Canadian Tourism Reaching New Heights

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Oct. 28, 2014) - Industry Canada

The Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism) (Agriculture), today announced the results of an impressive summer tourism season in Canada.

From June through August of this year, Canada saw an increase of 12.7 percent in arrivals from the Canadian Tourism Commission's (CTC) markets. The CTC operates international leisure market promotional activities in 10 countries around the world.

Over this same period, Canada welcomed 3.2 percent more international overnight visitors than the same period last year.

According to Statistics Canada, in August 2014, overseas arrivals reached their highest number since recordkeeping began in the 1970s. In fact, since the beginning of this year, the number of overseas arrivals has climbed more than 9 percent compared to last year.

Tourism makes an important contribution to the Canadian economy, with businesses large and small employing hundreds of thousands of workers in communities across the country. It provides more than 618,000 direct jobs. Last year, tourism revenues in Canada reached $84.5 billion.

Quick facts

• Between January and August 2014, Canada welcomed over 12 million international arrivals.
• Canada has attracted 30 percent more visitors from China in the first eight months of this year (74,200) for a total of 320,000 and 21 percent more from India (22,000) for a total of 128,500.
• The number of Mexican travellers is also on the rise, with nearly 14 percent more than in the first eight months of 2013 (15,300) for a total of 127,400.

Quotes

"The tourism industry is an important part of Canada's economy. The CTC has delivered impressive results and continues to leverage partnerships with the provinces and territories and the private sector to brand Canada as a top destination for visitors from around the globe."

- The Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism) (Agriculture)

"These exceptional numbers demonstrate that the Canadian tourism industry's resilience has paid off in an increasingly competitive environment. It is very much a team effort, with our provincial/territorial and destination partners, along with small to medium-sized tourism businesses, all pulling together across Canada."

- Greg Klassen, President and CEO (Interim), Canadian Tourism Commission

Associated links

- Canadian Tourism Commission

- Statistics Canada

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