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Tourism Week is an annual, national and provincial invitation for all tourism partners and stakeholders to come together to champion and promote our destinations, tourism businesses, and employees. The Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) annually leads the celebration of the value of tourism in Canada.
People have always travelled. Discovering, moving and travelling is part of who we are as people. Travel brings us together, to explore new places, unite with family and friends, and yes, sometimes it forces us out of our comfort zone to walk a mile in someone else's shoes.
As we look ahead to the future of tourism, we each have the opportunity to reflect on the choices we make going forward. Will we cling to former business models or tap into our inner entrepreneur and find new, innovative ways to respond to the future. Tourism Week encourages us all to celebrate what we love about our industry, what we love about travelling, and what we love about the organizations we work for. #TourismWeekCanada2022
Our team at the Tourism Cafe wants to acknowledge the diverse and meaningful relationships we have cultivated across the tourism industry. We have the privilege of working coast to coast in this amazing country, with businesses large and small to strengthen Canada's destination appeal. We acknowledge that it has been a rough few years, but we know that together, our industry will come back stronger, more mindful and with a renewed perspective. As we forge ahead in a post-pandemic world let's innovate and be leaders together in transforming into a more sustainable and regenerative form of tourism. We know it is possible and we will work hard to support the industry in achieving this!
Tourism is More Than Just Economic Value
Tourism Week highlights the sector's value to Canada’s economy. In 2019, the tourism economy in Canada generated $105 billion in economic activity, accounting for 2% of the country’s GDP. The travel and tourism sector was also responsible for employing over 1.8 million workers. But there is so much more than the economic value that the industry brings to our communities. Tourism brings an opportunity to put communities, culture, reconciliation and people at the centre while examining different ways of defining the value of tourism to our country. We are not suggesting that we dismiss the economic value of tourism, but to lean in and focus on the opportunities in the socio-cultural and environmental sphere of tourism.
Our team has had the privilege to design, develop and deliver creative, engaging, experiential training that generates results and over the past year and a half, we took a big risk to move to the online space. We know there are countless businesses and organizations innovating in the face of change, which supports economic prosperity but also increases the diversity of the entire industry. In 2022/2023, we look forward to collaborating and innovating together for a more sustainable and regenerative tourism industry in Canada. We have so much to look forward too!
This year TIAC is encouraging all destinations, landmarks, attractions, venues, and hotels to light up in green and sign the Sustainable 2030 Pledge to join the global movement of like-minded organizations who are making a commitment to sustainability in tourism.
