Can the Taylor Swift effect jolt Toronto’s sputtering tourism industry?

Visitors injected billions of dollars into Toronto's economy last year, a new study finds, but tourists have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels amid signs of slowing growth. Some 26.5 million visitors arrived in 2023 and spent $8.4 billion — the bulk of it on hotels, restaurants and transportation — according to a report from Tourism Economics. However, tourist numbers fell short of the high water mark in 2019, when 28 million people descended on the city, according to tourism organization Destination Toronto, which commissioned the study. Last year, 88 per cent of visitors were Canadian, while nearly seven per…