Contrastive Analysis on Recommendations for Tourists Visiting Culturally Diverse Metropoles: Brussels vs. Toronto

Abstract

It is rare that one would ever find themselves mentioning Toronto and Brussels in the same sentence other than perhaps when talking about one topic: demographic makeup. But when showcasing their home to the world, how do locals use multiculturalism (or not) to talk about or promote a cultural experience? To further investigate any potential latent differences and similarities, TripAdvisor forums pertaining to tourism in both Toronto and Brussels were analysed. The data retrieved throughout these forums served as the backbone for a survey to be administered to locals from each city. The instruments aimed to identify trends on whether locals from either city promote multicultural activities and food or rather perhaps elements of national culture. The study revealed that there were no overwhelming differences between the way locals from either Toronto or Brussels sell their city to tourists. Noteworthy was the discovery that Brussels locals who speak three or more languages responded with more positive attitudes towards encouraging locals to explore all neighbourhoods of their city and to try ethnic food. Along those same lines, when asked about the types of cuisine a local would recommend, nearly all Toronto participants indicated that they would suggest that tourists eat ethnic food whereas almost all those from Brussels responded that they would recommend Belgian food.