For Immediate Release 
June 23, 2005

Tourism Toronto launches "Toronto Stories" summer marketing campaign

TORONTO, June 23 /CNW/ - Tourism Toronto, The Toronto Convention and Visitor Association, today announced details of its 'Toronto Stories' summer marketing campaign, deploying for the first time the new 'Toronto Unlimited' destination brand also unveiled today.

"Toronto Unlimited, the new destination brand, speaks to a city shaped by the many influences of its changing human fabric, a city alive with energy, sophisticated, yet intimate - a city of unlimited imagination and opportunities" said Bruce MacMillan, President and CEO of Toronto Tourism.
"Our Toronto Stories campaign evolved directly from the new brand platform, and evokes the unique combination of people, places and things that make up the Greater Toronto Area. We are a destination that celebrates humanity in all its creativity and diversity, a powerfully imaginative place, that while mainstream, represents a nuanced alternative to other major capitals."

The campaign consists of full-colour ads featuring prominent individuals with a profound connection to Toronto. The campaign debuts with world renown Architect Frank Gehry (currently overseeing the redevelopment of the Art Gallery of Ontario) and Paul Shaffer (band-leader and longtime collaborator on the David Letterman Show).

Each ad is a collage of elements that features the storyteller's picture, a collection of relevant images and a personalized hand-written story that illustrates Toronto's meaning to them. The newly branded ads will run from June 26 through August 7 in the Sunday Travel sections of the NY Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, and Time Out New York.

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"Psychographically, Toronto attracts an educated, wealthier, and experience-seeking traveler as its ideal visitor target" said Susan Carter, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Tourism Toronto. "Key learnings from the brand research identified the highest concentration of these potential visitors in the north east corridor of the US."

To launch its summer brand campaign, Tourism Toronto was able to target the key visitors' markets of Chicago, New York, and Washington, D.C. for the first time, as a result of funds made available through the implementation of the 3% destination marketing fee (DMF) paid by overnight visitors to GTA hotels.

In addition, Tourism Toronto's summer retail campaign includes newly branded "July Unlimited" and "August Unlimited" calendars, or event-based ads, designed to entice visitors to Toronto by promoting timely offers and great experiences. The calendar ads will run concurrently in the border markets, as well as opposite the Toronto Stories ads in the major mid-haul market publications. Out-of-home ads supporting the Toronto Stories campaign will also appear on bus shelters in New York, Chicago & Washington from mid-July through mid-August.

"Our research showed that visitors in the key border markets of Rochester and Buffalo, as well as other Ontario cities, knew of Toronto's multiple offerings but needed the story to be retold in a compelling and action- inspiring way" said Carter.

"Taken together, the summer campaign ads leverage the new Toronto Unlimited brand by telling our story in a cohesive, strategic and powerful way. They serve to reinforce the message that Toronto is an intimate metropolis, a cultural capital and city of imagination."

As part of its immediate roll-out of the new Toronto Unlimited brand, Tourism Toronto has also incorporated the new brand into its website at www.torontotourism.com. The website, which showcases Toronto's story to visitors, meeting & convention planners, tour operators and media, is a first point of contact and an essential component of Tourism Toronto's destination marketing effort on behalf of the GTA. The site was viewed by over 2.4 million people in 2004 - an increase of 57% from the year prior, and was rated the best destination marketing organization website in North America. As the lead marketer for destination travel to the Greater Toronto Area, Tourism Toronto has been vocal in telling Toronto's story to date. Overseas travel into Toronto saw its strongest gains in the first quarter of 2005, up 26% in the first 3 months of 2005. Overall, revised figures for 2004 indicate that there were 18.5 million visitors to Toronto, an increase of 9.4% from the previous year. Recent convention win announcements include the booking of the SUBWAY restaurants for its first-ever International Conference in July 2006, Heart Failure Society of America Annual Scientific Meeting, and the Union for Reform Judaism Biennial General Assembly, for 2009.

The development and launch of the new Toronto Unlimited destination brand represents a milestone for Tourism Toronto, and the achievement of a long- stated strategic priority for the industry-led association.

"Tourism Toronto is proud to have provided leadership in the development of the new Toronto Unlimited brand, made possible in large measure through the continued and stable funding provided by the DMF for strategic destination marketing initiatives" said MacMillan.

About Tourism Toronto
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Tourism Toronto, Toronto's Convention and Visitor Association is an industry association of almost 1,000 members, established to strategically
market the Greater Toronto Region as a remarkable destination for tourists, convention delegates and business travelers around the globe. Tourism Toronto generates the vast majority of its funding from the 3% Destination Marketing Fee collected from the Greater Toronto Region's hotels.

For further information: Media Contact: Chris Winsor, Hill & Knowlton,
(416) 413-4746; Lynne Hamilton, Hill & Knowlton, (416) 413-4740

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