It’s an exciting week in Toronto sports, as fans gear up for some serious Raptors nostalgia. The legendary Vince Carter, Mr. “Air Canada” himself, is back in Toronto to celebrate the retirement of his legendary #15 Raptors jersey. Celebrations kicked off today as Carter touched down at Toronto Pearson and headed to an Air Canada hangar for a very special unveiling – an Airbus A220 decked out with a custom tribute livery featuring Carter’s name, jersey number and signature. “The city of Toronto, and Canada as a whole, has meant so much to me throughout my career,” said Carter. “I’m deeply Read more
Toronto Raptors
Sports travel has become big business around the world, and Canadians are doing their part. We’re also seeing a good deal of Canadian interest in visiting the U.S. A report released today by Expedia, Hotels.com, and Vrbo finds that almost half (42%) of Canadian sports fans were more likely to travel and see a game on the road rather than attending a game at home or in their closest sports city1. The Sports Travel Road Game Report also found that the average fan takes approximately three sports trips per year, and that 80% of fans are looking to take either Read more
There’s a new attraction at Canada’s busiest airport. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority’s (GTAA) President and CEO, Deborah Flint, along with Vice-Chairman and President of the Toronto Raptors and Giants of Africa Founder, Masai Ujiri, today unveiled the Humanity art installation at Toronto Pearson. The piece represents a welcome addition to the airport and its focus on human connection and diversity is fitting for its new home given that Pearson connects diverse people and cultures from all over the world. During her speech, Ms. Flint underscored how important this piece—and what it represents—is for Pearson: “I see a lot Read more
Most folks who follow my blog (and thank you; your payment is in the mail) know me as a travel guy. But I’ve only been a full-time travel writer for 12 years. Before that I did long stints as a municipal politics writer for the Toronto Star and also a dozen years or so in the sports department. In addition to covering the Blue Jays from 1992 to 1998, I covered six Olympic Games for the Star, put out their golf magazine for several years and was a part-time basketball reporter. One of my assignments was covering the the NBA’s Read more
I’ve often written that tourism slogans and campaigns may not matter much in the end. But I could be wrong, and I like the inclusive feeling of this new one from my own city of Toronto. Tourism Toronto today (June 19) announced it’s launching a new destination marketing campaign called “Let Yourself In.” The campaign comes fresh on the heels of the multicultural Toronto Raptors capturing the NBA championship and capitalizes on the city’s sense of welcome and diversity. The campaign also arrives as Toronto celebrates another record year in visitation, having welcomed 44 million travellers into the city in Read more
