Tourism: Canada’s Engine for Growth
The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC)’s newly released “2014 Annual Report: Tourism as Canada’s Engine for Growth” puts the spotlight on a pivotal year for the Canadian tourism industry, showing that all major tourism indicators for Canada rose, especially tourism revenue, GDP, employment and arrivals.
CTC’s overseas leisure markets led the charge, delivering a 10% year-on-year rise in visitors to Canada.
According to CTC officials, international consumers had an insatiable appetite for travel in 2014 – the latest World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) report showed that there were more than 1.1 billion global travellers, up 4.7% on the previous year. This surge is being fuelled by emerging economies and a growing global middle class, particularly in China and India, CTC markets that saw growth of 29% and 19% respectively in 2014.
Overall tourism export revenue reached $17.3 billion, maintaining Canada’s tourism industry as one of the country’s crucial economic drivers and number one service export, with almost 627,000 jobs directly attributable to tourism. CTC also continued to support Canada’s Federal Tourism Strategy, building new strategic alliances with other government departments helping facilitate the hugely successful CAN+ visa program in Mexico and India.
James Moore, Minister of Industry, has just tabled the report in Parliament.
“2014 was a strong year for the tourism sector in Canada, with particularly strong increases in arrivals from the key markets where the CTC invests in marketing and promotion with our partners,” says Scott Allison, chairperson (interim) of CTC’s board of directors. “Canada is reasserting itself as a global destination and we expect those results to continue in 2015.”
The 2014 annual report highlights the financial benefits for Canada that are directly attributable to CTC’s 2014 marketing activities, including:
- $925 million in tourism revenue for Canada’s economy
- $122 million toward federal tax revenue
- 7,500 jobs created or protected in Canadian tourism businesses
The report showcases some of CTC’s best 2014 activities and campaigns. CTC helped China become Canada’s second-largest overseas market with an innovative content marketing initiative, CTCTV, an online biweekly TV program covering travel in Canada. CTC’s Business Events Canada team helped bring the annual TED conference to Canada, highlighting the country’s intellectual capital to global leaders in business, arts, science and academia.
“Working in partnership in 12 markets globally, the ‘sun never sets’ on the CTC’s work as we promote Canada as a premier travel destination,” says CTC president David Goldstein. “We are proud to share the results of these efforts for the past year. I want to thank provincial, territorial and destination marketing organizations, and all of our private-sector partners across Canada who continue to work with us.”
