10
Transportation and Tourism
Tourism Expenditures
Tourism Spending in Canada
Tourism spending in Canada has grown steadily during the 1990s,
rising at an average rate of 2.9 per cent per year from
1991 to 1997. In 1997, tourism spending reached $44 billion, a
5.3 per cent increase over 1996. Available data indicates that
this upward trend continued in 1998, when tourism spending in
the third quarter of the year reached $17.3 billion, a 6.5 per
cent increase over the same period in 1997.
The lower Canadian dollar contributed greatly to the rise in
tourism spending in Canada. It kept Canadians at home to spend
their tourist dollars, while attracting more tourists from the
US. This rise was tempered by the Asian financial crisis, which
caused a drop in Asian tourists.
Distribution of Spending
Figure 10-1 shows the distribution of tourist spending in Canada
for 1997. Canadians spent the greatest amount, with $31.3 billion
or 71 per cent, while foreign tourists spent $13.1 billion or
29 per cent. Growth in tourism spending by foreign visiters was
5.2 per cent in 1997, compared with a 5.3 per cent increase in
expenditures by Canadians. Foreign spending on tourism, on the
other hand, remained at approximately 23 per cent between 1987
and 1993, and then began to rise to its 1997 level. This trend
appears to have continued in 1998.
International tourists staying at least one night spent the
greatest proportion of their tourist dollars - 39 per
cent - in Ontario. British Columbia was second with
25 per cent, and the province of Quebec third with 18 per cent.
Tourists from the US made up about 70 per cent of all overnight
visitors, but accounted for just over half the spending, which
reflects the fact that overseas tourists stay longer than US tourists.
For most provinces, spending by Americans exceeded those of tourists
from other countries. However, in Quebec, spending by overseas
visitors exceeded spending by US visitors, while in Alberta, their
spending was about equal. Figure 10-2 shows the distribution of
tourist spending across Canada.
Spending on Transportation
Tourism expenditures on transportation were $17.6 billion in
1997, up 6.6 per cent from the previous year. Transportation spending
accounted for 40 per cent of all 1997 tourism spending in Canada.
Of this, $9.8 billion, or 56 per cent, was spent on air transportation,
a 10.3 per cent increase from 1996. Air transportation spending
has been on the increase since 1991 and accounts for over 55 per
cent of the increase in transportation expenditures during this
time. Air transportation accounted for about the same 55 per cent
share in both export and domestic tourism spending on transportation.
Motor vehicle transportation was the other major spending category
in 1997, with 37 per cent of the total spending. But spending
on motor vehicle transportation has only increased by three per cent
since 1991.
Intercity bus transport accounted for three per cent and rail
for one per cent of the tourism spending on transportation in
1997.
The remaining spending went to water transport, urban transit,
taxis and parking.
Figure 10-3 shows the quarterly distribution of tourist spending
on transportation from 1986 to 1998.
Supply and Demand
An appreciation of the importance of transportation to tourism
can be obtain from looking at National Tourism Indicators, which
estimate the supply and demand of commodities in the tourism industry.
Table 10-1 shows supply and demand of tourist goods in Canada
in 1997, with supply corresponding to production of goods used
by the tourist industry and demand corresponding to tourist expenditures
on those goods.
Total tourist spending equals spending by both Canadians and
foreigners. Domestic tourism demand equals Canadian spending on
domestically produced tourism commodities for both domestic and
international travel, including the purchases of airline tickets
from Canadian carriers for non-Canadian destinations. Expenditures
by foreigners on tourism commodities produced in Canada are tourism
exports, including purchases of airline tickets from Canadian
carriers for travel to and/or from Canada. Tourism commodities
are those for which a significant amount of demand comes from
tourism expenditures.Note 2 Since tourism does not account
for all spending on a particular commodity, tourism demand does
not equal supply.
Tourism accounted for 43 per cent of transportation
spending by consumers and businesses in 1997. In fact, tourism
spending accounted for 92 per cent of air transportation
receipts. Similarly, tourism accounted for a high proportion of
spending for rail, intercity bus and vehicle transportation. The
proportion is much lower, around 20 per cent, for local transportation,
including personally owned motor vehicles and spending on taxi
and local transit, which are included in the other category in
Table 10-1.
For all tourism commodities, including transportation as well
as accommodation, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment,
travel agency services and convention fees, tourism demand accounted
for 39 per cent of spending.
Tourism Expenditures
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NOTES:
2
Two exceptions to the definition are parking and urban transit,
which are considered tourism commodities even though tourism
demand for them is not a major portion of their demand. If these
services were not available, tourists might be less inclined
to visit an area or take part in activities there.
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