Photo Credit: Screen Capture of http://www.torontotourism.com on 2008-03-08

According to their own website, Toronto Tourism is “the official destination-marketing organization for Toronto’s tourism industry.”  They then go on to talk about everything they do in their efforts to promote the Toronto tourism industry and mention that they are composed of dozens of different members from both the public and the private sectors and that this website is just one of the many things that they do in an effort to promote tourism in Toronto.  They have branch offices in Toronto, Mississauga, Ottawa, Markham, Chicago and Washington DC and their non-profit organization status allows them a great deal of freedom in their promotional efforts to bring tourists to the City of Toronto.

Website

As for the website itself, the layout is reasonably attractive and the colours are used well to create contrast and alert the viewer to all of the different choices they have available.  The one criticism I’d make of the website layout is that the combination of advertising, linking and content on the main page is done in a way that can make things a bit confusing.  While Toronto’s a city loaded with things to do, trying to capture all of it on one page is a lost cause from the beginning and I get the feeling from their website that this is exactly what they’re trying to do.

Available Information

The information that is available from the website is extensive, although one of the things I’ve noticed is that there is a fair bit of overlap with the City of Toronto website, especially where the calendar of events is considered.  While there is nothing inherently wrong with that in and of itself, if the city government is involved with the maintenance of this website I would expect a little more originality in terms of the content that is available.  However, this website is specifically intended for tourists to the City of Toronto while the other one is intended as a general purpose website, so I guess we can forgive the overlapping content.  Regardless of the overlap, both websites are sufficiently unique in what they cover that checking them both out regularly is a good idea and to that end I’ll be placing a link to Toronto Tourism on the sidebar just in case you feel like checking the website out for yourself.

Conclusion

All in all, the Toronto Tourism website is a good one for people looking for information regarding accommodations, eating arrangements and general events open to the public in the city.  It’s perfect for tourists that are just driving into Canada from the States and looking for something to do that night and it’s also good for people that are on a more formalized vacation and looking for items to add to their itinerary.

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

Enjoy!

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

The second addition to the blogroll at The Toronto Traveler is toronto.com, a website that has been around for a very long time and has everything you are going to need when it comes to knowing what is going on in Hogtown.  To give you a brief introduction to the website, let us take a look at the major categories that they cover.

Events: Chances are if it is going on in the city, then toronto.com already knows about it and has posted it on their website.

Attractions: Just like the Toronto Tourism Tendencies series that we did before, toronto.com also has things to say about the major attractions within the City of Toronto.

Movies: Want to know where a particular movie is playing so that you can fit it into your schedule?  Check out the movies section of toronto.com!

Restaurants, Bars and Clubs: While this is by no means an exhaustive list, it is still one of the best lists around.

Hotels: Again, not really an exhaustive list, but at the same time one that should help most people find a place to stay if they are planning a visit to Toronto.

Shopping: Shopping is big in Toronto and there are a lot of places around that people can shop at.  While it is once again not a list that covers all of the shopping outlets, it has enough to be of use to a person that needs to find a shopping outlet close to their location.

In closing, toronto.com has all of the makings of a good reference website that people can use if they want to find something.  Unlike The Toronto Traveler and other blogs about Toronto that are similar to it, the goal of toronto.com is not really to provide a running commentary on the tourism situation in the city, but rather to act as a point of reference for people that need to find something fast.  The reviews are not as detailed as you might find on some other websites (i.e., this blog), but if you just want the basics of where it is and how to get there, then toronto.com will get that information to you very quickly.

I’ll be adding the website to the blogroll, so it will be there for you to use for future reference.

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

Walk Around: The downtown core of Toronto is a very interesting place; probably more so than most other downtown cores.  With all the varied neighbourhoods and people that tend to hang around outside (especially in summertime), taking a walk through the downtown core can be a fascinating thing to do in and of itself.

Visit the Beaches: Toronto has some excellent beaches available down towards the lakeshore (and a public transit system that will get you to those beaches quite easily), so if you happen to want to experience the beauty of the lake view from one of Toronto’s beaches, a quick public transit trip could make that wish come true.

Chinatown: The most authentic Chinatown outside of the actual country itself is located on Spadina starting south of College.  A walk along those roads will allow you experience a Chinatown with a level of authenticity that few other similar places in North America can match.

Check out what’s free: There are a lot of venues in Toronto worth visiting that are free.  Everything from musems to public libraries will allow you to visit them free (The Royal Ontario Museum is even free on Fridays), so if you need to kill some time and don’t want to spend too much in the process, just check out what’s free.

Little Italy: Just like we’ve got a pretty authentic Chinatown, we’ve got a pretty authentic Little Italy as well.  Located on College Street starting around the Bathurst Street area, Little Italy has food and fun that will make you think you booked a trip to Italy in addition to your trip to Toronto.

Post from: The Toronto Traveler