I would reiterate that Toronto is the 4th most visit city in North America by tourists, so we probably do have quite some tourist pull. People want to check us out, and that is very cool.
But the question I suppose is, once here do tourists have enough things to see and do? Are we tourist-friendly? Would these prospective tourists decide to come back again and again and again? Or is Toronto pretty much a "checked that off my bucketlist" type of tourist destination?
I think we need to step back here.
First, when we see the various most visited lists, be sure to read what's being counted.
Most often, its International, overnight visits.
But sometimes its total visits, or may include domestic tourism etc.
Second, we need to recognize, without taking anything away from any destination the enormous advantage conferred to E-U. countries where most destinations for other E-U. based Europeans require no passport and are little more than a day's drive or, an hour's flight time, or a 2-3 hour train trip away.
Clearly coming to Toronto, not only from Europe, but even from most parts of the U.S. is rather more involved from requiring a passport to the sheer time and distance involved.
That said.
Why do tourists go anywhere; a great of it is seeing family and/or business; as opposed to leisure.
We're tending to apply a leisure lens to all this, which is fine, but its important to remember all those statistics involve different types/reasons for travel.
Once we're looking at leisure, why would you pick Toronto? Everyone is different of course; it depends on where you come from; what you enjoy etc etc.
In my own experience, Toronto's first calling card is the nature within and around. Not so different from Vancouver, even if it has some prettier views.
An awful lot of tourists use Toronto as a gateway to see Niagara Falls; or to go camping in Algonquin Park etc. Obviously these aren't within the City proper, but we are the jumping off point for international visitors who wish to see these places.
A second key feature is our Diversity. Toronto, as with Canada is increasingly widely known around the world as the place that's home to everyone. It may be cliche, overdone, or 'old' to us long-time Torontonians, but to many that makes us quite exotic.
I would also suggest that their are some stand-out items for tourists/enthusiasts. The CN Tower remains relatively unique in the views it offers and the experience of its elevators etc.
A lot of people still want to see Skydome's retractable roof (it is a thing); and yes the shopping matters (Toronto is experiencing the most growth in international retail in North America). Clearly there are better shopping cities globally, cut Toronto is quickly approaching the Top 10.
*****
We're I to look at weaknesses and strengths, this would be my list.
Strength, plus required enhancement, if any.
1) Gateway to nature:
Improve access to Niagara Falls with daily train service 4x per day or more.
Improve access to Algonquin and other key parks by intercity bus; and by train where practical (likely weekend excursion style)
Improve winter offerings (there is insufficient camping outdoors or partially/fully climate adapted (yurts, heated yurts etc.) in our parks; wineries and other attractions often have poor hours in winter; Rouge Park could have snowshoe hikes etc.)
Implement Rouge Master Plan, including Visitor Centre, upgraded/new trails, one good quality campground, improve access to have transit specifically serve the new visitor centre (en route to Zoo) and at Steeles as well.
Complete the new Ferry Terminal and selectively enhance the Islands as a destination for beaches, for dining, for picnicing, for nature lovers and for recreational boating.
2) Lake Ontario:
Very few cities have a vast, Fresh-water waterfront. We're improving ours; but more to do
Finish the central waterfront area: Water's edge bridges, promenade and boardwalk, plus the 3 new parks proposed for the north side of Queen's Quay (Rees, York and Sugar Wharf), the Ferry Terminal etc.
Deliver the naturalized mouth to the Don w/recreational boating opportunities.
Execute the Western Beaches Masterplan creating 11 more acres of waterfront parkland, better access to the area by transit and on foot; particularly from High Park
Create the proposed new waterfront Trail in Scarborough, both phases, creating non-stop bike trail from just west of the Humber River to Pickering.
