Ottawa-Gatineau Tourism

[spotlight]

Originally Posted by Zmonkey

You also need two way traffic. How many people are coming to Ottawa? People going to Ottawa - destination is one thing but you also need Ottawa to be a final destination for a lot of people to really get international.

Calgary, Vancvouer, Toronto and Montreal all have that. From tourists, to business to people visiting family, it all comes in big numbers in those cities.
Other side is connecting, the four above cities also do really well since lots of people connect to other cities. The USA especially from a Toronto point of view.

This is where Ottawa needs to do a better job at marketing itself as a destination. Really with Ottawa being in the middle of Toronto and Montreal we should be in a position to offer the perfect destination for Europeans or tourists from all over the world coming to Canada for a visit. Most people coming to Canada from a tourist point of view won't simply be doing only Toronto or only Montreal, most actually do come to Ottawa as a side trip or day trip.

Ottawa Tourism needs to change the narrative for people and promote Ottawa as the gateway to their travels, from Ottawa you're well positioned to see both Toronto and Montreal while enjoying a less crowded airport.

If you land in Toronto and you plan to visit the thousand islands maybe, Ottawa, Montreal, etc.. you have to then backtrack to get back to Toronto or vice versa if you landed in Montreal. Landing in Ottawa allows you to be centrally located to the entire tourist area.

This is also where a slightly faster and more efficient train system would make a world of difference to connect us to both cities more quickly to really remove barriers completely for people.

[Truenorth00]

It really doesn't work like that. If I have friends and family in Toronto or Montreal, I'm starting my vacation there. Bus tours usually start in Montreal or Toronto. Etc

And heck, I live here and I don't think Ottawa is worth more than 2 nights for tourists. Urban neighbourhoods are poorly designed. Anybody who thinks Byward Market is cool should go see what Europe is doing with these old market neighbourhoods. London's Camden and Borough Markets will blow your mind. Meanwhile, we think it's too controversial to pedestrianize Byward and Elgin. Also other than the core attractions figuring out how to get a few other attractions by transit sucks. Long wait for buses. No open payments. And if you want to travel to other cities? Well the intercity train service is subpar and expensive. Imagine a tourist trying to get to Nordik Spa with transit or wanting to daytrip to Montreal from here.

Want to climb the tourist rankings? You actually have to build a city that tourists want to go to. And nobody goes on vacation to hang out in parking lots and sit in traffic.

[GeoNerd]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

It really doesn't work like that. If I have friends and family in Toronto or Montreal, I'm starting my vacation there. Bus tours usually start in Montreal or Toronto. Etc

And heck, I live here and I don't think Ottawa is worth more than 2 nights for tourists. Urban neighbourhoods are poorly designed. Anybody who thinks Byward Market is cool should go see what Europe is doing with these old market neighbourhoods. London's Camden and Borough Markets will blow your mind. Meanwhile, we think it's too controversial to pedestrianize Byward and Elgin. Also other than the core attractions figuring out how to get a few other attractions by transit sucks. Long wait for buses. No open payments. And if you want to travel to other cities? Well the intercity train service is subpar and expensive. Imagine a tourist trying to get to Nordik Spa with transit or wanting to daytrip to Montreal from here.

Want to climb the tourist rankings? You actually have to build a city that tourists want to go to. And nobody goes on vacation to hang out in parking lots and sit in traffic.

What an absolutely horrible take. For culture, museums, historic sites, and natural beauty, there aren’t many better place than Ottawa to visit in Canada. Of course if you have friends in MTL or TOR you’d start your vacation there! Just like if you had friends in OTT you may start here. That statement makes no sense. Parking lots and traffic isn’t just an Ottawa thing. Have you ever ever been to TOR. You’re complaining about Ottawa traffic and transit??

“Imagine a tourist trying to get to Nordik”? They would have a similar experience in any other city trying to get out to the countryside. You act like this is uniquely Ottawa problem. Even getting to Wonderland or TO Zoo is an hour and half multi-transfer headache and they are in the city!

