Perhaps no sector was harder hit by the COVID-19 pandemic than the tourism sector. Indeed, many key travel metrics have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels. As the world marks World Tourism Day on September 27, let’s take a guided tour of our travel data.
International travel—inbound and outbound—improved in 2023 compared with 2022; however, it has not fully recovered from the effects of the travel restrictions put in place in 2020.
In 2023, Canada welcomed 74.5 million international arrivals (non-resident visitors and returning Canadian residents), almost 1.5 times more compared with 2022, and over four-fifths (84.1%) the number of arrivals in 2019.
Although recovery rates have begun to slow, tourism trends continue to improve and in some cases the rates have exceeded the number of trips and travel expenditures seen in 2019.
To further explore these trends and interact with tourism data, please visit the Frontier Counts: Interactive Dashboard.
Domestic tourism spending exceeding pre-pandemic levels
In 2023, Canadian residents took 285.1 million trips and spent $73.5 billion while travelling domestically. Spending was up 6.5% from 2022 and was 28.2% higher than in 2019, prior to the pandemic.
Tourism sector growing at a faster pace than the economy overall in the second quarter of 2024
Tourism recovery is not confined to travel alone but also extends to employment and economic growth.
Our national tourism indicators look at the contribution tourism makes to the Canadian economy overall. In the second quarter, the tourism sector contributed 1.60% to Canada’s economic activity.
Tourism spending in Canada grew by 0.7% in the second quarter of 2024 (seasonally adjusted and adjusted for price change), but spending remained below (-6.4 %) the pre-pandemic levels reported during the fourth quarter of 2019.
Tourism gross domestic product (+0.8%) rose at a faster pace than the economy overall (+0.5%) in the second quarter of 2024.
Employment within the tourism industry rose by 0.3% in the second quarter, with most of the increase due to more jobs in recreation and entertainment, air transportation and food services.
Travel heats up in August, but border crossings remain below pre-pandemic levels
Statistics Canada works closely with the Canadian Border Security Agency to count the number of arrivals entering or returning to Canada.
In August 2024, the preliminary number of international arrivals in Canada by air and automobile increased 9.0% year over year to 7.7 million.
By automobile, there were 2.9 million Canadian-resident return trips from the United States in August 2024 and 1.9 million US-resident trips to Canada.
US-resident trips to Canada by automobile were up 12.9% year over year in August 2024 to reach 84.4% of the pre-pandemic level observed in August 2019.
Canadian-resident return trips from visits to the United States by automobile were up 5.1% year over year in August 2024, reaching 89.0% of the level observed in August 2019, before the pandemic.
Meanwhile, the number of Canadian-resident return trips from abroad by air reached 1.7 million in August 2024, a 10.0% increase from August 2023 and 9.8% higher than the 1.2 million trips recorded in August 2019.
The number of non-resident arrivals by air was up 11.9% year over year to 1.2 million in August 2024, reaching 93.9% of the August 2019 pre-pandemic level. These air arrivals were almost evenly split between US residents and residents of countries other than the United States.
Workers in the accommodation services subsector make half the national average in weekly earnings
Accommodation and food services is the sector most closely linked to the tourism industry. Just under 1.3 million Canadians were working in the accommodation and food services sector in June 2024 (seasonally adjusted).
There were 193,431 people working in accommodation services in June, while 1.1 million were working at food services and drinking places.
Workers in the accommodation services subsector were making $676.14 per week in June, while employees at food services and drinking places were making considerably less ($461.57 per week). By way of comparison, the average weekly earnings of employees across all sectors nationally were $1,252.85 in June.
There were 68,370 job vacancies in the accommodation and food services sector in May, down from 106,775 vacancies 12 months earlier. The job vacancy rate for the sector fell from 7.5% to 5.0% over this period.
Cost of travel starting to fall, but prices remain elevated compared with three years earlier
Like pretty much everything else in today’s world, the cost of travel has risen since 2021, although some prices have been coming down over the past year.
In July 2024, Canadians were paying 3.8% more for food purchased from restaurants compared with 12 months earlier and 18.2% more compared with July 2021.
Prices for traveller accommodations were down 3.7% year over year nationally in July, with price changes ranging from a 16.4% drop in Nova Scotia to an 8.2% increase in Saskatchewan. Compared with the same month three years earlier, prices for traveller accommodation were up 48.1% nationally.
One area where travellers may find some price relief is in car rentals, with prices down 16.2% year over year in July. Nevertheless, car rental prices were up 13.5% in July compared with the same month in 2021.
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Contact information
For more information, contact the Statistical Information Service (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).