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.
National Tourism Indicators - Quarterly Estimates
Fourth Quarter 2002 and full year in review
Summary of the results adjusted for seasonality and inflation and expressed in 1997 constant dollars (compared to the preceding quarter):
-
Total real tourism spending reached $11.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2002. This represents a 0.9% increase over the third quarter of 2002.
-
Increases in spending were registered in passenger air transportation (up 2.4%), accommodation (up 1.5%), and other transportation (up 1.3%).
-
Real spending by Canadian residents in Canada amounted to $7.9 billion, flat from the previous quarter. Domestic tourism expenditures constituted 66.2% of total tourism spending in Canada during the quarter, a similar ratio to that seen in the past five years.
-
Foreign spending in the fourth quarter 2002 increased by 2.6% over the previous quarter, reaching $4.0 billion.
-
Total tourism employment reached 585,900 full and part-time jobs, an increase of 0.9% from the previous quarter. This increase was driven by the growth in transportation (up 2.4%) and travel agencies (up 1.6%).
Summary of the results for data unadjusted for seasonality and expressed in current prices (compared to the preceding year):
-
Total tourism expenditures reached almost $11.0 billion, an increase of 5.9% over the same quarter of 2001.
-
Major increases in spending were registered in vehicle fuel (up 16.7%) and passenger air transport (up 14.0%).
-
Spending by Canadians travelling in Canada reached $7.7 billion, up 5.8%.
-
Foreign spending reached $3.3 billion, up 6.0%.
-
Total tourism employment reached 579,000 full and part-time jobs, up 2.3% from the same quarter of 2001.
Review of 2002
-
Total tourism expenditures reached $51.8 billion, a marginal increase of 0.3% over the revised 2001. Due to adjustments from Statistics Canada, the reference level for 2001 has been modified from $54.6 billion to $51.7 billion (additional information on Statistics Canada adjustments can be found in the attached Word document).
-
Weak tourism activity mainly due to the September 11 events is responsible for this reduced growth. Increases were registered in the following categories: passenger rail transportation (6.8%), pre-trip expenditures and convention fees (4.5%) and food and beverages services (3.3%). Decreases were registered in travel agency services (-4,9%), accommodation (-3.1%) and passenger air transport (-1.7%).
-
Spending by Canadians travelling in Canada reached almost $34.0 billion, up 1.8% from 2001.
-
Foreign spending reached $17.8 billion, down 2.6% from the previous year.
-
Total tourism employment reached 579,600 full and part-time jobs, up only 0.5% from the previous year.
-
In real dollar terms, after adjusting for inflation and expressed in 1997 constant dollars, total tourism spending in 2002 amounted to $47.3 billion, a 1.1% decline.
