OTTAWA — Statistics Canada has released its 2016 National Tourism Indicators for the first quarter of 2016, revealing positive economic indicators.
In Q1 2016, total tourism demand in Canada increased by 3.5 per cent over the previous year, thanks to robust growth in tourism exports (11 per cent), resulting in a total of $17.7 billion in expenditures. Tourism GDP also increased by 5.7 per cent to $6.9 billion, which accounts for 1.6 per cent of the country’s total GDP.
Employment within the tourism industry also rose slightly during the first quarter, up 1.8 per cent from Q1 2015. Tourism averaged 637,000 jobs throughout the first three months of the year, with gains in transportation, accommodation, food-and-beverage services, recreation, as well as entertainment and other tourism industries.
