The Canadian Tourism Commission (”CTC”) recently reported:
According to figures reported by Statistics Canada, domestic tourism spending in Canada rose 2.0% in the fourth quarter, bringing the annual gain to 7.7%, the strongest annual advance since 1997. Solid gains in personal disposable income (+6.1%), low unemployment and a healthy labour market stimulated domestic tourism.
Overall tourism spending (resident and non-resident) was up 1.8% in the fourth quarter, the fourteenth consecutive quarterly increase in tourism demand since the second quarter of 2003. The year 2006 was a good one for tourism, as demand climbed 4.6%, the third annual gain since the SARS-related downturn in tourism in 2003.
Tourism spending (in current dollars) in Canada reached $66.9 billion in 2006 with Canadians accounting for three-fourths of the total. This proportion has risen steadily from two-thirds during the late 1990s.
Canadians’ spending on accommodation services and food and beverage services posted growth in the fourth quarter of 1.5% and 1.6%, respectively. The year 2006 was a good one for accommodation services, with domestic demand up 10%, the strongest annual increase in nine years.
Tourism exports were up 1.5% in the fourth quarter of 2006 - despite a decline in the number of international visitors to Canada which was driven by a substantial drop in same-day travel from the US. For the year as a whole, the number of same-day travellers from the US was down 12%, the seventh straight year of decline, bringing the number of these travellers to half of what it was in 1999. The number of travellers staying more than one day was up in the fourth quarter, however, with 3.4% more American visitors and 2.3% more visitors from other countries. On average, overnight visitors stay three or four days in the country and spend eight times as much as same-day visitors.
(Non-resident spending on air transportation (+4.8%) and accommodation (+1.0%) recorded gains, reflecting the greater number of travellers visiting for more than one day. Spending on food and beverage services (-0.2%) and on vehicle fuel (-2.4%) on the other hand was weak, reflecting fewer same-day travellers.)
Tourism GDP advanced 1.9% in the fourth quarter of 2006, nearly five times the 0.4% growth in economy-wide GDP. The strength this quarter came from the transportation sector (+2.2%), due mainly to the solid performance of the airline industry. Accommodation services also posted healthy gains.
The full National Tourism Indicators Quarterly Estimates Fourth Quarter 2006 is available at the CTC Website. See CTC Statistics.
