Comedian Russell Peters named Toronto's tourism envoy

Officials in Toronto are hoping humour will have tourists laughing and flocking to the city after naming comedian Russell Peters as the city's first global ambassador for tourism.

The comedian, known for his off-colour ethnic jokes, was in fine form during the announcement Thursday, riffing on other cities in Canada.

"People keep going up to Vancouver and I'm like, 'Why? Are you a heroin needle? Why do you need to go there? Why don't you come to Toronto, the good city in Canada?' " said Peters, who admits he's quite comfortable putting down other places.

"There are a lot of great international cities in the world, but Toronto's the best," Peters told the Toronto Star.

"Toronto is one of the only cities a black, an Asian, an Indian, gay, straight, Italian, Portuguese, a Jewish or Muslim person can walk into a bar without a punch line happening after … that's just what Toronto is," said Peters.

Tourism Toronto officials say they hope Peters' international image as a kind of hipster comedian who symbolizes the city's multicultural face — his parents hail from Calcutta, India — will attract more people to the city.

"I think he'll blow people out of the water," said Andrew Weir, vice-president, communications, for Tourism Toronto.

While the 37-year-old performer will not be getting a salary, his expenses will be paid as he travels to conventions and events promoting the city. He'll also be trying to recruit other notable Torontonians such as Mike Myers, Jim Carrey and Eugene Levy to boost the city.

Peters said he always tells people to visit Chinatown, Greektown, Little India and Little Italy when they come to Toronto.

In 2007, hotel occupancy for the Toronto region soared to 68.3 per cent, the highest level since 2000, according to Tourism Toronto.