Spotlight on Toronto

Tourism Toronto is inviting people to embrace Old Man Winter.

The tourism promotion body on Wednesday unveiled its Toronto Spotlight, a promotion that offers 2-for-1 admission at some 35 city attractions and features four “Spotlight Weekends” touting the likes of city cuisine and culture.

“This is an open invitation to visitors to explore, discover and enjoy Toronto at an incredible time of year when the city celebrates brighter lights and longer nights,” said Scott Beck, president of Tourism Toronto. “We’re turning up the volume on winter and showcasing that Toronto is a great place to visit all year round – especially with some of Toronto’s most iconic experiences happening this time of year.”

The city’s iconic CN Tower hosted yesterday’s announcement and is one of the participating attractions. Others include the Ontario Science Centre, Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada, Casa Loma and the Toronto Zoo.

Toronto now hosts some 27.5 million visitors a year, with winter traditionally being the off season. Tourism Toronto notes that there are benefits to winter visits, such as lower hotel rates.

The city has also been seeing a rise in winter activities, with events like the Toronto Light Festival, the Winter Light Exhibition and Icefest. Culinary event Winterlicious runs from Jan. 31 to Feb. 13 and sees more than 200 restaurants participate.

Tourism Toronto hopes the Toronto Spotlight will attract people from both Ontario and Quebec.

“It (Toronto) is as exciting a place to visit in the winter months as the summer months,” Toronto mayor John Tory told the gathering.

Spotlight Weekends will be held Jan. 31 to Feb. 2, Feb. 7-9, Feb. 21-23 and Feb. 28 to March 1.

Spotlight offers can be found on https://www.SeeTorontoNow.com/Spotlight.