Canadian tourism is benefitting both from staycationing locals and an increase in international tourists, according to the latest numbers released by Statistics Canada September 25.
Overall, tourism spending in Canada rose 0.7% in the second quarter of 2015. That includes both spending by Canadians at home and international tourists.
Tourism spending from Canadians rose 0.5% in the second quarter of 2015, down from a 0.7% increase in the first three months of the year. International visitor spending increased by 1.7% in the second quarter, a jump from the 0.4% increase seen in the first three months of 2013.
Read: Staycationing increasingly popular in B.C.
In June, six Canadian cities hosted the FIFA Women’s World Cup, an event that was expected to boost the economies of the host cities by a total of $267 million.
Canadian tourism has gotten a boost from the low Canadian dollar, which is keeping Canadian vacationers at home and drawing in visitors, especially from the United States.
Hotel owners in Vancouver have reported a banner year this summer, with hotel occupancy rates at 99% at one point in July, the highest ever recorded.
Statistics Canada reported that international visitors to Canada increased their spending on air travel (up by 2.1%), food and beverage (up 1.9%) and accommodation (up 1.7). The tourism sector also added 638,400 jobs.
The growth in tourism gross domestic product (GDP), at 0.5% in the second quarter of 2015, outstripped the national GDP, which declined 0.1% in the same period as Canada’s economy contracted in response to the oil price shock.
@jenstden
