Travellers told of Toronto’s “stench”
A travel warnings Web site is making a stink about Toronto’s garbage strike, and that means bad news for a hospitality industry that’s already hurting. World Travel Watch, which is syndicated to such papers as the San Francisco Chronicle, has warned travellers that Hogtown streets and parks are a smelly mess. While they don’t explicitly say to avoid the city, we think it’s pretty unfair to list Toronto’s strike alongside the coup in Honduras and an outbreak of bubonic plague.
He’s seen the unfavourable post, but Tourism Toronto’s Andrew Weir says that his main concern right now is dealing with the effects of the global recession. Even before the strike, Toronto’s hotel occupancy rate had been plunging 10 per cent year over year. Weir admits that the strike could have an impact, but he thinks recent nods from the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune should outweigh the negative publicity so far.
Besides, if our strike keeps tourists away for too long, we can always call Mick Jagger and organize StrikeStock in Downsview Park (assuming it doesn’t get turned into a dump).
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