TORONTO — Tourism Toronto has launched a new campaign, in collaboration with the City of Toronto, designed to shine a spotlight on Toronto’s winter experiences. The announcement was made at the CN Tower — one of the campaign’s participating attractions — by Rob Ng, director of Attractions, Canada Lands Company (owner of the CN Tower); Jon Mamela, executive vice-president & Chief Marketing Officer, Tourism Toronto; and Mayor John Tory.
“Simply stated, Toronto’s embracing its place as an amazing urban winter destination,” said Mamela. “[I’m] thrilled to announce a new initiative called Toronto Spotlight and it comes with a bold message: don’t let winter keep you inside — get out there, explore, be adventurous, be curious and see what our city has to offer. Not only is it the time when you can enjoy those longer nights and brighter lights, but it’s also the time of year where you can really stretch your budget across the city.”
The Toronto-Spotlight campaign highlights the city’s vibrant arts-and-culture scene; vast selection of culinary experiences; and top attractions and tours. The campaign includes two-for-one admission and special offers over four different “Spotlight Weekends” — providing visitors and locals the opportunity to explore, discover and enjoy the city all winter long.
As Mamela pointed out, Toronto has seen an increase in winter activities and events in recent years — including the Toronto Light Festival in the Distillery District, Winter Light Exhibition 2020 at Ontario Place, Bloor-Yorkville Icefest and new outdoor skating rinks — offering a variety of ways for locals and visitors to enjoy the season.
Toronto Spotlight will be supported by an integrated marketing campaign reaching large drive markets throughout Quebec, Ontario and into the U.S.
“What we’re going to do is put ourselves forward as a winter destination to a greater extent than we have before,” explained Tory. “The message is going out loud and clear from today forward, with the Spotlight program, that we have a lot to offer in the winter months; that it’s as exciting a place to visit in the winter months as it is in the summer months.”
“More than 27-million visitors come to the city each year and that’s been growing. And it’s really important to the future success of the city that it continues to grow,” Tory added. “We want that number to continue to grow, not only because it brings jobs and spending to our city on the part of those visitors, but because I believe very strongly that those visitors, when they come here, ultimately take back stories about their visit to Toronto, which not only cause other visitors to come, but cause investment and jobs to come here.”
Following the announcement, attendees were treated to a performance by Vanessa Sears from Musical Stage Company’s production of Caroline, or Change, which will play at the Winter Garden Theatre from January 30 to February 15.
Toronto Spotlight Weekends take place from the end of January to early March, running over four weekends: January 31 to February 2; February 7 to 9; February 21 to 23 and February 28 to March 1. Visitors taking part in the first two Spotlight Weekends can also participate in Toronto’s Winterlicious culinary event, which runs from January 31 to February 13. Spotlight offers can be found at seetorontonow.com/spotlight.
Winter is always a tough time to draw in visitors to Canada provinces. Its great to see TO putting together a winter marketing plan to overcome the normal low numbers.