Visitors to Toronto spent a record $8.4 billion last year, money that helped provide jobs for hotel workers, entertainers, restaurant wait staff and so many more.
The report on the Economic Impact of Visitors in Toronto, found that 26.5 million visitors arrived in the city of Toronto in 2023, and spent $8.4 billion across a wide range of sectors, including accommodations (26 per cent), local and air transport (26 per cent), dining (24 per cent), shopping (13 per cent), and entertainment (11 per cent). Beyond this direct spending, the effects of induced and indirect spending reach even further into the broader regional economy, benefiting the finance, insurance and real estate, utilities and health care industries, to name a few.
“There is a straight line between visitor arrivals and economic growth, and this study reveals just how thick that line is,” said Andrew Weir, President and CEO of Destination Toronto. “The impact of visitors while they are here is clear as they spend on accommodations, dining and experiences. And their impact on our community doesn’t stop when they get on a plane to go home. They have brought new money into our economy that continues to support businesses and tens of thousands of jobs all throughout our city and region.”
“There’s no tourism without hotels, and our latest study confirms just how central the hotel industry is to the Greater Toronto Area economy,” said Sara Anghel, President & CEO of the Greater Toronto Hotel Association, a co-funder of the research.
Toronto sign at Toronto City Hall. JIM BYERS PHOTO
The new study was prepared by Tourism Economics, a division of Oxford Economics, and commissioned by Destination Toronto in collaboration with the Greater Toronto Hotel Association, Toronto Global, the Toronto Region Board of Trade and the City of Toronto. It is based on 2023 data and provides a new view of Toronto’s visitor economy five years after the previous economic impact study, published in 2019.
“Visitors to the city of Toronto spent $8.4 billion in 2023,” said Tariq Khan, lead economist and study author with Tourism Economics. ”While that is higher than the previous record of $8.2 billion in 2019, inflation plays an important role in that five-year increase, as some key segments of the visitor economy have not fully recovered from the pandemic interruption.”
Jobs and taxes
When considering direct, indirect, and induced impacts, 67,000 jobs are sustained in the City of Toronto by tourism spending and meetings, according to the new study, generating $3.5 billion in labour income. Visitor spending also contributes $2.1 billion in tax revenue to all three levels of government, with the Province benefiting the most at 46 per cent, or $961 million.
“There is no question that tourism is a major driver of Toronto’s economy,” said Toronto City Councillor Shelley Carroll, Budget Chief and Mayor’s Economic Development Champion. “Investing in the visitor economy is a true example of spending for impact. Every dollar we put in not only generates a sizeable return for the GTA, it supports thousands of small businesses and tens of thousands of jobs for hardworking Torontonians.”
