Canada's Tourism Minister Suggests Industry May Have to Rely on Domestic Travel Until Fall
Originally published by TIABC on January 4, 2022
The tourism and hospitality sector has been among those most severely affected by the pandemic. An article published by CBC News on December 27, 2021, explained that the federal minister responsible for the industry, Hon. Randy Boissonnault, said the return of international travellers could still be a long way off due to the uncertainty over the persisting Omicron variant.
In Canada, domestic travellers account for 78% of tourism spending. But international visitors spend an average of $1,047 per trip, while domestic vacationers spend less than a quarter of that.
The sector has contracted by more than 50% over the course of the pandemic, falling from a $105 billion-a-year industry before the pandemic to one worth about $53 billion now. That's a drop of 40% in domestic spending and 8% in spending by international visitors.
Industry stakeholders like TIABC's national counterparts, TIAC, say that the sector faces three significant challenges over the next year such as:
To simply survive until visitors return
The impact of ongoing restrictions on travel
A labour shortage brought on by the pandemic
Industry insiders say that the labour shortage is not being driven solely by slack short-term demand that will correct itself once borders reopen — that it represents a permanent move away from the sector by key workers.
The industry wants the federal government to make adjustments to the temporary foreign worker program and immigration streams to fill the demand for key workers in the sector. Stakeholders say they have to fix the damage done to the reputation of the industry as a result of the pandemic in order to attract new workers.