Tourism on the rise in Toronto and Canada

A dip in the loonie’s value, combined with Zika and terrorism fears, has travellers flocking in from the U.S. and around the world by air and car

As fears grow about the Zika virus spreading in southern Florida and increasing acts of terrorism overseas, Canada could benefit as a popular alternate destination for U.S. tourists.

“Travellers have different levels of risk perception, and different levels of risk tolerance,” said Wendy Perrin, a well-known travel expert who offers advice on WendyPerrin.com.

“For those travellers, who are concerned about terrorism and Zika, and are looking for places where those things are not going to affect their vacation, I do suggest different parts of Canada,” she said.

“I feel like a lot of Americans may not immediately think of Canada.”

Tourism Toronto is already reporting a strong year for visitors, likely helped by the weaker Canadian dollar. The number of U.S. visitors coming by air was up 15.6 per cent for the first six months of the year, compared to the same time a year ago. Those numbers have been steadily rising for years.

And for U.S. visitors coming to Canada by car, it’s up 7.1 per cent over the same period, the first such signif- icant increase in about a decade, said Andrew Weir, executive vice-president of Tourism Toronto.

July hotel numbers show total number of room nights sold was up 5 per cent this year from last summer.

“The most important thing we can do as a destination is to remain on the top of people’s minds,” he said.

If people are thinking of Toronto, and then they have to change plans suddenly, whether for a weekend getaway, family reunion, or big conference, they will think of Toronto as an option, Weir said.

“Any destination can be one step away from being in the midst of some kind of disaster or virus. They can strike anywhere,” he said, noting Toronto knows first hand how devastating that can be.

In 2003, when the SARS virus hit Toronto and the World Health Organization warned against non-essential travel to the city, tourism business plunged.

Weir said the increase in U.S. visitors coming by air is good for the city’s tourism economy, because like visitors flying in from overseas (up 9.5 per cent), they tend to stay longer and spend more.

“Toronto won’t be their only trip in a year,” he said. “It’s not a currency sensi- tive market. It’s a happy surprise when they get their Visa bill after the trip.”

However, Weir said the weaker Canadian dollar is likely a factor in the jump in U.S. travellers coming by car, though Toronto is not selling itself as a bargain destination because then business dis- appears when the dollar rises. U.S. travel expert Perrin said she likes to point out that Canada can be attractive to Americans, given the strength of the U.S. dollar.

“I was just in London with my family because the pound is weak against all currencies,” she said. “But it’s still expensive. It’s less expensive than it normally is, but it’s still an expensive place to go.

“When I was in British Columbia last summer with my family, I did not feel that way. I felt like every time I was buying dinner or staying at a hotel, I thought this is good value,” she said.

Though some, especially pregnant women or those wanting to get pregnant, are steering clear of travel spots where Zika virus is present, Canadian airlines have not altered their route plans for this winter.

Flight Centre is reporting that bookings to Florida in their stores during the first two weeks of August were down 12 per cent, though overall bookings for trips elsewhere in the U.S. were up 15 per cent.

Spokeswoman Allison Wallace said she couldn’t speculate on whether the drop in Florida bookings is directly related to the Zika virus, but given that U.S. bookings overall are up, it would remove the low dollar as the reason.