(OTTAWA) Tourism spending continued to rise over the past year as travelers began flying again and hitting terraces, but remained well below pre-pandemic levels, Statistics Canada said Thursday.
Between October and December, tourism spending rose for the seventh consecutive quarter after the recent pandemic travel restrictions were lifted. They rose compared to the third quarter by 2.1 percent to 20.1 billion, said the Federal Agency.
For the full year, tourism spending rose 45% to $74.38 billion as domestic and international travel resumed. Spending on passenger air travel tripled year-on-year to account for the largest portion of total spending at $15.5 billion, or 21%.
However, that number is more than a fifth below tourism spending in 2019, which was around 95 billion.
According to Statistics Canada, domestic spending on tourism activities declined between the third and fourth quarters, but international visitor purchases more than offset the difference, rising 17.5%. Spending by Canadian residents still accounted for nearly three-quarters of total spending, the agency said.
Tourism supported 657,400 jobs in the fourth quarter, up 1.5% from the previous quarter. Accommodation, food, and recreation and entertainment were the main contributors to this increase. They were also the top three spending sectors for tourists.
Overall tourism economic output grew to nearly 83% of pre-pandemic levels, up from nearly 71% a year earlier. Its share of Canada’s gross domestic product rose to 1.58% in the fourth quarter, the agency said.
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