Tourism in BC and the rest of Canada is slowly recovering to pre-pandemic levels, but it’s not there yet.
The number of tourists to BC this year is about 13% below pre-pandemic levels, better than the national average.
One big reason, according to a report published yesterday (Aug 3) by TD Bank economists, is that tourists from China are down from 3.5 million monthly visits in 2019 to just half a million so far this year.
On the other hand, visitors from India have doubled from pre-pandemic levels, reaching new highs, and American visitors are nearly back to 2019 levels.
While BC and Alberta are both doing relatively well, the report points out “both jurisdictions are suffering from labour shortages in the sector, which may affect their ability to meet demand heading into peak tourism season.”
Only Nova Scotia has recovered its tourism economy to pre-pandemic levels. The economists say their success is because of “aggressive marketing campaigns targeted towards Canada, the U.S. and Europe that began in March 2023.”
Quebec is recovering faster than the rest of Canada and will likely be the next province to return to 2019 levels. The report says Quebec received $110 million in support as part of the Tourism Relief Fund administered by the CED (Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions). These funds directly supported 292 tourism-related projects in the province.
The economists say it will likely take until 2025 for the tourism sector nation-wide to recover completely from the effects of the pandemic.
