Toronto has tourism potential

Toronto has the potential to attract many more visitors than in currently does, as long as Canada’s most populous city is willing to put a little more thought into developing its tourism and hospitality industry. This is the conclusion that a columnist at the Toronto Star reached this week, as he tried to understand how the city’ reputation has slipped so badly, from once being considered “New York operated by the Swiss” to simply settling in as “Ugly Betty.” When compared to New York’s tourism industry, Toronto’s seems especially lacklustre; while 44 million people visit the Big Apple, Toronto only manages to attract 20 million.

Yet in many ways a visit to Canada’s largest city should be much more enticing than travelling to New York, where customs officers have a reputation of being rather surly and where security in Manhattan remains remarkably tight, following the 9/11 attacks. Jse-Che Lam of the Toronto Star, however, points out that one of the most important aspects of a tourist’s experience in a foreign city is not “physical or culinary adventure” but instead the quality of interaction that guests have with the local population. One idea would be to build a museum that focuses on the immigrant experience in Canada and thus takes advantage of the fact that Toronto is among the most multicultural cities in the world. Lam also suggests that perhaps it is time for Toronto to shed its image of cool, British precision, by being less stringent about enforcing museum closing times in the city, and taking the town’s notoriously tight queue etiquette a little less seriously.

Lam, however, believes that Toronto has plenty of potential to expand its tourism industry, but the first step in attracting more visitors is cutting down on “navel gazing” and giving tourists more opportunity enjoy friendly, relaxed contact with locals.