Tourists are returning to Toronto post-pandemic, but economic pressures persist

The CN Tower is pictured in Toronto, Wednesday, June 26, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel

Toronto’s tourism industry has almost entirely bounced back since the pandemic, but experts and small business owners in the city say economic pressures are holding the industry back from fully flourishing.

Kathy Motton, senior communications manager at Destination Toronto, told CTV News Toronto that the tourism industry has almost fully recovered since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.

“We’re not fully recovered. We are at 93 per cent of where we were pre-pandemic. We are getting closer but we are not quite there yet,” she said. “Economic uncertainty has sort of slowed down the recovery.”

“It’s not just one factor it’s multiple factors but we will see that recovery. It’s just going to take a bit of time. “

Jusep Sim, the co-founder of CEO of Chopsticks+Forks, a food tour company in Toronto, told CTV News Toronto, that his business bounced back surprisingly fast after the pandemic ended in 2022, but this summer things changed.

“This summer is actually slower than last summer for me specifically. I straddle a couple of industries because I operate walking food tours and so my challenge is the food costs and inflation since COVID,” he said.

“My tours have gone up in price quite significantly since COVID because all the restaurants are raising prices. I raised my ticket prices by over 30 per cent.”

Sim said he’s also noticing that people are expecting a lot more for their dollar, and that customers are adjusting to “see the value in what they spend and what they get.”

Chris Doerwald, Toronto operations manager for Tripshepherd, told CTV News Toronto that their tour company has done very well since the pandemic ended, but recently they have had to adjust some of their tours to provide cheaper options amid the economic situation.

“Toronto’s numbers are doing great since the pandemic. We have almost passed our year-to-date numbers from last season,” he said. “We have noticed that people are travelling a lot but are looking for cheaper tours.

“We created a lot of tours, including some more walking tours that are very short and that maybe have one paid attraction.”

Motton said that the number of tourists coming from within Canada into the city has increased since the pandemic, but the international market hasn’t bounced back entirely, which has also impacted the industry.

“We need the international market to return because it is about 25 per cent behind pre-pandemic levels,” she said.

“Domestic travelers often come for shorter visits, or they may stay with friends and family, whereas international visitors, they come and they stay longer, and they tend to spend more, which is obviously good for the city's economy.”

“There’s some markets like China, which was our number one international market before the pandemic, we’re not seeing that market yet recovered.”

Sim also said he’s noticed a dip in European and Asian travellers coming into the country, but the American customers have remained steady.

“I have a funny feeling why America is fine is because the exchange rate has offset my increases, but the Euro and British pound is still down.”

Sim said that he was pleasantly surprised how fast things picked up when the pandemic first ended. He said people seemed anxious to go out and do stuff, which was very beneficial to his business.

 “Over the pandemic, because I deal with restaurants and food and tourists, I was literally shut down for two years because the restaurants and the borders were the first to close and the last to open,” he said.

“Now things are getting a bit slower. Tourism is such a sensitive sector when it comes to people and the economy. If the middle class feels a pinch, I’m in trouble because no one is going to buy plane tickets and luxury tours.”