Record Tourism Arrivals and Spending Bolster Toronto Regional Economy

Tourism in Toronto increased for the sixth consecutive year in 2015 as the destination welcomed a record 14.03 million overnight visitors, Tourism Toronto announced. A further 26 million people travelled to Toronto for day trips, totaling 40.4 million visitors for the year in Canada's most-visited destination. Visitors to Toronto spent $7.2 billion during their trips, the highest amount of economic activity the sector has ever generated.

Toronto's international visitors surpassed 4 million for the first time in 2015 as American and overseas travellers continued to visit in greater numbers. Overnight visitors from the U.S. increased for the fifth consecutive year to 2.48 million and produced direct spending in Toronto of $1.32 billion. Overseas travellers, led by China and the U.K., numbered a record 1.75 million and spent $1.49 billion.

"Our destination has never looked better or been more attractive to foreign and domestic travellers," said Johanne Belanger, President and CEO of Tourism Toronto.

While visits to Toronto by Americans have increased every year since 2010, the 10% growth in 2015 is the strongest year-over-year improvement yet. Arrivals by air have driven the growth in U.S. travel to Toronto and now account for 65% of all trips by Americans to Toronto. In 2015 both air and land crossings surged, resulting in a record number of American visits. Tourism Toronto has intensified marketing efforts in the U.S. including the new Toronto Stopover program for Americans flying overseas via Air Canada, and expanded marketing partnerships with national and provincial partners.

Apart from the U.S., China remained the top international market for tourism with 260,400 travellers visiting Toronto in 2015, an increase of 13% over the prior year. Other key source countries were the U.K. with 237,800 visitors (+10 per cent), India (106,700, +13 per cent), Japan (89,740, +3 per cent), Germany, (83,900, -1 per cent), Brazil (58,600, +24 per cent) and Mexico (37,750, +24 per cent).