The second largest country in the world, whose territory extends across 9.9 million square kilometers, can now be covered in one hour and in a space close to 4,200 square meters. The first tourist attraction to open amid the pandemic, Little Canada, recreates the country’s most iconic landmarks to scale, including Niagara Falls, the capital Ottawa, Quebec City and Toronto.
As of today, the investment is close to US $ 20 million, however, the plan includes the construction of other cities and representative sites, such as Vancouver, Montreal and the northern territories.
The project was led by a Canadian nationalized German. Inspired by the miniature museum in Hamburg, Miniatur Wunderland, Jean-Louis Brenninkmeijer wanted to recreate a similar experience so that local and foreign visitors can dimension Canada’s cultural and tourist offerings. Brenninkmeijer came to this country in 1999, and belongs to one of the most recognized families in Germany, who are the owners of the C&A clothing stores, popular in Europe. His vision was joined by the financial support of some investors, who bet on the idea, even in times of high uncertainty.
“You have to see it to believe it. If there’s one thing I learned from this 10-year journey, it’s that the photos and videos don’t do it justice. The team has exceeded my expectations 10 times. The care and attention to detail, precision, animations and little hidden treasures for all to discover. No details have been omitted, ”says Brenninkmeijer.
And Little Canada the days last 15 minutes and each city was recreated in a different station. In Ottawa every night Canada Day is commemorated, while throughout the exhibition allusion is made to various activities that show part of the history and culture of the country, such as, for example, the first NBA title of the Toronto Raptors, in 2019, and the celebration of Oktoberfest in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, in Ontario, which is considered the largest in the world outside of Germany.
In the same way, visitors can be part of the permanent exhibition, since they have the option of being reproduced to scale through 3D printers, and choose where in the country they want to be immortalized. The museum is located in the heart of Toronto, the fourth-largest city in North America.
Tourism and vaccination
Canada leads in the application of vaccines against covid-19, and is close to having 70% of its population fully immunized. Although these numbers are positive, the country does not want to lose the ground gained by those who do not want to be vaccinated. As major banks announced that vaccination is mandatory for all their employees, Toronto Mayor John Tory noted that officials municipalities must be fully immunized against covid-19 before October 30.
“The city has made tremendous progress in the fight against the pandemic, but the delta variant seriously threatens said effort,” insisted the president.
And it is precisely this dynamic of mass vaccination that has made it possible to relax restrictions and begin to reactivate an industry that, before the pandemic, had been breaking records in the number of foreign visitors.
In 2019, 22.1 million people from different parts of the world visited the country, so now the bet is to recover lost ground and return to these figures, hence this new attraction that invites you to visit Canada in miniature, and the Toronto Film Festival (Tiff), which will be held in person again in September, are seen as the resurrection of a sector hit hard in the last 17 months.
On average, seven out of 10 visitors who enter Canada come from the United States, which is why since last August 9, those who live in that part of the world have been allowed to enter by land, although that country still maintains closed its border crossings to Canadians wishing to make tourism in the United States.
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