Tourism Records Positive First Half, but Slightly Below Expectations

Accommodation revenues remained stable compared to 2023, with a modest growth of 0.66% in the first quarter of 2024.

05/10/2024 - Statistics Canada has released revenue data on tourism in Canada, including the accommodation sector, for the second quarter of 2024. This data includes both domestic tourism and spending by international visitors. The analysis of the first half of the year shows a positive trend for the sector, although full recovery to pre-pandemic levels, initially expected for this year, is now projected to occur only in 2025.

Learn more on Statistics Canada.

Total tourism expenditures in the first half of 2024 reached 47.304 billion Canadian dollars, a 3.9% increase compared to the same period in 2023. Despite this growth, the figure remains 6.1% below the record of 50.385 billion dollars seen in the first half of 2019, before the pandemic.

Higher transportation costs were the main factor driving the increase in tourist spending. According to Statistics Canada, tourism-related transportation expenses have already surpassed pre-pandemic levels by 9%.

Meanwhile, the accommodations sector is nearing 2019’s record levels, with only a 1.4% gap remaining. Statistics Canada data shows that accommodation revenues remained stable compared to 2023, with a modest growth of 0.66% in the first quarter of 2024.

In addition, the accommodations sector has recovered 67.48% compared to the first half of 2020, when the pandemic severely impacted tourism. However, a full return to 2019 levels is now expected by 2025.

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