I don’t mean the official Ontario tourism, but the operators which have places within it.
Example, hubby and I can fly to Mexico, all inclusive for about $1100 per person plus airport taxes of $200 +/- (no that isn’t a misprint, thanks to Navcan).
OR, we can go away, in Ontario, for about $1000 each (hotel and travel only).??? to one of those resort type places, even just hotels are $150 - $200 per night for a nice one.
OR, we can go out west, to the tune of more like $1000 each for just the flight plus hotel plus food.
For those who aren’t aware, eating out in Ontario is VERY EXPENSIVE. Average dinner, think chicken/steak with veggies, etc, a drink and coffee $30.00 per person at least. So when you have to add your meals to a vacation, it’s expensive.
What gets me though, is that the tour operators complain all the time that tourist dollars are not being spent here!
Gee, I wonder why. If we can go to Mexico for less than we can stay in ontario, why would we spend almost twice as much?
I should not have said Mexico specifically, although that is where we’re headed…pretty much anywhere is cheaper to travel in then Canada. Between fuel prices, hotel prices and meals, it’s expensive to travel at home!
Bear with me please. I haven’t heard this in so long.
Ahem.
“'Cause it’s yours to discover! And you’re gonna love it! In On-ta-ri-ooooo!”
What was that older one? “Ontari-ari-ario!”
I’ve been trying to get up the cash together to visit my parents in Ottawa, and just finding decently priced tickets is bleeding hard. I’m lucky in that I’ve got a business meeting in May that’ll kick over my airmiles to give me a free trip.
Our service industry pays first world wages and has other first world expenses, not second world or third world wages and other expenses, so we can not compete on price.
If one were to compare apples to apples, then compare the cost of urban museum and theatre vacations in Toronto, New York, or London, or compare the costs of wilderness retreats and ski tour vacations in Northwestern Ontario and Northern Minnesota.
I was born and live in Ontario, and while I go to Toronna fairly often, I take extended vacations elsewhere. In Argentina, you can pretty much eat your weight in filet mignon for seven bucks and that isn’t going to happen at “The Keg”.
That being said, tourism in Ontario is like elsewhere and you can cut costs by using the web, bed and breakfasts or hostels, travelling in shoulder seasons, eating out at cheaper places (fish and chips, lunch buffets, Red Lobster for lunch, fast foody places, small town diners). Lots of hotels and restaurants are pricey but not more so than many other first world countries.
Ironically, The Economist did a ranking of the best cities in the world to hold a business meeting based on multiple factors like cost, culture, safety and facilities and Canadian cities took the top three spots. So it’s not like Canadian cities have nothing to offer; no matter how sick I am of hearing the phrases “world-class” and “Made-in-Ontario”.
Geez, try visiting England. The prices just kill me. If you checked the New York hotel prices you head would explode. Remember, anything less than $200 US a night and you can be guaranteed there will be mould growing on the ceiling.
The richer the country, the higher the prices. Ontario is a rich part of an extremely rich country.
Years ago, there used to be really cheap weekend packages to Toronto by train that were regularly advertised in our local paper,but I haven’t seen one in years. It’s a shame becauseI’ve been looking for the same deal and would really like to make the trip if it’s still affordable.