Visitors injected billions of dollars into Toronto’s economy last year, a new study finds, but tourists have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels amid signs of slowing growth.
Last year, 88 per cent of visitors were Canadian, while nearly seven per cent came from the U.S. and 4.5 per cent from overseas. The percentages for the latter two were higher before the pandemic. But even legions of Swifties may not be able to counter the tourism drag caused by inflation and higher interest rates.
“It allows groups to conduct meetings here and companies to travel here,” Weir said, pointing to “diplomatic issues” that have kept Canada from becoming an approved destination. Destination Toronto facilitated 71 major conferences and events last year, well below 2018’s 100-plus gatherings. The events in 2023 drew 290,000 business delegates — many of them visitors — who spent about $400 million, which speaks to conventions’ outsized economic contribution, Weir said. But that figure pales in comparison with the $800 million in spending from six years earlier.