It Is Like Putting On A Clean Shirt But Not Changing Underwear

Rebranding Toronto

Toronto Star

In the year ahead, Toronto has a golden opportunity to develop its future tourism prospects, an exercise that is much needed given its past failures on this stage.

The 3,000 members of the Professional Convention Management Association will meet here Jan. 7 to 10, and officials call it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lobby convention decision-makers.

Several other events in the coming year could help the city stamp its mark on the world. They include the FIFA Under-20 World Cup of soccer in late June and early July and a new festival called Luminato that is to run from June 1 to10. It will feature live theatre, music, light shows, dance and design exhibitions and, with the right nurturing, officials hope it will become a signature event in the city.

Tourism Toronto, which organizes these events, is a well-funded organization that must begin to show results for that investment. The group's "Toronto Unlimited" slogan was panned locally last year when it was unveiled. Even the mayor called it "an embarrassment and indefensible." In recent years, Toronto also bid unsuccessfully for the 2008 Olympic Games, which were won by Beijing. And the city fell short last fall in its bid to host Expo 2015 after the provincial and federal governments failed to step up to the plate and guarantee funding.

Attracting tourists is crucial since tourism ranks as the sixth largest economic contributor to the city, bringing in about $4 billion a year.

In order to attract more of it, Toronto needs to focus on the things it does well, like the Toronto International Film Festival, Caribana and the Pride Parade, each of which targets a specific market, and develop more events like these.

Toronto needs to rebrand itself this year as the most successful experiment in diversity, tolerance and cultural richness of any city in the Western Hemisphere. Then it must sell that image to the world.