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Canada aggressively reaching out to conv., mtgs. biz.

Article Excerpt
Faced with devastation from the April 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory' syndrome the city of Toronto's visitors and convention bureau, with financial aid from the Ontario government, has kicked tip its marketing efforts several notches to attract meetings and convention business to Canada's largest metropolitan area.

Last year, the city had nine citywide convention cancellations as a result of SARS, although seven have since rebooked for 2004 and beyond. In concrete terms, 307,000 hotel room nights were lost in revenues from meetings, convention and incentive travel in 2003. Financially, more than C$600 million (US$450 million) was lost in direct and indirect tourism revenue from U.S. visitors as a result of SARS and Canada's decision not to participate in the Iraq war. Even more relevant, a rising Canadian dollar resulted in heftier costs for U.S. planners. The U.S. dollar currently is worth about C$1.30, compared with...