Canada (Commonwealth) _Canada has started a new campaign to attract more foreign visitors. However, a dispute with China, wildfires, and a lack of personnel will make the work difficult.
According to tour leader Jack Rivers, “you can learn about nature, indigenous culture, and our history.” He believes that more individuals should consider taking a vacation in Canada for these three reasons. Solving the personnel shortages will be necessary if the Canadian government‘s new initiative to boost tourism is successful.
Destination Canada, a government agency, is spearheading the drive as Canada’s tourism industry struggles to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and reach its peak of 22 million visitors in 2019. The total number of people was 18.3 million last year, a 17% decrease.
The new A World of Opportunity strategy seeks to boost Canada’s tourist industry’s income from $CA109 billion last year to $CA160 billion ($116 billion; £89 billion) by 2030. Additionally, it aims to elevate Canada from its present 13th position to the seventh most visited nation in the world.
The well-known tourist destination of Jasper is located in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, more than 3,000 kilometers (1864 miles) west of Manitoulin Island. A third of the town’s structures were destroyed in July by a wildfire that was labelled “the biggest in the region for a century.”
Maligne Lodge, a hotel that has been serving visitors since the 1960s, was one of those hits. Karyn Deco, the owner, describes the fire as “devastating.” She says, “I try to focus on what I have to do today and leave tomorrow to tomorrow, even though there is a lot to do.”
Fortunately for Ms. Deco, insurance covered Maligne Lodge, and she plans to restore it by next summer. However, how long will it take for the town’s other hotels to reopen?
The hotels in Jasper, an international tourist hotspot, are completely booked from June 1 through mid-October, she says. For next summer, we’re already completely booked. The problem is that until all of the hotels are restored, which we don’t know when that will happen, fewer people will be able to travel to Jasper.”
The decline in Chinese tourists is another significant problem for the Canadian tourism industry. Since a diplomatic spat in 2018, the two nations’ relations have been tense.
That year, Canada detained the chief financial officer of the Chinese telecom company Huawei in response to a US warrant. In retaliation, China arrested two Canadian nationals who were residing in China on suspicion of spying. The release of the three men did not occur until 2021.
According to some observers, this dispute is a major factor in China’s decision to keep Canada off its list of nations that allow Chinese nationals to go there after the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to James Griffiths, the Globe & Mail’s Asia correspondent, “the freeze in bilateral relations between China and Canada still hasn’t really recovered.” The impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which prohibits Western airlines from operating in Russian airspace, is another argument he makes.
“Many European and North American airlines have had a lot of trouble with routes to China because they are unable to fly over or through Russia, and avoiding Russia adds roughly three hours to the flight time, which is more costly for the airlines and burdensome for passengers.”
The politician in charge of increasing tourism in Canada is Soraya Martinez Ferrada, the country’s tourism minister. According to James Griffiths, the Globe & Mail’s Asia correspondent in Canada, “the freeze in bilateral relations [between She also wants them “to spend more money” and “to stay longer,” she tells the reporters.
In response to a question concerning the decline in Chinese tourists, she states that Canada is concentrating on its two biggest markets, the US and Europe. However, she said that “we see that Canada is still of interest to Chinese visitors.”
Another government priority is combating climate change, which Ms. Martinez Ferrada acknowledges poses an “existential threat to Canadian tourism.” However, she asserts that Canada is a large nation and that “it’s not the whole country that’s on fire.” We must ensure that tourists are aware that while there may be risks associated with climate change, there are a ton of other destinations to explore that are unaffected.
Regarding the lack of employees impeding companies such as Wiikwemkoong Tourism, she acknowledges that she believes Canada can do a better job of promoting the industry and the employment prospects available. I believe it’s critical to have the knowledge and training necessary to accomplish that, she said.
