The National Tourism Indicators (NTI) portray the evolution of tourism in Canada on a quarterly basis. These bottom-line figures officially represent the most current results on the significance of tourism in the Canadian economy and form the basis to measure its progress. They constitute a set of statistics that provide historical and current quarterly analysis of tourism, covering tourism commodity supply and demand, employment and prices.
Statistics Canada released on January 10, 2005 the National Tourism Indicators (NTI) Quarterly Estimates third Quarter 2004.
Summary of the third quarter results for data unadjusted for seasonality and expressed in current prices (compared to the preceding year):
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Total tourism expenditures reached $19.6 billion in the third quarter 2004, an increase of 8.2% over the same quarter of 2003. This is mainly attributed to an increased spending (21%) by international visitors, namely from overseas markets. Considerable increases in spending were registered in all tourism commodities. The most notable, however, were registered in transportation (up 14.4%), vehicle fuel (up 10.2%) and accommodation (up 7.7%).
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Foreign spending reached $7.4 billion, up 21% for the third quarter. This increase was mainly attributed to a combination of factors such as a leap of 11% in the overnight visitors, and recovery from the third quarter of 2003, which was marked by forest fires in British Columbia, power outage in eastern Canada and the persistent effects of SARS.
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Spending by Canadians travelling in Canada reached $12.2 billion, up only 1.7%.
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Total tourism employment reached 607,000 full and part-time jobs, up 1.5% from the same quarter of 2003.
Summary of the third quarter 2004 results adjusted for seasonality and inflation and expressed in 1997 constant dollars (compared to the preceding quarter):
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Total tourism spending increased marginally by 0.3% in the third quarter of 2004 over the second quarter of 2004, reaching $12.4 billion in 1997 dollars.
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Foreign spending in the third quarter 2004 was flat, mainly due to a 0.7% decrease in the number of overnight visitors, primarily from the United States.
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Spending by Canadian residents increased by 0.5% over the previous quarter, reaching $8.6 billion.
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Total tourism employment increased marginally by 0.1%, reaching an estimated 584,500 full and part-time jobs oa a seasonally adjusted basis.
Looking forward, we can expect mixed results for the fourth quarter of 2004. International trips to Canada declined by 1.3% in October 2004, while overnight trips increased by 0.8%. Similarly, tourism-related jobs in air transportation increased in October 2004, but jobs decreased in the accommodation, food and beverage services, and recreation and entertainment industries.
For more information on the NTI 3Q 2004, contact Denisa Georgescu at (613) 946-2136 or at georgescu.denisa@ctc-cct.ca
