Although tourism activity has been picking up for more than a year and tourism spending has been accelerating for five consecutive quarters, it is still more than 21% below pre-pandemic levels.
Posted at 9:00 a.m.
With its latest data, Statistics Canada gives us an idea of the state of the Canadian tourism industry, which suffered greatly at the height of the pandemic.
According to figures compiled by the agency, tourists spent 19.8% more last spring than in winter 2022, totaling $18.7 billion. But it is not because of the grayness of the cold season, because this first quarter of the year had generated higher tourist expenditure than the quarters of 2021. Note that the statistics for the summer are not yet available. available.
Travel restrictions that impacted tourism activities in the first quarter of 2022 were eased effective February 28, allowing the tourism sector to continue its recovery in the second quarter.
Excerpt from Statistics Canada report
Tourism activity in Canada therefore continues its strong recovery, being 21.7% lower than the industry’s best years, i.e. the fourth quarter of 2019.
Slowed by the pandemic for many months, spending on passenger air transport took off with a 65.8% increase. It is this sector that has contributed the most to the growth of the industry.
Accommodation and food services recorded less marked increases of 16.4% and 13.9%.
The return of foreign tourists
Spending by international tourists jumped 71.3% thanks to their stays in the country’s various accommodations and their purchases of plane tickets from Canadian airlines. In all, they spent $3.8 billion. These expenditures accounted for one-fifth of all tourism spending in Canada, but contributed more to overall growth than Canadian tourists in the second quarter, the report points out.
Spending by Canadian tourists rose 11.1% to $14.9 billion. Statistics Canada observed growth in passenger air transport expenditures (+60.5%), which includes international air travel by Canadians using Canadian carriers.
GDP for the whole economy increased by 0.8% in the second quarter and the share of tourism in GDP increased by 0.2 percentage points to 1.5%, explains Statistics Canada. Overall, tourism GDP stood at 77.6% of the level seen before the pandemic.