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IN THIS ISSUE - HIGHLIGHTS
- GoMedia Canada in Toronto
- Proving why we're #1 at ASAE
- Packaging & sales opportunities for holiday season
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According to Smith Travel Research, in a ranking of 28 of North America's top cities, Toronto had the second highest growth rate for July 2010, with a 16.2 per cent increase over July 2009. For January to July 2010, Toronto has the third highest growth rate in occupancy with a 12 per cent increase over the same period in 2009. This time last year Toronto had the 14th highest occupancy rate and has now risen to 11th in the rankings.
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| Hotel Occupancy from Jan-July 2010 |
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| Ranked by 2010 Occupancy (as %) |
| City |
2009 |
2010 |
2009 Rank |
2010 Rank |
| New York |
73.5 |
79.7 |
1 |
1 |
| Oahu Island |
71.1 |
77.1 |
2 |
2 |
| San Francisco |
68.5 |
73.2 |
3 |
3 |
| Miami-Hialeah |
67.0 |
72.2 |
5 |
4 |
| Washington DC |
67.4 |
69.5 |
4 |
5 |
Anaheim-
Santa Ana |
64.7 |
69.1 |
6 |
6 |
| Vancouver |
63.8 |
68.5 |
9 |
7 |
Los Angeles-
Long Beach |
64.1 |
68.3 |
8 |
8 |
| San Diego |
64.2 |
68.2 |
7 |
9 |
| New Orleans |
60.8 |
67.5 |
13 |
10 |
| Toronto |
60.2 |
67.4 |
14 |
11 |
| Boston |
59.5 |
67.4 |
15 |
11 |
| Orlando |
63.8 |
66.1 |
9 |
13 |
| Seattle |
61.2 |
65.7 |
11 |
14 |
| Philadelphia |
60.9 |
64.6 |
12 |
15 |
| Denver |
57.5 |
62.9 |
17 |
16 |
| Chicago |
54.8 |
60.4 |
22 |
17 |
| Montreal |
56.1 |
60.2 |
18 |
18 |
Minneapolis-
St Paul |
54.8 |
60.0 |
22 |
19 |
| Canada |
58.2 |
60.0 |
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| Nashville |
55.3 |
59.7 |
20 |
20 |
Tampa-
St Petersburg |
55.9 |
58.7 |
19 |
21 |
| Phoenix |
54.9 |
58.6 |
21 |
22 |
| Atlanta |
53.9 |
58.6 |
26 |
22 |
| USA |
55.4 |
58.1 |
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| St Louis |
54.5 |
57.3 |
24 |
24 |
| Houston |
58.7 |
56.5 |
16 |
25 |
| Dallas |
52.6 |
55.4 |
27 |
26 |
Norfolk-
Virginia Beach |
54.2 |
53.6 |
25 |
27 |
| Detroit |
46.9 |
52.8 |
28 |
28 |
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| Ranked by Growth |
| City |
Rank |
| Boston |
1 |
| Detroit |
2 |
| Toronto |
3 |
| New Orleans |
4 |
| Chicago |
5 |
Minneapolis-
St Paul |
6 |
| Denver |
7 |
| Atlanta |
8 |
| Oahu Island |
9 |
| New York |
10 |
| Nashville |
11 |
Miami-
Hialeah |
12 |
| Seattle |
13 |
| Montreal |
13 |
| Vancouver |
15 |
| San Francisco |
16 |
Anaheim-
Santa Ana |
16 |
| Phoenix |
18 |
Los Angeles-
Long Beach |
19 |
| San Diego |
20 |
| Philadelphia |
21 |
| Dallas |
22 |
Tampa-
St Petersburg |
23 |
| St Louis |
24 |
| USA |
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| Orlando |
25 |
| Washington DC |
26 |
| Canada |
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Norfolk-
Virginia Beach |
27 |
| Houston |
28 |
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Travel media came out in force
GoMedia Marketplace – the CTC's premier travel media event - was in Toronto Aug 22-26. TT's Media Relations team showed off the destination to this influential group of journalists through themed tours and a networking event featuring culturally diverse performers and food. This year's GoMedia saw 68 international travel media as well as 78 Canadian media - an increase of nearly 20 per cent in media participation over past events. International media included influential writers and broadcasters from the U.K., Germany, France, India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Brazil, Mexico and the U.S.
Leveraging top CVB ranking at ASAE
Tourism Toronto enjoyed high visibility with the 2500 association professionals and nearly 3500 additional industry participants at the 2010 ASAE Annual Conference in Los Angeles last week. TT had an award-winning booth, held a top-notch client event and took every opportunity to remind this influential group of decision makers that "We're #1" according to a recent Watkins survey of meeting planners.
Mapping our style
The New York Times Style Magazine has come up with a clever way to showcase a city's hot spots - style maps - and Toronto is the latest subject for one of these prestigious treatments. The piece also appeared in the magazine's print version on August 22.
