Destination Canada Launches Wealth & Wellbeing Index Measuring Tourism's Far-Reaching Impacts Across Canada

• Helping Canadians understand the significant contribution tourism makes to their communities.
• Offering industry leaders, businesses and policymakers insights from across the country to shape the future of tourism in their communities and drive prosperity.
• Provincial and Territorial data from more than 100 sources and 30 indicators grouped into six core indices.

VANCOUVER, BC, Feb. 11, 2025 /CNW/ - Destination Canada has released a first-of-its-kind measurement tool that looks beyond traditional metrics like visitor spending and arrivals to assess the comprehensive benefits tourism brings to Canadians. Tourism's Wealth & Wellbeing Index highlights the sector's role in empowering communities, preserving culture, protecting Canada's natural assets, and driving economic growth - demonstrating tourism's potential to empower local economies while enhancing Canada's global competitiveness.

Long-term growth in tourism depends on balancing economic gains with essential elements like employment, infrastructure, and transformative experiences and the Index provides a framework to measure these contributions. The Index is comprised of six interconnected components that drive revenue, expand the tax base, fuel reinvestment, and ultimately create greater demand, ensuring long-term prosperity for communities across the country:

• Economy examines tourism's role in generating sustainable economic growth and prosperity.
• Employment focuses on inclusivity and assesses the extent to which tourism creates quality, accessible and diverse jobs.
• Enablement measures the impact of tourism on infrastructure that supports both tourism and local communities, ensuring accessibility and long-term sustainability.
• Environment examines the environmental footprint of tourism, including sustainability practices and resource management.
• Engagement assesses tourism's role in fostering social inclusion and preserving cultural heritage.
• Experience examines how tourism enriches the lives of guests, offering transformative and memorable experiences.

The Index serves as a strategic tool for industry leaders, policymakers, and businesses, offering data-driven insights and best practices from across the country to inform decision making and the ability to capitalize on tourism's growth potential. With the sector projected to outpace the broader Canadian economy, strategic investment is crucial to ensure that communities across Canada are poised to take advantage of the opportunities ahead.

"We know that Canadian tourism goes beyond dollars and cents. It's an engine for promoting sustainability, bringing people together and creating shared cultural understanding. People across the country, from small towns to large cities, are participating in the tourism economy, and with Destination Canada's innovative new tool, we will be able to better measure and understand their impact so that we can better support and invest in their work going forward. Once again, Canada's tourism sector is leading the way," said the Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage, Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec.

"As global competition intensifies, Canada must seize tourism's full potential to drive economic prosperity and create thriving, resilient communities," said Marsha Walden, President & CEO of Destination Canada. "We developed this Index with the understanding that economic growth doesn't exist in isolation—it's part of a larger ecosystem where vibrant communities, cultural preservation, and environmental stewardship are indispensable. By considering tourism's impact across all metrics, we can deliver longer-term benefits that support communities and secure Canada's position as a leader in sustainable tourism."

The Index is a cornerstone of Destination Canada's Tourism 2030 Strategy – A World of Opportunity, a roadmap designed to unlock the full potential of Canada's tourism sector and the comprehensive framework aligns with global standards like the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST) initiative, and was presented to UN Tourism's Expert Group on Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism last year.

The first iteration of Tourism's Wealth & Wellbeing Index Report, introduces the concept and methodology behind the Index, highlights key tourism-impacted economic, social, and environmental trends across the country and provides a detailed profile for each province and territory. It showcases the unique strengths across Canada and within each province/territory and highlights best practices from across the country.

The Digital Index and the Report are available in the award-winning Canadian Tourism Data Collective, a secure national platform for sharing and accessing tourism data.

Drawing on data from more than 100 sources and 30 indicators grouped into the six core indices, the Wealth & Wellbeing Index offers an integrated, comprehensive view of tourism's contributions at the national, provincial, and territorial levels. Future iterations will delve deeper, providing regional and community-level insights to guide more targeted strategies and investment.

Some of the Index's key insights include:

1. Canadian Tourism Empowers GDP Growth

Canada's tourism GDP expanded by 9.5% in 2023, reflecting the sector's critical role in driving economic recovery and resilience. This growth emphasizes tourism's potential to sustainably optimize Canada's abundant natural resources, such as parks and conservation areas, creating diverse opportunities for communities nationwide. Provinces like Ontario lead in visitor spending, showcasing the sector's importance as a cornerstone of economic security.

2. Tourism Enables Infrastructural Development in Local Communities

Tourism supports continued expansion of multi-modal connectivity in communities across Canada, enhancing the quality of life for residents and travelers alike. The sector is a key enabler of critical transportation networks and connects Canada from coast to coast to coast, supporting the supply of goods and services to Canadians while improving visitor experiences and supporting tourism growth. British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec are among the provinces with the highest levels of international, inter-regional, and intra-regional air connections and local and regional rail connectivity.

3. Tourism Champions Business Diversity in Canada

Tourism is among the most diverse sectors, with women owning 20% of tourism businesses and immigrants owning 36%. Across communities in Canada, the tourism sector plays a vital role in fostering inclusivity, promoting social integration, and enhancing economic resilience, ensuring benefits for a broad demographic.

4. Canadians Value Tourism

Tourism continues to make a meaningful difference in communities across Canada, with public sentiment showing steady support. Canadians consistently acknowledge that tourism positively contributes to their communities, with approval above 80% across all reporting periods. This underscores Canadians' positive outlook on tourism's community engagement and openness.

To read the full report and explore the digital Tourism's Wealth & Wellbeing Index, visit the Canadian Tourism Data Collective.

About Destination Canada

At Destination Canada, we believe that tourism enhances the wealth and wellbeing of Canadians and enriches the lives of visitors. Our mission is to influence supply and build demand for the benefit of locals, communities and visitors through leading research, alignment with public and private sectors, and marketing Canada nationally and abroad.

Knowing that diversity is our greatest asset, we promote Canada as a premier four-season leisure and business tourism destination around the country and world in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, United Kingdom and the United States. In addition, our Business Events team leverage in-depth global market analysis to target international clusters aligned with Canada's priority economic sectors. 

Destination Canada is a Crown corporation wholly owned by the Government of Canada.

www.destinationcanada.com

SOURCE Destination Canada

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