“If Ottawa to climb the tourist rankings? You actually have to build a city that tourists want to go to”. Are you serious??? Ottawa is literally one of the most visited cities in the country.

If you want flashing lights and cheesy tourist traps than yes Toronto is a great destination. If you want French culture and history than Montreal is a great destination. But Ottawa holds its own on being a destination for people wanting to experience a different side of Canada and it shouldn’t try to emulate the cheesiness of Toronto or the History of Montreal.

Too many people need to get out of the suburbs on this forum. Their view of our great city is so blurred and distorted. The civic self loathing can be nauseating.

[spotlight]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

It really doesn't work like that. If I have friends and family in Toronto or Montreal, I'm starting my vacation there. Bus tours usually start in Montreal or Toronto. Etc

And heck, I live here and I don't think Ottawa is worth more than 2 nights for tourists. Urban neighbourhoods are poorly designed. Anybody who thinks Byward Market is cool should go see what Europe is doing with these old market neighbourhoods. London's Camden and Borough Markets will blow your mind. Meanwhile, we think it's too controversial to pedestrianize Byward and Elgin. Also other than the core attractions figuring out how to get a few other attractions by transit sucks. Long wait for buses. No open payments. And if you want to travel to other cities? Well the intercity train service is subpar and expensive. Imagine a tourist trying to get to Nordik Spa with transit or wanting to daytrip to Montreal from here.

Want to climb the tourist rankings? You actually have to build a city that tourists want to go to. And nobody goes on vacation to hang out in parking lots and sit in traffic.

This is a very odd answer, I wasn't talking about people who have friends or family, obviously that would have an impact in your decision, i was simply talking about regular tourists that come to visit this part of Canada. I also wasn't saying that people needed to stay 2 weeks in Ottawa, i said that Ottawa should be a gateway city as its located centrally between Montreal and Toronto and that it makes sense to land in the middle and come back to the middle to depart instead of landing at one end and have to come back to that same end to leave back home.

[OTSkyline]

I don't know, Truenorth00's comments might have been on the extreme side, but I don't totally disagree with him.

Ottawa is a nice city to live in but it's not that great as a tourist destination and it shows by the amount of tourists either skipping the capital altogether or staying overnight between their Toronto & Montreal visits.

It may be "one of the most visited cities in Canada" but it's probably 5th or 6th, might even be after Niagara Falls and Quebec City, and arguably, as the capital of the country, we should be much more up there.

I like Ottawa and live here, but every time I travel (even within Canada sometimes), I'm unfortunately reminded that Ottawa doesn't have that much cache as a MUST SEE destination. The parliament buildings & canal are cute and we have lots of museums, but that's about it.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by spotlight

This is a very odd answer, I wasn't talking about people who have friends or family, obviously that would have an impact in your decision, i was simply talking about regular tourists that come to visit this part of Canada. I also wasn't saying that people needed to stay 2 weeks in Ottawa, i said that Ottawa should be a gateway city as its located centrally between Montreal and Toronto and that it makes sense to land in the middle and come back to the middle to depart instead of landing at one end and have to come back to that same end to leave back home.

Starting in the middle is pointless if the transportation network to support the rest of your vacation isn't really oriented to the middle.

[spotlight]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

I don't know, Truenorth00's comments might have been on the extreme side, but I don't totally disagree with him.

Ottawa is a nice city to live in but it's not that great as a tourist destination and it shows by the amount of tourists either skipping the capital altogether or staying overnight between their Toronto & Montreal visits.

It may be "one of the most visited cities in Canada" but it's probably 5th or 6th, might even be after Niagara Falls and Quebec City, and arguably, as the capital of the country, we should be much more up there.

I like Ottawa and live here, but every time I travel (even within Canada sometimes), I'm unfortunately reminded that Ottawa doesn't have that much cache as a MUST SEE destination. The parliament buildings & canal are cute and we have lots of museums, but that's about it.

Again 2 things.. obviously my first statement rings true that Ottawa needs to do a better job marketing itself as a destination but most importantly i'm not saying that people need to visit Ottawa for a longer period of time than they should, this is a discussion in the airport thread, i'm talking about having Ottawa playing a larger part due to it's location as opposed to using that narrative as a disadvantage.

