While gearing up to showcase its best to the world, Canada's tourism industry is facing a few growing pains in an increasingly complex global tourism market.
Secretary of State for Small Business Diane Ablonczy's appointment exclusively to the tourism portfolio last January is an indication of the government's recognition that tourism is critical to the Canadian economy.
With upcoming mega domestic and international events such as the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec and the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in British Columbia, "the eyes of the world will be on Canada," says Ablonczy.
"Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the global market place and presents a tremendous potential and opportunity for Canada."
However, those in the business worry that Canada isn't on the list of the world's top ten destinations for travel. This is a concern, as are falling numbers of U.S. tourists and the continued delay with implementing the Approved Destination Status with China.
Industry Canada says on its website that while other countries are experiencing a surge in tourism, Canada is falling behind.
"Canada is losing market share. After being shaken by the cumulative effects of terrorism and health concerns, the Canadian tourism industry must now contend with the impact of the Canadian dollar."
Further, Industry Canada says the international market "has been a drag on Canada's tourism performance as it has declined at the rate of 2 per cent per year since 2000."
"We are not experiencing our best years as it relates to travel to this country from the U.S., Europe and Asia," says Ken Lambert, chair of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada.
In recent years the Canadian tourism industry has lost foreign tourists due to a range of global and domestic challenges such as the SARS outbreak in 2003 and security responses to 9/11, in particular the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). WHTI requires a passport or government approved ID for Canada/U.S. travel by 1 June 2009.
According to Industry Canada only an estimated 34 per cent of Americans 18 or over hold a valid passport, a factor that negatively impacts travel to Canada.
The vast majority of travelers from the U.S. visit Canada by car or by plane and factors such as the strong Canadian dollar against U.S. currency, gas prices (expected to shoot up to $1.40 liter) and delays at border crossing have resulted in a steady, significant decline.
With a rapidly expanding middle class with disposable income in many developing nations in Asia and South America, Canada is not earning new and more foreign currency from tourists, says Lambert.
And with increasing new tourist destinations in developing countries, "it is a much more competitive market these days, our product is much more under scrutiny and Canada is a much more expensive country to visit."
Lambert believes the general downturn in the U.S. economy and persistent confusion over identification requirements at the border have resulted in a "double digit drop [in U.S. tourists] year over year in the last couple of years."
Ablonczy agrees that travel from the U.S. has declined due to WHTI and other factors, including confusion due to policy changes. However, her department is working to sort things out for the traveling public. "You can't wave a magic wand and make all the issues go away, we're making progress issue by issue," she says.
Impending change in the in the U.S. administration provides "an opportunity for fresh eyes on some of these issues because both of our countries are very concerned about security issues. And we are also each other's best customer, and that's why we want to make sure that the borders are secure and open."
Special programs such as the electronic passport – valid for 10 years instead of the current five and a technologically upgraded driver's licence in lieu of a passport are in the works, says Ablonczy.
However, Liberal tourism critic Mark Eyking says it's time Canada started branching out instead of relying so heavily on tourists from across the border.
"The tourist industry in most of the Western world is expanding at least 10 per cent on average and we're not. We're relying too much on the U.S. tourist industry and not capitalizing on other markets in Europe and Asia."
Eyking says desperately needed bi-lateral air agreements are also keeping away foreign tourists who prefer to land in the cheaper U.S. airports of Seattle, Buffalo and Chicago which have cheaper landing fees and more direct flight connections.
That's also being worked on, says Ablonczy. "We're moving strongly on the open skies agreement with the U.S. and we're negotiating one with the European Union."
Ablonczy adds that apart from the Building Canada Plan for infrastructure which indirectly benefits tourism, the government spends $400 million a year on the industry.
Lambert believes the tourism industry needs a national tourism strategy and should align its resources better. "A lot of dollars are sitting in the provincial and local treasuries for marketing and it's not organized."
Statistics Canada 2006 figures show the country's largest tourist market continues to be the U.S., followed by the U.K., Japan, France, Germany, Mexico, South Korea and Australia. China ranked ninth in tourist numbers to Canada.
Another drawback has been that China is dragging its feet in processing the Approved Destination Status for Canada negotiated by the former Liberal government in 2005.
Canada remains one of the few western nations without the agreement. With an estimated 100 million outbound Chinese tourists seeking leisure and recreational travel, it's a staggering loss of revenue, says the industry.
Lambert calls it "an unfortunate story," noting that China's human rights issues, the crackdown in Tibet and Olympic torch relay protests have been debated in the U.S., France and elsewhere but only Canada is being discriminated against by China.
Still, the numbers from China are up, says Ablonczy. "Our biggest increase from overseas travel is from China, it's up 21 per cent from last year."
The World Tourism Organization estimates that by 2020, China will have 100 million outbound tourists per year, making it the fourth largest source of tourists in the world.
Lambert says government's approach to bringing in more short-term workers and immigration reforms to reduce the backlog will ease the labor shortage in the tourism industry.
He says Ablonczy has made herself available and her role has been impressive. "She has done virtually everything we've asked her to do."
Feeds