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Originally Posted by phil235
One thing that I think this debate is missing is that the number of tourists visiting a place is influenced by the number of direct flights that it has, particularly for short stays which make up a big share of tourism numbers. The fact that Ottawa's airport is underserved definitely reduces the number of tourists who come here.
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This is a chicken or egg problem. We aren't going to get more tourists here without more connections. And we aren't going to get more connections without more demand for travel to Ottawa. We can really only control one of these as a city.
Quote:
Originally Posted by phil235
I find it funny that people are citing Calgary as a better tourist city than Ottawa. I don't think it's even close in terms of attractions for tourists. Its numbers have nothing to do with the city - it just benefits from being near the Rockies and places that people want to go.
Toronto is not the greatest tourist city either. It gets lots of business visitors and tourists just by virtue of being big and all that entails, and it has done a bit better lately with attractions like the Aquarium. That said, in terms of actual tourist attractions, it isn't stellar, nor is it an attractive city to walk around. When I worked in the Eaton Centre, I can't tell you how many times I had tourists say something to the effect of "We've been up the CN Tower and to Casa Loma, now what?" The answer was typically a day trip to Niagara Falls. Things like Wonderland and the zoo that are often cited by Torontonians are not things that attract droves of international visitors.
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Correct. They are lucky to have substantial natural features that are somewhat global draws. We can't really compete with that. Have to offer something different.
Quote:
Originally Posted by phil235
Quebec City on the other hand absolutely rivals or exceeds Ottawa's offerings.
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Better food scene. 400 year old walled city that almost makes you forget you're in North America. Meanwhile, we harass kids who start lemonade stands and can't even manage things like sharing the Courtyard without each restaurant fencing off its own diners. Sorry, bit of a personal pet peeve. It's so ugly.....
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Originally Posted by YOWhopeful
I see we think alike
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Anybody who has lived in more than just Ottawa and has actually left Canada for vacation, can see what needs to be fixed here.
The really sad part is that a lot of the complaints we have would make the city better for us, not just the tourists. I, personally, could not care less about attracting tourists. But if people want to know what it takes to actually get people here, we should probably at least start with making it better for ourselves.