We're always talking about he size of Ottawa as a market to support more air connectivity, but if we promote Ottawa as a destination and as a gateway city positionally located that's another tool to help attract more direct routes to and from Ottawa.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by spotlight

This is a very odd answer, I wasn't talking about people who have friends or family, obviously that would have an impact in your decision, i was simply talking about regular tourists that come to visit this part of Canada. I also wasn't saying that people needed to stay 2 weeks in Ottawa, i said that Ottawa should be a gateway city as its located centrally between Montreal and Toronto and that it makes sense to land in the middle and come back to the middle to depart instead of landing at one end and have to come back to that same end to leave back home.

I am not sure that Ottawa would be all that attractive a gateway. Most tourists (if they are visiting Ontario/Quebec) would rather fly into Montreal and out of Toronto (or vice versa) and visit Ottawa on their way through rather than do a circle.

Also, cities are not a big focus on Europeans visiting Canada. They are more interested in seeing nature. For that Western Canada is much more attractive an option, making YYC and YVR much better options than YYZ, YUL and YOW.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by GeoNerd

Too many people need to get out of the suburbs on this forum. Their view of our great city is so blurred and distorted. The civic self loathing can be nauseating.

I don't live in the suburbs. I live less than 6 km from Parliament Hill as the crow flies.

Sorry if the truth stings a little bit. But ultimately the proof is in the pudding. We aren't the first choice for tourists. We can accept that we have work to do. Or we can wallow in the constant grievance and self-pity we see in this thread about how all the world's airlines are screwing over Ottawa and how all those tourists are just ignorant of our greatness. I can't believe people think this is just a marketing problem and that the hoardes will come if we just put up more billboards elsewhere.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by roger1818

I am not sure that Ottawa would be all that attractive a gateway. Most tourists (if they are visiting Ontario/Quebec) would rather fly into Montreal and out of Toronto (or vice versa) and visit Ottawa on their way through rather than do a circle.

Also, cities are not a big focus on Europeans visiting Canada. They are more interested in seeing nature. For that Western Canada is much more attractive an option, making YYC and YVR much better options than YYZ, YUL and YOW.

Smaller cities can actually be tourist and cultural hubs. It's not uncommon elsewhere. However, the very thing needed to facilitate this, is usually derided on this very thread: good intercity rail.

Nobody is going to use Ottawa as the gateway to the region unless they can easily get on a train and go to Montreal or even all the way down to Niagara Falls.

We could at least attract some European discount carriers here, as an alternative to Montreal, if we had better connections to Montreal itself.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

Smaller cities can actually be tourist and cultural hubs. It's not uncommon elsewhere. However, the very thing needed to facilitate this, is usually derided on this very thread: good intercity rail.

Sure, but you are assuming that there are cities nearby that are worth flying over 5000km to see. I googled top cities to visit and the first list I found was this one, and none of the 29 cities listed are in Canada. Now I realize this is only one list, but I still stand by my statement that people don't come to visit Canada to see its cities.

Nobody is going to use Ottawa as the gateway to the region unless they can easily get on a train and go to Montreal or even all the way down to Niagara Falls.

If someone wanted to visit Montreal for some reason, they would be better off flying to YUL and if they wanted to visit Niagara Falls, they would fly to YYZ or maybe BUF.

We could at least attract some European discount carriers here, as an alternative to Montreal, if we had better connections to Montreal itself.

The only way that would work is if the train had a stop at YOW and even then it would be a hard sell (the airline would have to save a lot on landing fees to transfer a majority of its passengers to a train), and you are still assuming that a lot of Europeans seek out Montreal (or any other Canadian city) as a primary tourist destination.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

I don't live in the suburbs. I live less than 6 km from Parliament Hill as the crow flies.

Sorry if the truth stings a little bit. But ultimately the proof is in the pudding. We aren't the first choice for tourists. We can accept that we have work to do. Or we can wallow in the constant grievance and self-pity we see in this thread about how all the world's airlines are screwing over Ottawa and how all those tourists are just ignorant of our greatness. I can't believe people think this is just a marketing problem and that the hoardes will come if we just put up more billboards elsewhere.

