TORONTO -- About half a million more people visited Toronto last year than in 2018, setting a new record for number of tourists who travelled to the city.
According to Tourism Toronto, about 28 million people travelled to Toronto in 2019. In a news release issued Tuesday, the agency said the tourists spent about $6.7 billion while in the city, including at restaurants and attractions, as well as on transportation, retail and accommodations.
At least two million of those visitors were from the United States.
“Toronto’s visitor economy continues to be an economic engine for the city, and that benefits all of us.,” the President and CEO of Tourism Toronto Scott Beck said. “It generates billions in tax revenue for all three levels of government and drives growth in the overall economy for the city, the region and the province.”
About 222,000 visitors arrived from China and 64,000 travelled from Mexico, Tourism Toronto said.
In a statement, Beck said that the visitors reflect “Toronto’s own diversity.”
“We’re a city where more than 50 per cent of our population was born outside of Canada,” Beck said. “We’re a city that’s the Canadian epicenter of culture, entertainment, sports, technology, finance, education and business. The diversity of our visitors showcases our own diversity and we’re thrilled to welcome more and more of those diverse visitors every year.”
Toronto Mayor John Tory said that he is proud of the city’s visitor economy and he hopes the number of tourists who visit Toronto grows.
We want it to grow not only because visitors mean jobs and spending in our city but also because those visitors, when they experience Toronto, also become permanent residents and job creating investors in Toronto,” he said.
“We are Canada's most visited city and I would encourage people across our province and around the world to keep visiting Toronto this year."
