| Tourism in Toronto breaks record | | Print | |
| Written by Rachel Yager |
| Thursday, 27 January 2011 13:41 |
|
Whether it has to do with restaurants, theatres or other attractions, 2010 has been a record breaking year for tourism in Toronto. 
In 2010, the top international visitor market for Toronto was the U.S.
According to a press release by Tourism Toronto on Thursday the number of hotel rooms sold reached over 8.93 million, which moved Toronto up to sixth place from tenth in hotel occupancy among top North American cities.
"What we`re seeing now I think is part of a longer term growth trend that`s coming out of the international markets primarily," said Andrew Weir, vice-president of communications for Toronto Tourism.
"The strongest growing markets last year were India, China and Brazil, which are three large countries that are discovering international travel to a degree that they hadn`t in the past, and Toronto is poised a benefit from that," said Weir.
The large increase seen has been in the length of stay, which resulted in a net increase in rooms occupied in the city and more visitor spending at restaurants and attractions.
The city collected $4.5 billion in revenue due to visitor spending last year, which included 10 million overnight visitors.
Weir said Toronto saw a record April followed by a record July, and this carried through the fall with strong visitor numbers.
"That hopefully speaks to a deeper more meaningful trend," said Weir. "I don`t think what we`re seeing is a short-term phenomenon." Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites |
