a very rough road," Mr. Stone said. "You've got to feel for these people - they've just started to recover from all that and now the dollar starts going up."

"It's just been one thing after another."

Cabbie Abdul Shekih said he has noticed a lot fewer tourists in the back of his taxi and empty streets that were full of shoppers just a few months ago.

"A lot of tourists are not coming here, and people are not going shopping," he said. "A lot of people are giving American dollars. They are trying to get rid of the American dollar."

Andrew Weir, a spokesman for Toronto Tourism, said the industry hopes to overcome the anticipated drop in U.S. tourists by focusing on what he calls "high-value travellers."

"Our marketing efforts are focusing on those travellers that leave a more significant economic footprint," he said.

Last month, Tourism Toronto and the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership Corp. launched a new campaign to target wealthy Mexicans and Britons. Tourism Toronto launched a Spanish language Web site, www.torontotourismmexico.com, in addition to earlier Web sites in Japanese, Chinese and Korean.

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BY THE NUMBERS

IN 2000

18.3 million

number of visitors to the Greater Toronto Area.

3.2 million

number of visitors who came from the United States.

$3.9-billion

amount spent in Toronto hotels, restaurants and shops.

IN 2006

19.7 million

number of visitors to the Greater Toronto Area.

2.7 million

number of visitors who came from the United States.

4.5 billion

amount spent in Toronto hotels, restaurants and shops.

 

[rdaner]

Why is it taking people so long to see that we get more out of international tourists than those from The States?

 

[Tewder]

...because there's so much potential at such a close distance. Toronto has failed to lure Americans in any great numbers, for reasons that have been discussed here ad nausium. This doesn't have to be inevitable, however, and to think so is a huge mistake. Toronto simply just hasn't managed to hit the radar there yet, for various reasons. No worries though, at some point America will 'discover' Toronto, and then we better brace ourselves!

 

[ganjavih]

I guess people used to come for the value aspect. Now we have to convince Americans that Toronto is worth visiting even if it isn't super cheap. That takes a lot more work.

 

[TO City of Light]

END THE EXCUSES - Part 1

The US has been, and always will be, our number one source of foreign visitors. With 300 million people in the world's wealthiest country living so close that on a clear day you can see it, tourism promoters anywhere else would give their first born to have our location.

Yes, we need to attract visitors from other origins, but priority one must be to hang on to what we have. Anyone in a service business will tell you that it is more expensive to develop a new customer than to keep an old one.

Tourism is not a random process where one day the US will "discover" us. We need to convince potential visitors that they should come to Toronto where there is not only something worth their while to see or do but also that in coming here they will welcomed as guests rather than treated as sheep to be shorn. In terms of this welcoming attitude, unfortunately, we still have a lot of work to do.

While there are good reasons for declining tourist numbers, most this thread is made up of excuses. Only when we stop the ltany of victimization - "why should they come when we hate them", SARS, terrorism, exchange rate, etc., can we start tackling the serious business of increasing tourist numbers. While the excuses are clearly challenges making life more difficult, most tourist-oriented cities around the world seem to have overcome them in one way or the other. We also need to take on underlying issues or, alternatively, decide we don’t think tourism is important.

I can see two major reasons for a continued failure to attract foreign visitors. First, we don't really want them here. Oh yes, we will gladly take their money but if we really wanted them here we would try a bit harder to make them feel they are our special guests. One example: when the Canadian dollar was worth much less than the US dollar, US visitors to Toronto would receive a premium for US dollar payments but it was generally far less than the bank exchange rate. At the same time, places in the US like Myrtle Beach were holding “Canada Week†when the loonie was taken at par to the greenback. Now, with our loonie worth 6 percent more than the dollar, how many businesses would be willing take the US dollar at par, even as part of a limited time promotion - precious few. In fact, most seem to relish "sticking it to the man".

 

[TO City of Light]

END THE EXCUSES - Part 2 ....

Can you imagine a campaign - COME TO TORONTO: YOUR DOLLAR IS STILL A DOLLAR!!!! For a discount of (now) 6 percent, visitors would leave feeling all warm and fuzzy rather than feeling ripped off for an amount of money so small that most will recover it by "stiffing" on the tip.

Another example of what can be done: in Geneva, every foreigner registering into a hotel gets a free transit pass good for travel on their excellant public transport system for the duration of their stay. Now, talk about feeling valued! Can you imagine how good that couple from Cleveland would feel if, upon checking into the Holday Inn for their weekend getaway, they received a two day pass for free travel on the TTC? Can you imagine what they would tell their friends about Toronto?

Sadly, in Toronto this would not work for at least two reasons. First, the TTC is a "nickel/dime" operation. Look how much cost, effort and inconvenience went into ensuring that passangers would not benefit from a (five or ten dollar at most) windfall gain when fares were increased?

And second, our good old Toronto attitude that will just not allow someone else to have something we can't get. If these out-of-towners are wealthy enough to come here, then they can damn well afford to pay for what they get here! What about the working stiff who has to pay for their public transport, the welfare moms, the homeless, the students, the pensioners, the good honest, hard-working Toronto taxpayers, etc, etc.

