Labor strikes often have devastating effects on the image of the city. It gives the city an image of apathy toward their workers and citizens in general. This of course is in regards to city workers. In 2002, Toronto experienced such a strike. Over 20,000 municipal workers went on strike. This had a direct effect on the city itself, not just the indirect effect of giving the city a negative image. Garbage piled up as sanitation workers went on strike. Ferrymen stopped services to some of Toronto’s islands, which are popular tourist destinations. The strike is a rare occurrence among Torontoan municipal workers as the city is reputable for treating their workers well. Nonetheless, this shows how many factors are at play in swaying the tourist industry. It is a fragile economy that can boom or bust at any image changing event. Unfortunately, publicity for cities is usually the result of a negative occurrence. Though it is slow to build a lucrative tourist economy, it can crash quite quickly.
Labor Strikes
SARS scare
The outbreak of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) was detrimental to Toronto’s tourism industry 5 years ago. Many plans to visit the city were cancelled and future visits were eliminated from consideration to many people. Though the outbreak was confined to hospitals, much of the international (especially US) population saw a trumped up version of the story, as the media portrayed it. The result of this scare was a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars from the tourist industry.
This is another example of how the international image of a city plays a key role in the city’s economics. The loss of hundreds of millions of dollars is no small deal. The SARS scare was particularly detrimental to Toronto because it has earned a safe reputation throughout the decades. The city lost one of its shining aspects and pulling factors for tourists. Even though the SARS scare was overhyped, the image that existed was more important than the reality. In Toronto during the outbreak, a person had more of a chance of getting hit by a car than getting SARS- which is not to say people get hit by cars often in the city. Nonetheless, the negative image persisted and the result was a loss of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Agenda for Prosperity
From the official site of the city of Toronto:
A vision for Toronto’s place in the world
The 21st century will be the century of cities and their role in shaping a global economy. Within that context, Toronto is ideally poised for success.
Toronto can be:
- A global business city where trade, finance, technology and a multi-lingual population combine to make the global economy efficient and accessible.
- The world’s inspiring city that sets the standard for how global cities innovate to solve urban and metropolitan challenges such as climate change, energy conservation and efficiency, human wellness and security.
- A hub of environmental innovation that provides environmental solutions for the world at the same time as it evolves into a centre for environmental technology development and production.
- A beacon of diversity and cohesion, that exemplifies the sustainable advantage of diversity for all to see.
(source: http://www.toronto.ca/prosperity/index.htm)
Official recognition of a global city is the first step toward developing the city’s future. Apparently, Toronto has recognized themselves as a global city and are well prepared for what the future has in store for them. Though this can be seen as just talk without action, it is important that the city has at least recognized its position in the network of global [business] cities.
Hopefully this growth will not come at the expense of the city’s thriving middle class.
Economy
To supplement the post in regards to Business Trips-
Toronto is the economic heart of Canada. It is home to over 80,000 businesses, including more than one-third of the country’s top 500 industrial firms. With over 8,000 industrial plants, Toronto is Canada’s manufacturing capital. It is also Canada’s major center for banking and finance. Five of the country’s ten chartered banks are headquartered in the city, and more than 40 foreign banks have offices there. In addition, many of the nation’s top insurance and investment firms also have offices in Toronto. Like New York—its economic counterpart in the United States—Toronto is also the major media and communications center of its country, as well as its major metropolitan retail market. Major companies with offices in Toronto include American Express Canada, the Bank of Montreal, Bell Canada, Eaton’s, Famous Players, Hewlett-Packard Canada, IBM Canada, Labatt Breweries, Molson Breweries, Sears Canada, Sprint Canada, and Toronto Dominion Bank.
source: http://www.city-data.com/world-cities/Toronto-Economy.html
A positive image and a business-friendly reputation will promote future economic activity in the city.
Business Trips
Perhaps more important than sightseers, people visiting the city on business trips are important for the whole economy, not just the tourist industry. Like many global cities throughout the world, Toronto has a thriving financial and service sector. It is the main engine of capital to the city and crucial to the national economy. Thus, Toronto takes place in catering to the movers and shakers of the business world when they come to the city. A positive image and experience is needed to supplement the city’s economy. We can see this for example in Chicago, where a strong effort is made by organizations such as World Business Chicago to encourage corporations to do business in the city. Similar efforts are made by Toronto, though their situation is different. People have found that Tornoto has an inherently good reputation globally (unlike Chicago which has a somewhat shady history). This means that not much effort needs to be made to put a good face on the city. With this in mind, Toronto’s financial sector has seen a steady increase over the last few decades and is likely going to work itself into a boom in the near future.
