Visitors from the United States already made up 91 percent of the 45 million nonresident visitors to Canada in 2002, according to the Tourism Industry Association of Canada. Montreal lost $17.1 million in expenditures, while Vancouver lost $39.4 million, losses of 13.5 percent and 22 percent, respectively, compared with the same period last year.īut whether the new law will help boost tourism enough to make Canada the Las Vegas of the North remains to be seen. "It's like our second home."Īfter suffering a dramatic drop in tourism because of the SARS scare and the economic downturn, Canada's recent decision to allow same-sex couples to marry legally could be one catalyst to help the country's ailing tourism industry.įor the four weeks from April 6 to June 11, tourism expenditures in Toronto alone fell 45 percent, or an estimated $97 million. "We do enjoy it, and even more so now," says Arnold, a 54-year-old artist. Now with their decision to get married, the city will become even more special for the pair. Their first visit was three years ago, when they decided to come up for vacation and discovered the city's vibrant Gay Pride Week, which is one of the largest in North America.
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This wasn't the first time the couple had been to Toronto.
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"I guess you could call it a shotgun marriage." "We didn't come up here with that intention at all," says Turley, a 47-year-old English professor at the University of Connecticut in Storrs.