Second factor: tourism in Toronto is also a national and provincial issue and at these levels it is not a priority, nor does there seem to be any desire to coordinate in a meaningful way among the different levels of government. A full fare return ticket, no advance purchase and no restrictions, from New York to Toronto can cost over $1000. Having flown this route one weekend a month for the last 6 years, my fellow passangers were invariably commuting Canadians - business people, students, escorts (much better money for escort services in NY) or folks visiting friends and relatives. Bona fide American tourists were shoe size numbers - not on each flight, I mean over the full six years! We Canadians, having to travel, no doubt all found ways of paying much less than full fare coach but the regular last minute inspiration weekend getaway crowd wouldn't bother and would find it cheaper to go to London England.

Next, where globally is the future major source of international travellers? No prize for identifying China. I understand that the Chinese government has a policy of classifying countries to which they will ease restictions on overseas travel - a bonanza for those countries. Asian and Europen countries are climbing on this bandwagon. Canada was on the fast track here too. But .... in a series of actions designed to poke a finger in the eye of the Chinese authorities, P.M. Harper has ensured this will be on the back burner for the next half dozen years.

It may well be that we want to stick it to the Chinese and that a public photo op with the Dalai Lama is a high priority for most Canadians, then so be it, but if we are eager to see tourism growth then the potential impact on overseas travellers needs to be on the table when Ottawa takes many of its international policy decisions. Now it is not.

 

[Tewder]

As with any travel destination Americans have to perceive a reason to come here. We have simply failed to convey one to them. If their interest is piqued, however, it wont really matter whether our dollar is 10 cents more or less, or whether a passport is needed or whatever else. There are far more prohibitive logistics involved in traveling to many of the other travel destinations favoured by Americans, but they still go. The simple fact is that Toronto is not on the radar south of the border, and there is almost zero perception or recognition of what Toronto is or means to anybody there. This does not exactly favour any efforts to lure travelers away from competing cities that do have 'brand' recognition.

 

[TOinTO]

A lot of this discussion seems to only be considering the individual tourist as a source of tourism traffic. However, I believe the bulk of American tourism to Toronto has historically been conventions, conferences, and the like.

I recall reading, back in the days of the 65 cent CAD, that Toronto was the second most popular North American convention/conference destination after Las Vegas. I expect that that has changed now, and I expect that currency appreciation and border hassles are the primary reason.

I think convention organizers would look at the sort of facilities available, economics and, to a much lesser extent, the sort of attractions available. It doesn't really matter to them if the location is not the most appealing place in North America since most of a delegates time is spent in windowless conference rooms and hotel bars.

 

[JasonParis]

All this isn't really true with regard to the gay American market. Toronto seems to be pretty top-of-the-mind and increasingly popular.

 

[TO City of Light]

Toronto And Us Gay Travel

I have heard Torontonians refer to the popularity of the city in the US gay community a number of times. While it is clearly an important destination for this group, is there any data to support that it is top and increasing?

I lived in the West Village of NYC for a dozen or so years - up to mid 2007. While not a member of the community there, it was Montreal that was always mentioned when people referred to Canada.

A quick look at the Planet Out website (probably the top gay/lesbian networking site), which has their list of 10 best international destinations, makes no mention of Toronto. Montreal was ranked number one and Vancouver was number 10. Toronto gets rave reviews but not as the place to see and be seen.

For those interested in what the international competition is for exciting non-US urban detinations the list, one through ten, is as follows:

Montreal
Bangkok
Barcelona
Buenos Aires
Capetown
London
Paris
Rio
Sydney
Vancouver

Check it out:

http://www.planetout.com/travel/article.html?sernum=11783


As a personal aside, I have been in all except one of this list and lived in three. IMHO, when you add in New York and South Beach you have the top 12 global party/fun cities, gay or straight.

Now, of you want to talk about resort party areas, it would be Ibiza, the Greek islands and Phuket, but that is really OT. It does mean, however, that urban Barcelona and Bangkok give visitors a "twofer", something Toronto does not have. Once your (very expensive) flight reaches Toronto and you have your urban experince, you then turn around and go back.

Again, and totally anecdotal, when non-Canadians talk about Canada the top mentions, in order, are Montreal and Vancouver. There is rarely a number three.

The Traveler's Forecast in the International Herald Tribune lists only one Canadian city - Vancouver.

These observations are not intended as a put down on Toronto - it has to be the greatest city in the world, I grew up there - but we need to know what reality is if we are to improve things.



A

 

[FutureMayor]

Montreal: Catching up (to Toronto) on culture will require creativity

Well apparently Toronto is doing something right, especially if Montreal notices. I believe competition between the cities is healthy. Comparable to Sydney vs Melbourne.

Louroz

The Gazette
Published: Saturday, October 27

First, Toronto stole our place as Canada's biggest metropolis. Around the same time, it became the country's undisputed business headquarters. And now, cultural supremacy, too, seems to be moving down the 401. That's one reason why a remarkable special meeting of 1,500 well-placed Montrealers will assemble next month to consider ways to rejuvenate Montreal's cultural sector. It's about time.

