Toronto rolls out the red carpet for celebs and U.S. tourists
TORONTO -- Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney and other entertainment A-listers start arriving here next week for the world's largest public film festival, giving a shot of Botox to the psyche of a town that has had a rough year.
During its worst stretch since a SARS outbreak devastated tourism in 2003, Canada's largest city and most popular visitor draw has grappled with global recession, a comparatively muscular Canadian dollar, tougher U.S. passport requirements that took effect in June, and a municipal garbage strike that prompted a post-strike tourism ad declaring "Toronto Never Smelled So Good." Even the weather conspired against the city, as an unusually cool, rainy summer frustrated locals and visitors who gravitate to Toronto's sidewalk cafés and inviting Lake Ontario waterfront.
The results: nationwide, the lowest number of U.S.-to-Canada visitors in nearly four decades, with Toronto — about a 90-minute drive from the border — expecting around 2 million American overnight visitors this year, down from a peak of 2.5 million in 2000.
But with the Toronto International Film Festival, which starts Thursday and runs till Sept. 19, headlining a robust lineup of cultural events and the struggling global economy translating to lower hotel rates and more package deals, one of North America's most cosmopolitan and (typically Canadian) understated destinations is camera-ready.
"Same-day travel is down, and we don't get a lot of spontaneous 'let's go to Canada for dinner' visitors," largely because of the stronger Canadian dollar and passport changes, says Tourism Toronto's Andrew Weir. At the same time, though, "we're seeing a growth in sophisticated, urban travelers."
Toronto attracts throngs of movie buffs — including more than 130,000 U.S. admissions — during its annual September bash, when mainstream studios and aspiring indies compete for word-of-mouth buzz in what's viewed as an influential forerunner to the Academy Awards. Last year's Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire made its debut here, and this month's lineup of more than 300 films includes offerings from such luminaries as Winfrey, Michael Moore and Canadian-born Jason Reitman, whose Up in the Air stars Clooney as the quintessential frequent flier.
