Toronto Breaks Tourism Records

Tourism officials from Toronto revealed the city had a record-breaking year in 2017, welcoming 43.7 million visitors.

Overnight visits in Toronto surpassed the 15 million mark (15.5 million) for the first time, and the city also boasted 28.2 million same-day travelers last year. Tourists visiting the city also spent $8.8 billion in 2017, a new record for the tourism industry in the region.

The spending by visitors marked an increase of $700 million in hotel rooms booked, attractions seen and restaurants experienced over the previous year.

Toronto also reached several milestones in 2017, with international visits surpassing five million for the first time and tourists arriving from the United States growing for the seventh consecutive year. Last year, nearly three million Americans stayed in Toronto overnight, where they spent $1.8 billion.

"More and more, world travelers are seeing Toronto as an exciting urban destination, and we're seeing that with both a record number of visitors and visitor spending," Tourism Toronto President and CEO Johanne Belanger said in a statement. "The campaign we launched last year is tapping into that sense of excitement and confidence. Videos from that campaign - 'The Views are Different Here' - have now been seen nearly 43 million times."

Additionally, 2.1 million overnight visitors arrived from overseas markets. China led the charge with 319,000 tourists and the United Kingdom was a close second with 263,000 arrivals. Spending by overseas tourists accounted for more than $2 billion for the first time.

Following the change in law allowing Mexican tourists to visit Canada without a visa, arrivals from Mexico rose by 72 percent over the last year. Toronto is also a popular destination for Canadians, with the city welcoming 10.4 million overnight domestic visitors who spent $2.6 billion in 2017.

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