Toronto's tourism industry is beginning to recover from the recession,
according to findings from a recent Toronto Tourism report. While
car-borne travel from the United States is on the decline,
international air travellers are arriving in the city in increasingly
large numbers. The increase in air travellers is attributed to,
among other factors, Toronto's many international festivals
and successful efforts by Toronto businesses to forge overseas
connections.
"Toronto hosted an estimated 9.9-million overnight visitors in 2010, a
rise of slightly more than 3 per cent from a year earlier, but fewer
than the 10.5 million who came in 2007. Domestic visitors accounted for
more than two-thirds of all tourists, Americans made up one-fifth, and
overseas travellers represented 13.4 per cent of the total."
"While the vast majority of tourists continue to come from other parts
of Ontario, the city is becoming increasingly popular as a
long-distance, international destination. The trend is most dramatic
among developing countries: the number of visitors from Brazil more
than doubled compared with 2009, while tourism from India was up 28 per
cent and from China 26 per cent."
"Toronto's increasing popularity among visitors from the developing
world is, in part, a function of rising incomes in these economic
powerhouses, but it also indicates that city businesses have been
successful in forging partnerships with the tourism sectors in those
countries, Mr. Weir said. More international tour operators now include
Toronto on their itineraries, while overseas airlines have added more
to Pearson International Airport."
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