Question Period Note: NEW FEDERAL TOURISM GROWTH STRATEGY

How will the new Federal Tourism Growth Strategy support the tourism sector?

• Budget 2022 committed to the development of a new Federal Tourism Growth Strategy to plot a course for growth, investment, and stability for the sector.

• To develop the new Strategy, the Minister of Tourism is undertaking consultations with tourism stakeholders across the country.

• The engagement process will include regional roundtables as well as thematic roundtables on tourism investment, workforce, and rural, sport, Indigenous, cultural, and culinary tourism.

• Budget 2022 proposed to provide $4.8 million to Indigenous Services Canada for the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada to support its operations. It also proposed funding of $55 million for Parks Canada to maintain and enhance the Trans Canada Trail, as well as $2 million to contribute to building new trails in and around the Rouge National Urban Park, which will help to increase access to Canada’s national parks for both domestic and international travelers. The Budget also proposed $50 million to Canadian Heritage for arts, culture and heritage organizations.

• Budget 2022 also announced the Minister of Tourism will work with the tourism industry, provinces and territories, and other stakeholders on the new Federal Tourism Growth Strategy. The engagement process will include regional roundtables as well as thematic roundtables on tourism investment, workforce, and rural, sport, Indigenous, cultural, and culinary tourism.

• In addition, Destination Canada is expected to spend more than $48 million for marketing campaigns in the United States in order to draw in more visitors and increase economic activity.

• The government will continue to work closely with industry partners and other orders of government to increase innovation and digitalization in the sector. For example, the Canada Digital Adoption Program is open for applications to help support tourism businesses in their digital adoption journey.

• Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada’s tourism sector enjoyed several years of tremendous success. Tourist arrivals grew by approximately 3.5 percent annually over the decade leading up to 2019. In that year, Canada welcomed a high of 22.1 million tourists, the third consecutive year of record-breaking arrivals. Tourism outpaced the growth of the Canadian economy in each of the five years leading up to 2019, and achieved greater overall growth over the previous 10 years.

• In 2019, the Government of Canada launched Creating Middle Class Jobs: A Federal Tourism Growth Strategy. The objective of the Strategy was to unleash the potential of tourism to drive economic growth and job creation in all regions of the country. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, severely affected the tourism sector. In 2021, revenues declined by 45 percent compared to 2019, from $105 billion to $58 billion. As well, jobs directly attributable to tourism decreased by over 20 percent, from 696,400 in 2019 to 498,500 in 2021.

• Now, as travel resumes safely and the sector begins to turn the corner, there is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for tourism to not only recover, but grow even stronger. As it recovers, Canada’s tourism sector remains a key economic driver and job creator, especially for young and rural Canadians. As announced in Budget 2022, one of many measures that will help fuel the resurgence of tourism is a new Federal Tourism Growth Strategy.

• The 2019 Strategy’s targets will need to be revised as the Canadian tourism sector must recover and rebuild before it can again see the record-breaking growth achieved in the years preceding the pandemic. The new Strategy will guide the future of this critically important sector and address important topics, such as workforce challenges and investment attraction, which remain significant issues since the first Strategy launched in 2019.

• The government will work with businesses, provincial and territorial counterparts, and Indigenous partners on a new Strategy that plots a course for growth, investment, and stability. Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada is conducting a public consultation on the new Federal Tourism Growth Strategy, which was launched on May 18, 2022. From May to June, the Minister will also be holding roundtable discussions with stakeholders to help shape the new Strategy. The following topics will be discussed at the roundtables:
o Rural needs
o Investment attraction and destination development
o Sports tourism
o Indigenous tourism
o Culture and community
o Workforce
o Culinary tourism