Through most of this decade it's been even harder than usual to move around in downtown Toronto because of all the cultural construction projects: A new opera house, an addition to the Royal Ontario Museum, renovations to Roy Thomson Hall, an expansion of the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Ballet School, expansion of the Ontario Science Centre, new construction for the Royal Conservatory of Music ... the list goes on. Nor is the growth only in bricks and mortar. We know how Toronto's film festival has eclipsed Montreal's, and now our comedy festival is expanding in Toronto. This list, too, goes on.

Toronto knows it, too. In a festival called Luminato last June, Toronto celebrated the vibrancy and growth of its arts scene. Tourism advertising invites the world to share Toronto's cultural wealth. It's all enough to make a Montrealer a little grumpy, if not downright alarmed.

In fact, in recent years, the number of professional artists - in the broad sense of that term - in Toronto has grown larger than the number in Montreal says Simon Brault, vice-chairman of the Canada Council, director-general of the National Theatre School of Canada, and board chairman of Culture Montreal, the non-profit clearing-house for those with an interest in the cultural sector here.

Meeting The Gazette's editorial board this week, Brault explained what Montrealers should expect from that conference Nov. 12 and 13, known as Rendez-vous Montréal. Mayor Gérald Tremblay will preside over the meeting but Brault, wearing his Culture Montréal hat, has been involved in much of the meeting's planning and co-ordination.

Brault says bluntly the point of the event is to make sure Montreal stops losing ground. Culture is by no means a zero-sum game, of course, and it would be crass and foolish to see cultural policy as a mere competition. Both Toronto and Montreal, and for that matter Vancouver, Calgary, Halifax, Winnipeg, etc., can all expand their cultural industries and sectors. But as Toronto's culture-sector role and status change, it seems clear that Montreal's will, too, whether we like it or not. But what can we do to optimize the changes? That's what the November meeting will consider.

Federal and provincial cabinet ministers will be at the meeting along with the mayor, big institutions, festival promoters and Culture Montréal, which will speak, to a degree, for less sophisticated culture purveyors, from small museums to garage bands.

And one more vital player also will be at the table - the business community, through the Montreal Board of Trade. Brault pointed out to us Toronto's rapid culture-sector growth started with private money, co-ordinated and encouraged by governments. Montreal's business community has been shy and slow about civic cultural initiatives - remember the downtown ballpark? - but, apparently, some promising announcements are expected at November's meeting.

Before anyone starts spending money, however, there has to be a plan. Evolution of the "quartier des spectacles" around Place des Arts is moving along, but nobody imagines we can try to match Toronto's new cultural infrastructure. Big projects don't seem to be what we do best here.

How, then, can we keep ourselves on the cultural map? As often happens with big conferences, many decisions are made before registration opens. This will not, Brault promises, be "just depressing group therapy."

And the approach Brault outlined to us seems both realistic and promising. We can't do the notion full justice in this space, but in essence, it consists of encouraging cultural creators, not building showcases.

It is an economists' commonplace that comparable endeavours tend to cluster together - automakers in Detroit, dot-coms in Silicon Valley, and so on. One element that creates a vibrant arts scene in a city is ... a vibrant arts scene. Any struggling artist will tell you that demands low rents - here if nowhere else we have an advantage over Toronto - plus a community of other artists and a certain spirit of creative authenticity. The challenge will be to find ways for ham-handed policy-makers and money-providers, to nurture that delicate flower of creativity.

Brault - who kept our discussion focused on popular culture as well as "SOB" (symphony, opera, ballet) - mentioned Arcade Fire, a Montreal band that launched its last album with an event in London, England, and another in - Verdun. And there is always the example of the Cirque du Soleil, which now has troupes all over the world, supported and maintained, he noted, by about 2,000 employees in Montreal.

Then there's haute couture, not quite a cultural industry in the usual sense but a sector in which Montreal has lost factories but retains a certain liveliness because design creativity is valued and can flourish here.

Brault cited another example: Gilbert Rozon wants to widen the street-theatre aspect of the Just for Laughs festival; the Theatre School should get to work offering suitable development for performers.

We will all need to hear more about this approach, and despite Brault's hard-headed determination, summit meetings don't always accomplish a lot. But it is reassuring to know some capable people are tackling the question of how we can renew and refresh and strengthen our cultural sector. We look forward to the meeting next month.

Louroz

 

[ganjavih]

It's all enough to make a Montrealer a little grumpy, if not downright alarmed.

Heh heh.

Montreal has a charm, atmosphere and old world flavour that Toronto will never have. But it's a static city, at least compared to Toronto. A large part of it probably has to do with it being in the most backward juristication in North America, the province of Quebec. I also sense complacency and lack of ambition... a satisfaction with the status quo. It has come a long way since the mid-90s, but that was inevitable considering how bad things got back then. Unforunately for Montreal, I think it has seen its best days and I really think the future belongs to Toronto.