Planet Hollywood is closed. That place used to be teaming with american tourists.

As if the loss of theatre, nightlife and big festivals werent telling enough, planet hollywood in my opinion shows how lost we are on the world tourism stage.

Whats to blame?

4 things in my opinion:

1) Loss of nightlife. I rememeber in the 90s there used to be thousands of americans for just one massive rave. Well the government took care of that didnt they? Smoking bans dont help either.

2) SARS - Thanks to CNN for that one

3) Our shit talking government - you dont think americans get offended when our prime minister and mayor talk shit about americans? Think again


4) high dollar. Since toronto doesnt have much to offer anymore in the first place, why come here when it's more expensive now than in the US? I find american travel a bargain now with the high dollar which means americans must find it ridiculously expensive. An interesting sidenote is that many prices are only slightly lower than here but what makes a huge difference when i calculate prices is the difference in sales tax.


What would i do if i ran things?:

1) make it easier for nightlife to thrive once again in toronto. drop the smoking laws, extend drinking hours, and allow permits for festivals and raves again as we used to. Id amend bylaws in certain neighbourhoods to accomodate for noise like what originally happened in the entertainment district when that area was a direlect wasteland. Funny how after nightlife spurred development there they are now trying to kill the golden goose. Id find away to move the squatters off toronto island and make the portlands into a huge multi-use entertainment zone with NO RESIDENTIAL DDEVELOPMENT ALLOWED. Any residential development nearby would be forced to sign a "noise clause" understanding that there will be noise eminating from this district and that they better live with it or not move in.

2) put together a GOOD tourism package. Not a campaign with polar bears and the CN tower and the token minorities showing how wonderfully multicultural we are. Tourists dont care about that stuff. Id highlight the obvious like the CN tower but then id heavily promote toronto as a party spot with more lenient laws than the US, better shopping, and great theatre and authentic food. This is what toronto USED to be known as. Of course we wouldnt be able to promote these things till we win them back.

3) easier sales tax rebate -- the way it is now is too complicated. Id have businesses offer the rebate forms right on the spot with instructions on how to claim the rebate at the border. Right now its up to you to know which is exempt and what is not and most people dont even know they can get a rebate. In europe and argentina the shops that offer tax free have a tax free sign right on their window.


Toronto is hurting and i put the blame directly on politicians who seem to be doing everything they can to kill tourism. Well guess what? its working.

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quote:

Originally posted by jester Everything in this country is illegal.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery…" Winston Churchill

‎"If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law" - Winston Churchill

yeah i heard, thats why we're having the first lord of the rings theatre show?? to try and get the tourism back into to canada/toronto.

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Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.~ Buddha

trance: (n)
a feeling of invicibility which you cannot escape as you succumb to the onslaught of sound.

we need more than just theatre. We need to change the way this city thinks.

even some of my american friends dont come here as much anymore.

They site the lack of good parties and the high dollar as reasons.

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quote:

Originally posted by jester Everything in this country is illegal.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery…" Winston Churchill

‎"If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law" - Winston Churchill

Hey, you still have The Hockey Hall of Fame - which of course belongs in the Mecka of Hockey, Montreal...so while you're still at it, please close HHoF down as well. I'm sure the city and the people of Montreal will be more than happy to take it over

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quote:

Originally posted by Jayx1 we need more than just theatre. We need to change the way this city thinks. even some of my american friends dont come here as much anymore. They site the lack of good parties and the high dollar as reasons.

The strong dollar is exactly whats right with this country. You cannot lump that in with the town's mentality. Completely seperate issue.

I do wish there was more to do in this city as well. It seems like other than bars, clubs and places to eat, there really isn't much to do. Hence why I spend so much time chillin with friends. There are some festivals in the summer, but if you are not ethnically adventurous, you are stuck.

what im saying is that tourists would still come even with the high dollar if we had something to offer. But we dont anymore.

As for the ethnic festivals. The only reason politicians support those is because if they were against them people would accuse them of everything under the sun from racism to homophobia.

Imagine if straight white guys had parties where they exposed themselves on the street or shot each other at parades? It would be game over.

Im not against gay pride or caribana at all. Im just saying that because they are special interests they get left alone. Which is a sad commentary on the double standard that exists in 2006.

