winter Toronto tourism package are more than double the numbers seen last year.
According to the Ontario Tourism Marketing Partnership, 4,970 bookings have been
made for Toronto Mix N Match, a special offer that includes theatre, entertainment
and hotel packages in the city. The package deal was launched by OTMP and
Tourism Toronto on Nov. 1 and runs until the end of March.
By comparison, only 2,215 packages were booked for the entire winter last year,
OTMP officials said Thursday.
About 60 per cent of the winter 2002 bookings came from the U.S., with the
remaining 40 per cent from Canada.
"We have noticed an interest in staying close to home this year," said OTMP board
member Anne Marshall. "The new bookings are an indication that the revised
OTMPC marketing strategy is working."
OTMPC's current marketing campaign includes a three-week ad campaign
targeting the U.S. border cities of Detroit, Buffalo, N.Y. and Rochester, N.Y.
The agency also used part of the extra $10 million in funding it received this year to
boost its all of ads overall in newspapers and on radio and television, Marshall
said.
On a national basis, the Canadian Tourism Commission said Canada will not
welcome as many overseas visitors in 2002.l
The CTC said U.S. visits to Canada will decline by one to three per cent between
April and June, while British visits will fall by four to six per cent during the same
period.
Visits from France and Germany will take a big hit, with a decline of eight to 10 per
cent. The Japanese market will also be soft, registering a drop of 13 per cent.
But a slump in business travel to Canada is responsible for the downturn, not
concerns about terrorism, the CTC said.
"Americans now view Canada as a safe international destination," said CTC
research director Scott Meis. He noted that a recent survey in the U.S. reported
most Americans rate Canada as a safe or extremely safe travel destination.
Meis also pointed out a recent report by the American Express Travel Monitor that
one-fifth of North American companies plan to spend less on travel this year.
The only bright spot is domestic tourism, with CTC predicting a three to four per
cent increase in domestic bookings this spring over last year.
According to CTC, 56 per cent of Canadians who plan to vacation this winter or
spring intend to do so within Canada, up from 51 per cent in October.
