The tourism industry in Canada will recover from the pandemic by 2025
People continue to travel despite the unstable economy.
Today Destination Canada released its new tourism forecast for Canada. It says, revenue will finally surpass the 2019 level (CA$ 105 billion) and reach CA$ 109.5 billion by the end of 2023. In 2024, the figures will already be slightly above pre-pandemic levels, and a truly triumphant recovery is expected in 2025.
Contrary to earlier and much less optimistic forecasts, the tourism industry in Canada is doing well. Despite tourism coming to a halt in 2020, the industry is expected to grow faster than the overall economy at 5.8% once it recovers.
What does that mean?
Tourism remains one of the most important industries for Canada's economy and development. People still place a high value on travel, despite rising interest rates taking more and more away from disposable income. That's the conclusion of Destination Canada analyst Meaghan Ferrigno:
"Even in today's economic climate, globally consumers are really allocating a larger share of their wallet to experiences over goods. And that's what's really driving to our current state of recovery."
Tourism objectives
In the last two years, vacations have been the main driver of travel. For this destination, tourism reached pre-pandemic levels in 2022 with revenues of CA$ 72.4 billion.
Business travel is only now starting to pick up, which is essential to filling hotels, restaurants and convention centers outside of the hot season.
What about after 2025?
The Canadian tourism sector has a good chance of reaching annual revenues of CA$ 160 billion by 2030, but a minimal slowdown in growth could limit that amount to CA$ 140 billion. And that, taking inflation into account, doesn't look so impressive anymore.
Experts cite attracting more affluent tourists, creating a workforce and attracting more visitors outside of peak season as keys to the industry's growth.