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quote:

Originally posted by jester Everything in this country is illegal.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery…" Winston Churchill

‎"If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law" - Winston Churchill

quote:

Originally posted by Jayx1 what im saying is that tourists would still come even with the high dollar if we had something to offer. But we dont anymore. As for the ethnic festivals. The only reason politicians support those is because if they were against them people would accuse them of everything under the sun from racism to homophobia. Imagine if straight white guys had parties where they exposed themselves on the street or shot each other at parades? It would be game over. Im not against gay pride or caribana at all. Im just saying that because they are special interests they get left alone. Which is a sad commentary on the double standard that exists in 2006.

Yes but being a straight white guy, what exactly are you celebrating and making people aware of? These festivals have themes, and a reason for existing. I do agree that there are some gross double standards which take place, such as the nudity at gay pride, but the good of these events far outweighs the bad, and that is why the are kept around.

I do not go to Caribana, but I do see it as an important part of the Toronto/Canadian culture.

BTW - I never saw the appeal of Planet Hollywood. Cash grab in the first place if you ask me.

quote:

Originally posted by Orko Yes but being a straight white guy, what exactly are you celebrating and making people aware of? These festivals have themes, and a reason for existing. I do agree that there are some gross double standards which take place, such as the nudity at gay pride, but the good of these events far outweighs the bad, and that is why the are kept around. I do not go to Caribana, but I do see it as an important part of the Toronto/Canadian culture. BTW - I never saw the appeal of Planet Hollywood. Cash grab in the first place if you ask me.

Does a celebration have to have a purpose? Whatever happened to just celebrating for the sake of celebrating?

The good outweighs the bad at most gatherings yet our city/province/country makes it very difficult for them to happen. Just look at how WEMF and Wakestock were treated last year. If WEMF had been a gay pride event the premier probably would have been there dancing his ass off with the media in tow.

And yes planet hollywood was a waste of money but americans loved to waste their money there. It's demise is a another sign that americans dont come here anymore.

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quote:

Originally posted by jester Everything in this country is illegal.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery…" Winston Churchill

‎"If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law" - Winston Churchill

I think PLanet Hollywood died because the food sucked. I went there once and that was it for me.

quote:

Originally posted by itikia I think PLanet Hollywood died because the food sucked. I went there once and that was it for me.

no doubt it sucked. As does hard rock. Yet every american tourist from the midwest that came to town could usually be spotted at either place.

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quote:

Originally posted by jester Everything in this country is illegal.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery…" Winston Churchill

‎"If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law" - Winston Churchill

quote:

Originally posted by Jayx1 Does a celebration have to have a purpose? Whatever happened to just celebrating for the sake of celebrating? The good outweighs the bad at most gatherings yet our city/province/country makes it very difficult for them to happen. Just look at how WEMF and Wakestock were treated last year. If WEMF had been a gay pride event the premier probably would have been there dancing his ass off with the media in tow. And yes planet hollywood was a waste of money but americans loved to waste their money there. It's demise is a another sign that americans dont come here anymore.

Yeah festivals usually do have a point! What celebrations do you know of, that are just done for the hell of it? People need a prupose to unite around, and celebrate together, so they feel like they are part of something. They want to feel like they belong, and can celebrate that togetherness.

And at least some festivals servive. It seems like you are asking for uniform rules and attitudes, which in a perfect world would be great. But to me, it seems as if that was applied, all celebrations would be shut down.

Honestly you cannot compare the scale of WEMF and Caribana. 5000 people over 3 days, vs 1million+ on one day!

we used to have raves at least once a month with 20,000 people or more similar to creamfields etc.... we used to have huge parties at the docks as well.

Wakestock was huge until politicians put the damper on it and turned it into the watered down joke that it was last summer.

There never used to be ethnic or political reasons. Just fun and music.

gay pride wasnt always so big. I suspect part of the reason it has caught on with mainstream is because most other outlets have been shut down so its the one venue a year where people can let loose since politicians wont dare touch it.

i honestly think our uptight laws are most of the reason why torontonians themselves are uptight.

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quote:

Originally posted by jester Everything in this country is illegal.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery…" Winston Churchill

‎"If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law" - Winston Churchill