The pulse-quickening appeal begins with the banking descent into Toronto Pearson International Airport, providing breathtaking clear-day overviews of Canada’s largest city. Standing tallest in Toronto’s skyscraper forest is the CN Tower. While Dubai’s Burj Khalifa now wears the global skyscraper crown, the CN Tower remains the world’s highest tower. Among Toronto’s leading event venues, the elegant 1,815-foot-tall beacon symbolizes the local spirit of welcome; close to half of metropolitan Toronto’s more than 5 million residents were born outside of Canada, with around 55,000 new arrivals each year.
The magic is more apparent still at street level. As an international business destination and cultural mosaic virtually unmatched in North America, the Greater Toronto area is also eminently liveable. The 2010 Economist Intelligence Unit global liveability survey placed Toronto fourth out of 140 cities (Vancouver, British Columbia, came in first).
"Beyond the city core are countless neighborhoods, civic and commercial hubs, including a variety of meeting and event facilities, accommodations and related attractions and services," says David Whitaker, president and CEO of Tourism Toronto. "Nothing is more advantageous to planners than having a choice of settings in which to produce unique and memorable events tailored to the needs of a range of customers."
Another plus? Just over an hour from the U.S. border, Toronto is readily accessible. More than 1,000 flights a day land at Pearson International Airport, Amtrak has regular service from New York City and Chicago, and highways approach from all directions. However you arrive, though, the message is clear: "Welcome to Toronto."
Downtown Toronto
Choice, indeed, is the operative word in Toronto. Among North America’s top conference destinations, it offers seemingly limitless floor space. Downtown’s largest venue is the half-million-square-foot Metro Toronto Convention Centre, while just west of the city’s core is the lakefront Exhibition Place, home to Canada’s largest convention hall, the 1 million-square foot-plus Direct Energy Centre, in addition to the dazzling new Allstream Centre and other venues.
Of the Greater Toronto area’s more than 35,000 hotel rooms, some 12,000 are downtown, and from budget to boutique to brand name, Toronto’s meetings-capable hotels run the gamut. There is luxury, such as The Four Seasons Hotel Toronto; Le Meridien King Edward; The Hazelton, Toronto’s first five-star hotel; Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel; and Westin Harbour Castle Toronto. There is landmark, such as The Suites at 1 King West, housed in the venerable Dominion Bank headquarters. There is hip, such as the Drake, built in 1890 as a railway hostel and now a rave-reviewed, multifunctional bohemian mecca, and Hyatt Regency Toronto on King, a downtown hot spot. There are, simply, a multitude of options.
Toronto’s memorable, unmistakable cityscape gets a new signature tower this summer with the debut of The Ritz-Carlton, Toronto, while Trump International Hotel and Tower, opening next year, will also redefine the skyline. The additions are just two of several hotel openings and renovations, as Toronto builds inventory around the new Allstream Centre and readies for newly booked events including the G20 summit in June 2010 and the JUNO Awards in March 2011.
Most enthralling for planners and delegates, perhaps, is the range of specialized venues and post-meeting engagements. Toronto’s world-renowned Entertainment District is a play bill unto itself (see sidebar, page 10), the Victorian-era Distillery District is a thriving artistic, cultural and heritage hub, and Toronto’s waterfront swims in amenities, including event favorite The Harbourfront Centre.
Toronto gatherings and encounters are irresistibly, exotically distinct. From "Corso Italia" to Greektown to Portugal Village to Chinatown, the world calls Toronto home, with entire neighborhoods included in more than 7,000 designated heritage sites. With 11 historical museums, Toronto keeps the past close at venues such as the Steam Whistle Brewery in the John Street Roundhouse, the Distillery District’s 8,000-square-foot Fermenting Cellar, and the Design Exchange, housed in the historic Toronto Stock Exchange building.
The event-capable Bata Shoe Museum is an eclectic fit, while architectural excellence defines events at venues such as the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario, where local son and iconic architect Frank Gehry has created inspiring event space in the third-floor, 7,200-square-foot Baillie Court, with views of the city.
Mississauga/West Toronto/Airport Area
West of Toronto, Mississauga, Canada’s sixth-largest city and home of many of its Fortune 500 headquarters, has two mega-centers just minutes from Pearson International Airport. Recently expanded to 1 million square feet, the artful Toronto Congress Centre ranks among North America’s largest convention facilities, while the half-million-square-foot International Centre, with eight interconnected exhibit halls, free parking for 5,000-plus vehicles, and a new conference center and eco-efficient kitchen, is also prominent on the continental congressional stage. Plus, Mississauga has its own convention center, along with the Hershey Centre arena at the acclaimed Hershey SportZone sports park.
