Mrs. Edge
Bono's Belly Dancing Friend
Living in Toronto these days is highly depressing. We get deluged with the most depressing news....the world is treating us like we live in a leper colony.
Wildly popular productions like The Lion King and Mamma Mia are closing, one completely, the other for the summer at a time when they would be crammed with tourists.
Ireland decreed that they wouldn't let ANY Canadians come to the Special Olympics....a stance that has softened today, where they just exclude Toronto.
Students can't get any summer jobs in the tourist industry and one group of students who were given a job placement in the States had their placement rescinded because of this, even though they live on the other end of the country. Now they can't graduate without this placement.
The ignorance and hysteria is really ridiculous, even though yesterday The World Health Organization said they had no plans to issue another travel advisory warning people against visiting Toronto. Studies now show that no matter what we do, people still refuse to come and visit.
Not that there's anything you guys can do about it, but I'm just venting. Here's an article that came out yesterday.....
RATS (Reluctant American Tourist Syndrome)
MARTIN KNELMAN
My evidence is anecdotal but alarming.
A travel article in the New York Times advises readers to head for Montreal, because it has all the advantages of being in Canada ? but is free of SARS.
Screenwriter Arlene Sarner, who flew in for Sunday's invitational premiere of Gail Singer's marvellously enjoyable documentary Watching Movies (which should reach the public next fall), reports there were only 20 passengers on the normally packed flight from L.A.
A colleague e-mails that at a recent L.A. dinner party, Topic A was Toronto's second SARS outbreak. A film executive who had been at the Cannes film festival flew straight to Toronto for his wedding. To his dismay, a large contingent of guests, including his entire New York office, failed to show up for the big day. A publicist at the dinner predicted that this year a lot of Americans will skip the Toronto International Film Festival and go the Telluride Film Festival instead.
At the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake on the Saturday of a U.S. long weekend (Memorial Day), there were few American visitors.
Only a few weeks ago, the challenge was to mount a marketing campaign that would show the world there was no reason not to come to Toronto. At that point, there was reason to believe the 2003 summer tourist season could be salvaged.
Americans just needed to be reassured. Mike Myers made a special appearance on The Tonight Show to spread the word. If only we could stage a mammoth concert to boost Toronto, possibly with the Rolling Stones, surely the problem would be fixed.
Then came the second SARS outbreak ? and everything changed.
Two weeks ago, the Ontario government was on the verge of launching a major ad campaign in Michigan, New York and Ohio to draw tourists. It was called off when officials realized the ads would be appearing on the same TV channels as news reports of Toronto's latest SARS setback.
David Mirvish had enjoyed huge success selling theatre tickets for May and June through his "Time for a Little T.O." promotional bargain package, including hotel rooms and restaurant meals. He was going to do something similar for July and August targeted at Americans ? until research indicated resistance to Toronto is so high that bargain prices wouldn't help.
Instead, he announced The Lion King will close on Sept. 28. In truth, even before SARS I, the big Disney musical was showing the symptoms of a disease that afflicts all shows sooner or later ? Sagging Advance Sales Syndrome (SASS). But with a boost from a normal summer's influx of Americans, it would likely have staggered on until January.
My conclusion: This year the Americans aren't coming, period. It's time to stop kidding ourselves, face the nasty reality, and move to plan B.
The Shaw Festival and Stratford Festival, which derive 40 per cent of their box office revenue from U.S. patrons, are likely to face deficits in the millions ? and may need bail-out funding.
If SARS isn't eradicated by mid-July, we may have to contemplate a film festival without visiting stars, directors, buyers, sellers and journalists.
All we can do now is figure out how to survive without American visitors in 2003, and who's going to pick up the bill for their no-show. Then we should plan several knockout attractions for the 2004, plus a smart ad campaign, to lure them back.
Wildly popular productions like The Lion King and Mamma Mia are closing, one completely, the other for the summer at a time when they would be crammed with tourists.
Ireland decreed that they wouldn't let ANY Canadians come to the Special Olympics....a stance that has softened today, where they just exclude Toronto.
Students can't get any summer jobs in the tourist industry and one group of students who were given a job placement in the States had their placement rescinded because of this, even though they live on the other end of the country. Now they can't graduate without this placement.
The ignorance and hysteria is really ridiculous, even though yesterday The World Health Organization said they had no plans to issue another travel advisory warning people against visiting Toronto. Studies now show that no matter what we do, people still refuse to come and visit.
Not that there's anything you guys can do about it, but I'm just venting. Here's an article that came out yesterday.....
RATS (Reluctant American Tourist Syndrome)
MARTIN KNELMAN
My evidence is anecdotal but alarming.
A travel article in the New York Times advises readers to head for Montreal, because it has all the advantages of being in Canada ? but is free of SARS.
Screenwriter Arlene Sarner, who flew in for Sunday's invitational premiere of Gail Singer's marvellously enjoyable documentary Watching Movies (which should reach the public next fall), reports there were only 20 passengers on the normally packed flight from L.A.
A colleague e-mails that at a recent L.A. dinner party, Topic A was Toronto's second SARS outbreak. A film executive who had been at the Cannes film festival flew straight to Toronto for his wedding. To his dismay, a large contingent of guests, including his entire New York office, failed to show up for the big day. A publicist at the dinner predicted that this year a lot of Americans will skip the Toronto International Film Festival and go the Telluride Film Festival instead.
At the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake on the Saturday of a U.S. long weekend (Memorial Day), there were few American visitors.
Only a few weeks ago, the challenge was to mount a marketing campaign that would show the world there was no reason not to come to Toronto. At that point, there was reason to believe the 2003 summer tourist season could be salvaged.
Americans just needed to be reassured. Mike Myers made a special appearance on The Tonight Show to spread the word. If only we could stage a mammoth concert to boost Toronto, possibly with the Rolling Stones, surely the problem would be fixed.
Then came the second SARS outbreak ? and everything changed.
Two weeks ago, the Ontario government was on the verge of launching a major ad campaign in Michigan, New York and Ohio to draw tourists. It was called off when officials realized the ads would be appearing on the same TV channels as news reports of Toronto's latest SARS setback.
David Mirvish had enjoyed huge success selling theatre tickets for May and June through his "Time for a Little T.O." promotional bargain package, including hotel rooms and restaurant meals. He was going to do something similar for July and August targeted at Americans ? until research indicated resistance to Toronto is so high that bargain prices wouldn't help.
Instead, he announced The Lion King will close on Sept. 28. In truth, even before SARS I, the big Disney musical was showing the symptoms of a disease that afflicts all shows sooner or later ? Sagging Advance Sales Syndrome (SASS). But with a boost from a normal summer's influx of Americans, it would likely have staggered on until January.
My conclusion: This year the Americans aren't coming, period. It's time to stop kidding ourselves, face the nasty reality, and move to plan B.
The Shaw Festival and Stratford Festival, which derive 40 per cent of their box office revenue from U.S. patrons, are likely to face deficits in the millions ? and may need bail-out funding.
If SARS isn't eradicated by mid-July, we may have to contemplate a film festival without visiting stars, directors, buyers, sellers and journalists.
All we can do now is figure out how to survive without American visitors in 2003, and who's going to pick up the bill for their no-show. Then we should plan several knockout attractions for the 2004, plus a smart ad campaign, to lure them back.
)
Ozzy 
Just got back from an all staff meeting at the National Ballet School. SARS is costing us $20,000 from a rental of our theatre, because the company who was going to rent it has pulled out, fearing lack of attendees at their show. 