3) Global Diversity, with a particular focus on dining and retail:
Invest more in our 'ethnic' areas in conjunction with BIAs
Specifically, add the class China Town gate/arch to Dundas/or Spadina, improve the Dundas streetscape, animate at least one lane/pedestrian-focused shopping area in Chinatown, without discouraging independents find a portion of the area where leading Chinese retailers can enter them mix. Ditch at least of the blah Chinese Malls in favour of a flagship T&T
Look at bringing back heritage cinemas as non-profit cinemas devoted to local ethnic cinema in Chinatown, Little Korea, Little India, Greektown etc.
Attract one or more leading Italian retailers to Little Italy; create a meaningful public square on what is now the Metro parking lot.
Similarly, attract a leading Indian retailer to Little India, and create a central public square to anchor the area.
More generally, get Michelin to rate Toronto's restos. For better or worse they are the guide to global dining and they aren't here yet.
Differentiate by getting restos to offer more distinct Canadian food ingredients such as Venison, Lake Trout, Pickerel, Wild mushrooms, Fiddleheads, Ramps (wild Leeks) etc etc.
In non-dining retail, endeavour to get Toronto into the Top 10 cities worldwide for international retail (we're already close).
4) Sell our internationality more visibly. I think GO Trains going bilingual was a good move here; but I'm thinking both about making the French fact more obvious but also our ease of services in so many languages.
Street signs are an easy way to do this, tacking on the Greek names of streets to the the signs on Danforth, and likewise Mandarin/Cantonese in Chinatown, Korean in Little Korea etc.
5) Make our best attractions better; given the TEC a quality outdoor facing retail area on James Street, make the Nordstrom feel like a flagship by expanding it another 50,000 sq feet, and giving it a bold presence from Dundas
Facelift the paving/sidewalk at the base of the CN Tower, add one more attraction, add Rail Deck Park Phase 1, and improve immediate area dining.
6) Canada's Wonderland must consolidate on-site parking and add an additional theme area. Its at capacity many weekends. Investments which improve its hospitablity in cooler weather could also result in an extenstion of up to 5 weeks vs the current season length.
Weaknesses:
1) Cycling tourism is very much a growing thing, clearly we have vast ways to go in taking advantage of that, which our ravines and lakefront should make an easy winner.
Deliver continuous Waterfront Trail from just west of the Humber to Pickering, and improve the quality of the Central and Western Beaches spaces.
Invest heavily in the Lower Don to make this a better cycling experience by creating 3-5 large scale enhancements to nature; and by improving the trail and associated experience, including adding
stairs from Dundas, stairs from Gerrard, a connection at Rosedale Valley Road and by improving existing entry points at streets such as Pottery Road, or key locations like Beechwood and the Forks by adding drinking fountains, seating, washrooms and wayfinding.
Also invest in the Meadoway program, delivering Gatineau, then the entire Finch Hydro Corridor.
Complete and enhance the Beltline by bridging Allen Rd. Adding amenities (seating, drinking fountains and washrooms at key points) and creating safer and more visible access at multiple locations.
Expand Bikeshare to cover the entire Beltine, the core ravine areas and the expanded Waterfront Trail.
Offer extended bike rental, where appropriate along said routes.
2) Public Realm
Start by delivering just 3 of the 'Great Streets projects', Yonge, University and Jarvis
Deliver more pedestrian priority streets, particularly in the St. Lawrence, Yorkville and Entertainment district neighbourhoods.
Make Yorkville feel fully 'mink mile' by extending the granite sidewalk program to Bay Street from Charles to Scollard. Replace the high-mast lights on Bloor with some much more elegant, get the coordinated rebuild of the Cumberland Square area done so as to create a view corridor of the Clock Tower from the south, a beautified Cumberland St, and a major new public square.
Implement full hydro wire burial on any outstanding streets from the Don River to Bathurst and the Lake to Davenport (Bloor east of Church)
3) Expand museum/gallery hours and increase grants to allow for continuous improvements to space and collections, particularly for AGO/ROM; but some smaller institutions as well.
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