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From Today's Star.
T.O. noticeably absent from Best Cities list in annual readers' travel survey. World-class status may come next year, but `nothing personal,' says editor
Aug. 29, 2006. 07:41 AM
MADHAVI ACHARYA-TOM YEW
BUSINESS REPORTER
Vancouver and Victoria have the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains.
Quebec City and Montreal have history and culture.
But what does Toronto have to entice tourists from around the world? Not much, according to the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine.
Four Canadian cities ranked in the top 10 U.S. and Canadian destinations in the popular travel publication's annual World's Best awards.
Vancouver ranks the highest at Number 6, followed by Quebec City, Victoria and Montreal.
But noticeably absent is Canada's biggest city.
An associate editor at the magazine says Toronto shouldn't take it personally. But the omission feels like another slight for a city desperately craving "world-class" status.
"While Toronto has everything, I don't know that it has any one thing that sort of stands up and knocks you out," said Ken Wong, marketing professor at the Queen's University School of Business.
"Toronto's kind of good on everything but great on nothing."
Offering a unique experience is what counts in the travel industry, Wong added.
"It's a little bit like when we're on vacation and we go out to eat and it drives me nuts if my kids order a hot dog because I say, `You can have a hot dog at home. Have something here that you can't get anywhere else.'
"When I think of Toronto, there's nothing that jumps out at me as the uniquely Toronto experience."
Amy Farley, an associate editor at Travel + Leisure, says not to despair. "Toronto not being on the list doesn't mean readers aren't going to Toronto, and it doesn't mean they aren't enjoying their experience in Toronto."
A recent forecast from the Conference Board of Canada bears that out.
Toronto draws the most tourists out of the eight Canadian metropolitan areas that it studies. Overnight visits to the city are expected to reach 10.5 million this year, an increase of 3.7 per cent over 2005. Those visitors will spend nearly $4 billion, up 5.5 per cent from the year before.
"This year Toronto is expected to attract even more domestic pleasure travellers," the report said, noting the draw of new theatre attractions, as well as new exhibits at the Ontario Science Centre and Royal Ontario Museum.
The report blames a projected decline in U.S. visitors on new passport requirements.
Travel + Leisure's annual survey, now in its 11th year, is conducted from Jan. 15 to March 31. Subscribers are asked to fill out an online questionnaire rating cities, hotels, tour operators, airlines, cruise lines and spas.
This year, the survey garnered 500,000 responses.
Cities are evaluated in six categories: sights, culture and arts, restaurants and food, people, shopping, and value.
It was a banner year for Canada, Farley noted. Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island ranked as the top island in the continental U.S. and Canada. Vancouver Island and Prince Edward Island came in at three and four on the list.
The Aerie, an upscale boutique hotel and spa on Vancouver Island, was voted the top hotel in North America.
"I can't say exactly why Toronto didn't place," Farley said. "It really is a wonderful, dynamic city."
Travel + Leisure magazine itself is a big fan, she added, rhyming off the city's attractions with ease. "We keep discovering new facets of the city. There's lots of great neighbourhoods to explore. I know the Queen Street West is really exciting. Great hotels — the Drake is so cool, the Gladstone, the Four Seasons on their home turf, and all of your new condo projects, there's a lot going on," she said.
"Every year we ask readers to evaluate cities afresh. Next year could be Toronto's year."
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Well for one, being on the list does not male you World Class. I would not consider any of the Cnadian cities on it world class.
Two, I think they do have a point in that there is no serious one draw here. People come for the culture, the theatre, the sports, the energy of the city but compare that to say a tram ride to the top of Grouse Mtn in West Van at Sunset? Not a chance. You leave here with a good feeling of life but not one of Holy Crap that was something else.
I still believe in TO but we are in that middle city ether. Not NY or London but certainly not Philly or Dallas. We are also a fair bit larger than cities like that so the comparisons will naturally be against the big players.
T.O. noticeably absent from Best Cities list in annual readers' travel survey. World-class status may come next year, but `nothing personal,' says editor
Aug. 29, 2006. 07:41 AM
MADHAVI ACHARYA-TOM YEW
BUSINESS REPORTER
Vancouver and Victoria have the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains.
Quebec City and Montreal have history and culture.
But what does Toronto have to entice tourists from around the world? Not much, according to the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine.
Four Canadian cities ranked in the top 10 U.S. and Canadian destinations in the popular travel publication's annual World's Best awards.
Vancouver ranks the highest at Number 6, followed by Quebec City, Victoria and Montreal.
But noticeably absent is Canada's biggest city.
An associate editor at the magazine says Toronto shouldn't take it personally. But the omission feels like another slight for a city desperately craving "world-class" status.
"While Toronto has everything, I don't know that it has any one thing that sort of stands up and knocks you out," said Ken Wong, marketing professor at the Queen's University School of Business.
"Toronto's kind of good on everything but great on nothing."
Offering a unique experience is what counts in the travel industry, Wong added.
"It's a little bit like when we're on vacation and we go out to eat and it drives me nuts if my kids order a hot dog because I say, `You can have a hot dog at home. Have something here that you can't get anywhere else.'
"When I think of Toronto, there's nothing that jumps out at me as the uniquely Toronto experience."
Amy Farley, an associate editor at Travel + Leisure, says not to despair. "Toronto not being on the list doesn't mean readers aren't going to Toronto, and it doesn't mean they aren't enjoying their experience in Toronto."
A recent forecast from the Conference Board of Canada bears that out.
Toronto draws the most tourists out of the eight Canadian metropolitan areas that it studies. Overnight visits to the city are expected to reach 10.5 million this year, an increase of 3.7 per cent over 2005. Those visitors will spend nearly $4 billion, up 5.5 per cent from the year before.
"This year Toronto is expected to attract even more domestic pleasure travellers," the report said, noting the draw of new theatre attractions, as well as new exhibits at the Ontario Science Centre and Royal Ontario Museum.
The report blames a projected decline in U.S. visitors on new passport requirements.
Travel + Leisure's annual survey, now in its 11th year, is conducted from Jan. 15 to March 31. Subscribers are asked to fill out an online questionnaire rating cities, hotels, tour operators, airlines, cruise lines and spas.
This year, the survey garnered 500,000 responses.
Cities are evaluated in six categories: sights, culture and arts, restaurants and food, people, shopping, and value.
It was a banner year for Canada, Farley noted. Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island ranked as the top island in the continental U.S. and Canada. Vancouver Island and Prince Edward Island came in at three and four on the list.
The Aerie, an upscale boutique hotel and spa on Vancouver Island, was voted the top hotel in North America.
"I can't say exactly why Toronto didn't place," Farley said. "It really is a wonderful, dynamic city."
Travel + Leisure magazine itself is a big fan, she added, rhyming off the city's attractions with ease. "We keep discovering new facets of the city. There's lots of great neighbourhoods to explore. I know the Queen Street West is really exciting. Great hotels — the Drake is so cool, the Gladstone, the Four Seasons on their home turf, and all of your new condo projects, there's a lot going on," she said.
"Every year we ask readers to evaluate cities afresh. Next year could be Toronto's year."
*******************
Well for one, being on the list does not male you World Class. I would not consider any of the Cnadian cities on it world class.
Two, I think they do have a point in that there is no serious one draw here. People come for the culture, the theatre, the sports, the energy of the city but compare that to say a tram ride to the top of Grouse Mtn in West Van at Sunset? Not a chance. You leave here with a good feeling of life but not one of Holy Crap that was something else.
I still believe in TO but we are in that middle city ether. Not NY or London but certainly not Philly or Dallas. We are also a fair bit larger than cities like that so the comparisons will naturally be against the big players.