G.T.A. Cashing In On Caribana
Posted August 4, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Close to one million people are expected to fill the area along Lake Shore Boulevard to take in Saturday’s Caribana parade and local business owners are predicting this weekend’s surge in tourism will fill their tills with cash.
The annual celebration of Caribbean culture is the biggest festival of its kind in North America and it’s also a massive moneymaker.
Restaurants around the city are sure to see their numbers go up, especially establishments right in the centre of the action, like the Hard Rock Cafe at Yonge-Dundas Square.
“We look to do 30, 40 percent more than a normal weekend,” the restaurant’s general manager Paul Colicchio predicts.
Hotels are also filling fast.
“In our reservations we see a lot of people coming from Michigan state and around that area,” Ashok Baghel, general manager of the Holiday Inn on King, explained.
The massive Caribbean festival kicked off a few weeks ago, but the highlight of the event – Saturday’s parade – is free, which gives tourists in town for the lakeside party even more opportunity to spend some cash.
Stephen Weir, one of the organizers of the Toronto Caribbean Carnival, formerly Caribana, said each year the event attracts more tourists and each year it brings more money into the city.
“Fifteen years ago we were saying about a quarter-billion and we’re way past that, probably half a billion dollars,” he said.
Saturday’s parade kicks off at 10am at the CNE and winds along Lake Shore until Parkside Drive. For more information on this weekend’s events, click here.