Deepening media outreach in China
Since June this year, Tourism Toronto has been working with Guangdong TV (GDTV) on a multi-media promotion of Toronto in the Guangdong area of China. The project includes five segments on the travel program Onto the Horizon. The show has also been posted on youku.com (the Chinese equivalent of YouTube) and the Toronto shows have been among the most viewed with more than 100,000 clicks. GDTV is one of the fastest-growing and most influential stations in China and is number seven among 42 Chinese TV stations.
Tapping the Quebec student market
TT's International Leisure Trade sales team led an 11-member sales mission to Quebec City and Montreal to visit with 12 student educational and group tour operators the week of August 9, in line with TT's focus on the student & youth travel sector. During the sales trip, members had the opportunity to interact with the tour operators at meetings and client events. As a result of this mission, members were able to garner new business contacts, signed contracts and new agreements with these key tour operators.
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Packaging and promotional opportunities for hotels
Tourism Toronto has partnered with a number of attractions, theatre productions and events throughout the year and has secured blocks of tickets at reduced rates to be packaged with the sales of hotel rooms. These packages are prominently featured on www.SeeTorontoNow.com.
"Stay 2 Nights, Get the 3rd Night Free" will be the leading offer for the holiday campaign in local (Ottawa, Kingston, London) markets with all of our print and online promotional materials featuring the offer. The packages will also be sold via TT's Sales Centre. To participate, complete the participation form. For further information contact Maxine Morrell-West at 416-203-3806 or mmorrellwest@torcvb.com.
We are also asking our members to let us know about the hotel packages they've put together that will be available for consumers to book during the holiday period in November and December. We will be featuring these packages on our holiday campaign web pages for couples and girlfriends to book online or through TT's Sales Centre. To submit these packages, complete the package participation form.
Gearing up for TIFF
Tourism Toronto's Media Relations team will be hosting several major press trips in connection with the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Approximately 50 international media from North America, Latin America, Germany, the U.K., Spain, India, Hong Kong and Japan will be in town to experience Toronto during this exciting and glamorous time. With a strategic focus on India, we are hosting a large group of 13 Indian media during TIFF to boost excitement for next year's International Indian Film Academy Awards in Toronto in June.
Hosting the conference experts
Mid-September, TT will host a research team from Experient on an educational retreat designed to broaden their knowledge of our city. Experient is a third-party conference solutions provider for associations and corporations and an important source of potential new business opportunities.
Europe bound
TT's international MC&IT sales team and members will join forces with the CTC on a European sales mission from September 20-25. One-on-one meetings will be conducted with Brussels-based international associations and Professional Congress Organizers, followed by two events in London, individually targeting corporate and agency meeting planners and association decision makers.
International meeting planners come to town
The PCMA International Summit is in its third year and brings together approximately 80 international meeting planners and non-North American industry suppliers to discuss the trends that will shape the future of the international meetings market. TT will be front and centre at this unique event from September 23-25.
Upcoming Meetings & Conventions (1,000+ Delegates)
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| Dates |
Meeting/Group Name |
Attendees |
| Sep 2-6 |
Peel Halton Youth Basketball Association |
3,000 |
| Sep 2-6 |
Canadian Soccer Association - International Friendly |
2,000 |
| Sep 7-13 |
Photo Marketing Association International |
2,000 |
| Sep 10-12 |
GWN Dragon Boat - Dragon Boat Challenge |
2,000 |
| Sep 11-15 |
EuroFinance |
1,000 |
| Sep 12-16 |
Imperial Oil |
1,000 |
| Sep 15-24 |
Communications, Energy & Paperworkers Union of Canada |
3,000 |
| Sep 23-27 |
Century 21 Real Estate Canada |
1,000 |
| Sep 25-30 |
Deloitte |
1,000 |
| Sep 28-Oct 12 |
Society of Manufacturing Engineers |
2,500 |
| Sep 30-Oct 8 |
American Society of Plastic Surgeons |
5,000 |
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UPCOMING
EVENTS ACROSS
THE REGION
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WHAT THEY'RE
SAYING |
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"On a tour of the site, the words of Lightbox artistic director Noah Cowan turn the Lightbox's unfinished concrete boxes into five state-of-art cinemas, galleries, restaurants, studios, archives and wired lounges. Standing inside the entrance, one can imagine the bustle through the easily navigable, spacious complex that Cohen calls "the only film center of its kind in North America." |
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— Variety magazine
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MEMBER
TOOLKIT
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TORONTO
INSIDER
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Did you know? That after TIFF's Bell Lightbox opens on September 12 it plans to annually host 4,000 events, running 365 days of the year.
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We want to hear your feedback on this newsletter. Please contact Cathy Riches via newsletter@torcvb.com with
your thoughts and suggestions.
Tourism Toronto is the sales and marketing organization for Greater Toronto's diverse and compelling tourism experiences, representing 1,200 member businesses. Visit us at www.SeeTorontoNow.com.
Tourism Toronto is located at 207 Queens Quay West, Toronto, Ontario, M5J 1A7.
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