Ottawa's slashing of Canada's tourism marketing budget is stunting the amount that tourism contributes to Canada's economy, according to a report that the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) released March 25.
The report also noted that tourism taxes and restrictive visa policies are holding back potential tourists.
Travel and tourism only comprised 4.5% of Canada's gross domestic product (GDP). In contrast, global travel and tourism comprised 9.5% of the world economy, according to the report.
Of the 187 countries that the WTTC examined, only 25 had a lower slice of GDP attributable to tourism economic activity.
One positive development that the report noted was Canada's February move to upgrade its single-entry visa for Chinese visitors to be a visa that is able to be used multiple times. The Canadian government has also announced plans to introduce electronic visas in April 2015 – a move that WTTC CEO David Scowsill praised.
"If Canada looks at freezing or reducing its tourism taxes, continues with progressive visa policies and increases its key national marketing budgets, it will have a dramatic positive impact on job and wealth creation for the country," he said.
The country's Vancouver-based Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) has watched its budget get slashed to $58 million in 2014, said CTC spokesperson Margaret Nevin.
The CTC budget has steadily declined from $105.9 in 2009 and was $75.8 million in 2012 and $61.4 million in 2013.
Those cuts helped contribute to Canada having such a low slice of its GDP generated by tourism, the report said.