Well that is suburbs to me but your point stands. It's not marketing.

Have had two visitors from Europe this summer. Neither were very impressed with the current state of the center of Ottawa.
I don't know recent stats but Ottawa is behind big three and also Calgary, Niagara and Quebec City for sure. Ottawa's main advantage is being near Toronto and Montreal. This negates a lot of the flight opportunities though.

Logistics aside I am not sure Ottawa cracks the top ten. St. Johns and Halifax probably more interesting for typical foreign tourist. It's still an interesting city and especially domestic tourism has lots of room for growth but let's be realistic. Our museums are mostly weak. The Market as someone said is barely an attraction from Barhaven anymore.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by roger1818

If someone wanted to visit Montreal for some reason, they would be better off flying to YUL and if they wanted to visit Niagara Falls, they would fly to YYZ or maybe BUF.

Discount airlines flying to secondary cities are a thing. Zero reason YOW can't be this region's equivalent of YHM or BUF. However, the few fully independent tourists (no friends and family) aren't coming to Ottawa if it's really hard to go elsewhere.

Originally Posted by roger1818

The only way that would work is if the train had a stop at YOW and even then it would be a hard sell (the airline would have to save a lot on landing fees to transfer a majority of its passengers to a train), and you are still assuming that a lot of Europeans seek out Montreal (or any other Canadian city) as a primary tourist destination.

This is only true if you're landing in Ottawa just as a way to access Montreal. If you're coming to Ottawa to stay for a few days, a station closer to downtown is just fine for onward journeys. Generally though, we should make these kinds of connections easier. Maybe extend the 97 past Hurdman to Tremblay.

Ultimately though, transport is just a part of what ails Ottawa tourism.

Originally Posted by YOWetal

Well that is suburbs to me ....

Fair point. I just wanted to dispel the idea that I'm sitting in Orleans or Barrhaven and whining about downtown. I'm close to the core and there often. I want it to improve. Also, hilarious that my desire to see more of it pedestrianized is seen as some suburban complaint.

[YOWhopeful]

Frankly, Ottawa has nothing to offer other than Gatineau Park. And I live right in centretown, a 5 minute walk to Parliament. Downtown is still listless. Have you looked at the opening hours of our museums? And no movie main stream theatre? Thank God for Bytown but it took two guys with a vision, obviously from Toronto to revive it.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by YOWhopeful

Frankly, Ottawa has nothing to offer other than Gatineau Park.

And even that really isn't good enough to attract someone flying all the way here.

Originally Posted by YOWhopeful

And I live right in centretown, a 5 minute walk to Parliament. Downtown is still listless. Have you looked at the opening hours of our museums? And no movie main stream theatre? Thank God for Bytown but it took two guys with a vision, obviously from Toronto to revive it.

The real crazy part is that Ottawa has solid potential. But the place is run by suburbanites, for suburbanites. And as long as that is true, Ottawa isn't going to improve in attractiveness to tourists. Domestic or foreign. Heck, even on this forum if I suggest that Bank and Elgin should be closed to traffic and turned into a tramways/busways or pedestrian boulevards, people who live in South Keys fret, "What about the shopkeepers?" The idea that we should build nice walkable neighbourhoods (the kind that people like to visit on vacation) is a hard sell in this town. Ottawa is Mississauga on the Rideau. And it's going to be that way for a while.

[GeoNerd]

Originally Posted by YOWhopeful

Frankly, Ottawa has nothing to offer other than Gatineau Park. And I live right in centretown, a 5 minute walk to Parliament. Downtown is still listless. Have you looked at the opening hours of our museums? And no movie main stream theatre? Thank God for Bytown but it took two guys with a vision, obviously from Toronto to revive it.

Wow. If your view of this great city is so bleak and miserable than why are you wasting your life here? Honestly. Seems like a waste of your life to live in a place you despise. There will be people that actually love this city lined up down the street to buy/rent your place from you. Go live in Toronto to five years where you can go to the downtown movie theatre. You will soon realize just how great a city Ottawa is.

