Spending on tourism is on the rise in Canada, according to Statistics Canada, giving hope to the industry that business is finally turning around following a slump caused by the recession.
But local tourism officials in Banff and Lake Louise warn that 2011 is likely to be another challenging year, noting that more international visitors are needed to help boost the national park economy.
“The Statistics Canada report is certainly positive, but at the same time, we are extremely cautious on any thoughts that tourism is rebounding,” said Julie Canning, president and CEO of Banff Lake Louise Tourism.
“It’s incredibly important to realize we’re coming out of three consecutive troubling years of tourism. We have a lot of work to do.”
According to the report, tourism spending by both international visitors and Canadians in their own country rose about 1.5 per cent overall in the third quarter from July to September of 2010 over the previous three months.
It was the fifth consecutive quarterly increase following a year-long decline.
“Tourism spending has fully recovered from the year-long downturn that began in the third quarter of 2008,” states the Statistics Canada report, which was released Jan. 10.
“It stood 2.6 per cent higher in the third quarter than the level reached before the decline began.”
Canadians’ spending on tourism in this country increased for the fifth consecutive quarter, advancing 1.6 per cent from the spring months of April, May and June.
A 3.8 per cent gain in spending on passenger airfares, the largest component of tourism spending, was the main contributor to the increase in domestic demand. Spending on bus transportation and vehicle rentals was down.
Notably, Canadians began to spend more on vehicle fuel and travel services, according to the report.
The report indicated spending by international tourists in Canada was up 1.3 per cent in the third quarter, following a small decline in the spring months. Travel from both the United States and overseas countries was up.
Their spending increased across the board, most notably on vehicle fuel, accommodation and travel services.
Banff Mayor Karen Sorensen said the report was positive news for Banff, particularly because it’s Canada’s premiere destination and because tourism is the only industry here.
“It’s nice to see the international market starting to creep up. We depend on Albertans a lot and Canadians a lot, but we also depend on international visitors,” she said.
“If the economy is growing, then that gives us a strong, healthy, complete community, which is really our goal. I would hope that everybody would start to benefit from this and we can put the last couple of years behind us.”
Canning said long haul travel and the international market has not yet rebounded to the levels needed, noting that Americans are still more inclined to stay closer to home.
She said that most of the increases are in the business and conference market, not leisure travel.
“As an international, iconic tourism destination, long haul travelers and international travelers are critical for the sustainability of our destination,” said Canning.
“We welcome Canadians and the regional market and they have certainly been the bright light in 2010, but the lacklustre performance of the international market continues to have a disproportionate impact on our destination.”
While it is good news that Canadians are spending more money on tourism at home, Canning said international travelers spend three times as much as Canadians and regional visitors.
“Whenever we have long haul destination visitors that come, the economic impact of one person, staying for seven nights, versus one person staying for a weekend, has a different economic impact,” she said.
Canning said the outlook for 2011 in Banff and Lake Louise is for another difficult year.
“We are certainly hopeful that we will exceed that plan, but we expect some significant challenges in the first half of the year and we are cautiously optimistic for summer,” she said.
“But, overall, we have to keep this destination viable 365 days of the year, and although there may be bright spots for the year, overall, we know it will be another difficult year.”
