It seems like Toronto’s on everyone’s mind these days.
Having already been crowned the world’s “most livable city” and a world-leader for tech workers, the 6ix is also a beloved vacation destination.
According to Tourism Toronto, a record 43.7 million people visited Toronto last year, spending $8.8 billion while they wined, dined, and slept over.
This is “the most economic activity ever generated by the region’s tourism industry and represents $700 million more in hotel rooms booked, attractions seen and restaurants experienced than in 2016,” reads a release by Toronto Tourism.
A more detailed breakdown of the numbers reveals the majority of visitors to Toronto came from within Canadian borders. Toronto saw 10.4 million overnight domestic visitors, three million overnight visitors from the United States, and 2.1 million tourists from overseas. Tourists from China – 320,000, to be exact – represent the largest number from any country other than the U.S. or Canada. This is followed by visitors from the U.K. (263,000).
“More and more, world travellers are seeing Toronto as an exciting urban destination, and we’re seeing that with both a record number of visitors and visitor spending,” said Johanne Bélanger, President and CEO of Tourism Toronto. “The campaign we launched last year is tapping into that sense of excitement and confidence.”
That campaign, called ‘The Views Are Different Here’, has now racked up over a million views:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3YhYLln7uM
Some more fun facts about Toronto’s blossoming tourism industry:
- – The biggest increase in visitors came from Mexico (72 per cent compared to 2016). This can be attributed to the fact that travellers from Mexico no longer require a visa to visit Canada.
– The GTA hosted 951 meetings and events that brought 400,000 delegates and generated spending of $634 million in 2017 - – Hotels in the Toronto region sold 10,113,281 room nights last year. Hotel occupancy rates in 2017 were 76.1 per cent.
- – Canada employs 329,000 people in tourism-related industries
- – Top five countries by number of visitors to Toronto: U.S., China, U.K., Germany, Japan.