Also a quick ride from the airport: another 12,000-plus hotel rooms, including more than 9,000 in Mississauga proper. Meetings-ready properties include the Delta Meadowvale Resort and Conference Centre, Novotel Mississauga, Doubletree by Hilton-Toronto Airport Hotel, Westin Bristol Place Toronto Airport and the only hotel located in Pearson International Airport, the 474-room Sheraton Gateway Hotel.
The architecturally inspiring Living Arts Centre, also close to the airport, is a multipurpose venue offering 210,000 square feet of theater, meeting room and exhibit space, while Mississauga’s two historic house museums, the early 1800’s Bradley House and Benares, are well suited for small meetings or larger outdoor events.
Mississauga diversions include the Art Gallery of Mississauga, Vegas-style dinner theater at Stage West, gaming at Woodbine Racetrack and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame. Quaint Port Credit is known as "Mississauga’s Village on the Lake," while Streetsville, dates to 1858.
Markham
Offering an intriguing mix of small-town and large-town ambience, this fast-growing East Toronto suburb appeals on various levels. Corporately, Markham is concentrated in high tech, with the Canadian headquarters of Apple, IBM, Motorola, Toshiba and other leading names lending the town its "Silicon Valley North" moniker. First settled by homesteading German immigrants in 1794 and an immigrant magnet thereafter, Markham’s preserved historic stretches divert from the modernity while providing evocative backdrops for filmmakers. Festive and entertaining, Markham also remembers its agrarian past with farmers markets, a rodeo and Ontario’s oldest autumn fair.
Planners can base their groups in meetings-ready hotels including the Delta Markham, providing 10,000 square feet of completely renovated space; the Hilton Garden Inn Toronto/Markham, catering to smaller meetings; and the AAA Four Diamond Hilton Suites Toronto/Markham Conference Centre and Spa, which is located 20 minutes from Toronto and Pearson International Airport and offers 45,000 square feet of flexible function space.
Markham’s cultural menu includes the Markham Theatre for Performing Arts, Markham Museum, Varley Art Gallery of Markham and McMichael Canadian Art Collection, while the past comes alive at the Black Creek Pioneer Village, an authentic heritage site showcasing the life of Ontario settlers in the 1860s.
Hamilton
Equidistant between Toronto and Niagara Falls, this historic port city offers an intriguing combination of manufacturing might, natural wonders and services led by healthcare and hospitality. That this was once gritty "Steeltown" seems hard to imagine; dramatically bisected by the Niagara Escarpment (a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve), Hamilton positively gushes with waterfalls, its love affair with water and the outdoors extending to its scenic harbor and perch on Lake Ontario’s westernmost point.
Mirroring Toronto’s cultural diversity, Hamilton is also abundant in choices for large conventions, trade shows and sporting events.
"Given the current state of the economy, it is common that meeting planners are scaling back," says Tourism Hamilton’s marketing coordinator, Ted Flett. "In Hamilton, though, you don’t have to give up all the good things that make for a great meeting."
Hamilton’s package of "good things" starts with its downtown meeting facilities. The Hamilton Convention Centre has 50,000 square feet of space, the 17,000-seat Copps Coliseum doubles that with over 100,000 square feet of dedicated space, and the acoustically superior Ronald V. Joyce Centre for the Performing Arts at Hamilton Place seats over 2,100 in its Great Hall, with more-intimate gatherings in the Studio at Hamilton Place.
Collectively providing over 600 rooms, a trio of meetings-friendly downtown hotels—The Sheraton Hamilton Hotel, Staybridge Suites by Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza Hamilton—are within walking distance of the facilities, with additional properties within a short driving distance.
Hamilton is also rich in off-site and special event venues, its myriad eclectic draws including the Royal Botanical Gardens, Dundurn Castle, the Hamilton Museum of Steam and Technology, and the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum. Destination dining is also part of the scene. Baranga’s on the Beach serves up catered, themed and team-building events on the waterfront, while chef Jeff Crump goes "Earth to Table" at the Ancaster Old Mill Inn.
—Regular Meetings East contributor Jeff Heilman welcomes the Canadian way of life.
