OTTAWA—Liberal Critic for Small Business and Tourism, Joyce Murray made the following statement in the House of Commons on World Tourism Day:
“Mr. Speaker, today is World Tourism Day and an excellent opportunity to celebrate tourism and its importance to our economy, jobs and communities. The international tourism industry is now worth over $1 trillion spent by a billion tourists each year.
Last year, tourism contributed $78.8 billion to Canada’s economy, created 600,000 jobs, and supported 1.6 million more. That’s 10 per cent of all jobs in Canada.
It is the bread and butter for small businesses, resorts, restaurants, coffee shops, retailers and tourism operators from coast to coast to coast, but Canada’s share of the global market is shrinking. We used to be the seventh most popular destination in the world and now we are the 18th. The number of visitors are dropping. We have a climbing tourism deficit of billions dollars.
Today, I call on the government to ensure that Canada gets a bigger piece of this important $1 trillion pie to strengthen our international tourism marketing and to support this vital sector of Canada’s economy and all of the people in the communities across the country that depend on it.”