Transit
A modern transit system is often needed for a global city to possess a thriving tourist industry. Toronto has a fairly modern transit system. It is at the least adequate, for safe and reliable travel throughout the city. It is not the cutting edge transit systems seen in other global cities, but it is surely more advanced than the deteriorating transit systems of older global cities such as Chicago. The main features of the Toronto public transit system are buses, streetcars, and the subway. Plans are in the works to add a light rail system to Toronto which will be available very soon. This would put Toronto right up there with the most modern and best public transit systems in the world.
This public transit system is used to cycle money throughout the city. Tourists are attracted to the city because it is easily navigable by public transit. Which means more revenue for the city. Tourists spend money using public transit. This means more revenue for the city and the public transit system. This money can be used to modernize and improve the city’s public transit system for the benefit of its citizens and tourists. These improvements will make Toronto more appealing and spur more tourism. This is a cycle that is profitable for the city of Toronto, and beneficial to all.
Why Toronto?
There are many factors contributing to large scale of Toronto’s tourist industry. One of the main factors is the fact that Toronto is one of the most livable cities in the world. This equates to many as a pleasurable city to visit. Many factors contribute to the city’s virtuous image. First of all, it is a safe city to live in. Toronto boasts one of the lowest crime rates compared to other global cities. Tourists feel safe visiting the city, and with good reason. Part of this low crime rate can be attributed to the city’s high standard of living and marginalized poverty. Torontoans also possess a very tolerant attitude of others and honor diversity. This is crucial in attracting tourists from all over the globe, especially among non-Anglos. It cannot be stressed enough that the key to operating a successful tourist industry is a positive international image.
The modern Toronto tourism industry is not without its downsides. One of the most detramental occurences to Toronto tourism has been the SARS scare. The city was on of the main hubs of the virus that scared the world as a new epidemic. This caused many tourists to think twice about visiting Toronto.
The theatre industry has been hit particularly hard by this, especially Mirvish Productions. Mirvish Productions was a tourist based theater. Before SARS, 65% of the audience was made of US tourists. Since then, US tourist attendees has dropped considerably to 25%. Though the theater still receives an annual audience of 2 million people, less are tourists. This means less of a flow foreign dollars into Toronto. As the SARS scare is slowly forgotten, Mirvish Productions will host more tourists. The SARS scare has proven to be a great disaster for Toronto tourism. But, the city is ambitious in creating new images for the city to undo the negative publicity SARS has given it.
Images of Toronto: A Green City
A common trend among global cities is to self proclaim themselves “green”, or environmentally friendly. This is important in forming public opinion about the city. A city with a positive image is more likely to attract tourists.
Toronto is successful in proclaiming itself green. Business Week lists Toronto on their top 10 list of environmentally friendly cities. It is home to the only urban wind turbine in North America. It uses the natural cool temperatures of lake Ontario to air condition urban buildings. Furthermore, the city has ambitious plans to construct green rooftops, dispose of waste more efficiently and hybridize public transit.
Though environmentalism is not seen as a “pull factor” for tourists, it can often act as a “push factor”, discouraging tourists to visit. An example of this would be Beijing during the 2008 olympics when the media publicized the cities poor environmental behavior giving the city a negative image internationally. Going green is a great way to keep up a cities positive image as well as encourage tourism.
Gay Community
Canada is a progressive nation and as a testament to this is Toronto’s thriving gay community. The tolerance gays within the city makes the city more attractive to the international gay community. On the main tourism website for Toronto, one of the main advertisements is for gays. Toronto has its own gay village, nightlife, accommodations and events. One of the biggest events of the year in Toronto is Pride Week. This is one of the largest LGBT festivals in the world, attracting over a million people each year. Though one could argue that Toronto encourages gay tolerance, it is not overly-publicized to exclude more socially conservative people and tourists. Toronto strategically attracts more tourists this way.
