In the News

TORONTO — Former finance minister Greg Sorbara is being tabbed to study how to draw more international visitors to Ontario. The move comes amid a decline in visitors from the United States.

The Canadian Press has learned that Mr. Sorbara will examine the entire tourism industry to see where there is room for improvement. He will look at practices from around the world and recommend areas in which Ontario might specialize and grow.

The former head of the Liberal Party will build an action plan for next year, which sources say will ensure tourism continues to boost the economy. A government source says the point of the study is to get Ontarians to critically examine the future of tourism, and design a strategy to boost the province's profile worldwide.

Ontario draws more than 118 million tourists every year, who help employ 200,000 people and contribute $20-billion to the province's bottom line.

Toronto hotels had 10.6 million overnight visitors in 2006, making it a record year. Last year's growth of 1.1 per cent, came despite the chill of a strong Canadian dollar, new passport rules and a trend for businesses to send smaller delegations to conventions.

There was a 4-per-cent drop in visitors from the U.S. in 2006, but the overall tourism picture was buoyed by a slight up-tick in business and other travellers from overseas destinations, especially Mexico, Britain and Japan, and a strong 2.8-per-cent rise in domestic traffic, mostly from Ontario.