[Zmonkey]

Originally Posted by OTSkyline

I don't know, Truenorth00's comments might have been on the extreme side, but I don't totally disagree with him.

Ottawa is a nice city to live in but it's not that great as a tourist destination and it shows by the amount of tourists either skipping the capital altogether or staying overnight between their Toronto & Montreal visits.

It may be "one of the most visited cities in Canada" but it's probably 5th or 6th, might even be after Niagara Falls and Quebec City, and arguably, as the capital of the country, we should be much more up there.

I like Ottawa and live here, but every time I travel (even within Canada sometimes), I'm unfortunately reminded that Ottawa doesn't have that much cache as a MUST SEE destination. The parliament buildings & canal are cute and we have lots of museums, but that's about it.

It may be 5th or 6th if you include domestic. But for International its way down list. Domestic will be people driving from Quebec city to Windsor for a couple nights.

International, Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal account for 50% of the spend.
People can go through country data here if they want.
https://www.destinationcanada.com/en...er%20of%202018.

[Truenorth00]

Originally Posted by GeoNerd

Wow. If your view of this great city is so bleak and miserable than why are you wasting your life here? Honestly. Seems like a waste of your life to live in a place you despise. There will be people that actually love this city lined up down the street to buy/rent your place from you. Go live in Toronto to five years where you can go to the downtown movie theatre. You will soon realize just how great a city Ottawa is.

A place can be tolerable to live and be a poor tourist attraction. It can also be a great tourist attraction and not a great place to live. I, for one, would not want to live in Las Vegas or Niagara Falls, for example.

You need to stop seeing our criticisms of Ottawa as some kind of personal offence. The tourists don't love Ottawa. There's a reason for that. Screaming at people that tell you why, ain't going to fix the problem.

Also, people don't have any obligation to love where they live. I'm sure there's plenty of people who live in Toronto, because of work or family obligations, who hate the place. And that can be true of Ottawa too.

[YOWhopeful]

Originally Posted by Truenorth00

A place can be tolerable to live and be a poor tourist attraction. It can also be a great tourist attraction and not a great place to live. I, for one, would not want to live in Las Vegas or Niagara Falls, for example.

You need to stop seeing our criticisms of Ottawa as some kind of personal offence. The tourists don't love Ottawa. There's a reason for that. Screaming at people that tell you why, ain't going to fix the problem.

Also, people don't have any obligation to love where they live. I'm sure there's plenty of people who live in Toronto, because of work or family obligations, who hate the place. And that can be true of Ottawa too.

Thank you. Ottawa is a very easy place to live. But it’s not pretty except for the parliament buildings and area around the canal and new conference centre.
Elsewhere the architecture is awful. They call the buildings brutalist hust to give it a name but they actually aren’t. They are just ugly. No architect seems interested in Ottawa. How come Frank Gehry, a Canadian architect, hasn’t built anything here? Yes the new library will be nice but far from earth shattering and certainly not a tourist attraction.
Westboro the hip neighbourhood might have some interesting businesses but man the buildings are ugly. And what’s with the electric poles. Even downtown.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by GeoNerd

Wow. If your view of this great city is so bleak and miserable than why are you wasting your life here? Honestly. Seems like a waste of your life to live in a place you despise. There will be people that actually love this city lined up down the street to buy/rent your place from you. Go live in Toronto to five years where you can go to the downtown movie theatre. You will soon realize just how great a city Ottawa is.

If you are using Toronto as your baseline, you are setting your bar extremely low. I am curios what other cities you have visited?

There are many great cities in the world for tourists to visit, and none of them are in Canada. That doesn't mean that Canada isn't a good place to live. It also doesn't mean that it isn't a good country for tourists to visit. It is just the best tourist attractions in Canada aren't in cities. If you Google "Tourism Canada" and click on Images, the vast majority of the pictures involve mountains, trees or water (or some combination of them). Even the few city pictures usually involve mountains, trees or water.