Canadian Tourism Activity Tracker, May 2022
Released: 2022-08-08
Highlights
In May, overall tourism activity in Canada was 21.2% below the level reached in May 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Tourism activity has steadily improved from May 2021, except for a temporary pause in January 2022 due to the Omicron variant and renewed COVID-19 restrictions.
Both domestic and inbound travel contributed to the improvement in overall tourism recovery across the country in May, the third consecutive month to reach the highest level recorded since the onset of the pandemic.
Visit the Canadian Tourism Activity Tracker visualization tool to interact with the data.
Border restrictions loosened
As of April 25, 2022, partially vaccinated or unvaccinated children aged 5 to 11 years accompanied by a fully vaccinated adult were no longer required to complete a COVID-19 test prior to arriving in Canada. However, all travellers, regardless of citizenship or vaccination status, were required to use the ArriveCAN app to declare their health information within 72 hours before arriving in Canada.
In May, the requirement to be fully vaccinated with a government-approved COVID-19 vaccine to board federally regulated air, rail, and marine transportation remained in effect.
A preview of how easing restrictions have since impacted international travel can be found in June's Leading indicator of international arrivals to Canada.
Tourism recovery reaches new high
After steady improvement during the second half of 2021, overall tourism activity ended the year at 29.1% below its pre-pandemic level before falling back to 43.4% below in January 2022 due to renewed COVID-19 restrictions. By February, activity was back on track to recovery and, in May, reached 21.2% below its 2019 pre-pandemic level, the best level of recovery in two years since the beginning of the pandemic.
In May 2022, both domestic and inbound tourism improved compared with the May 2019 pre-pandemic level. Domestic activity (i.e., from Canadians travelling within Canada) was down 9.5% while inbound activity (i.e., from international visitors) was down 45.5%.
This recovery was reflected by gross domestic product in May, with the accommodation and food services sector experiencing growth of 1.9% and air transportation rising sharply by 14.1% during the same month.
Chart 1
Canadian Tourism Activity Tracker, December 2019 to May 2022
Provinces recover both domestic and inbound activity
Increased domestic tourism activity was felt across most provinces in May, with many provinces recording the best level of recovery since the beginning of the pandemic. For example, domestic tourism activity in Ontario and Manitoba was about 10% below the level seen in May 2019, while all provinces have recovered at least 80% of their pre-pandemic domestic tourism activity.
The improvement in inbound activity, resulting from the 315,400 overseas visitors arriving in Canada during May 2022, was not as widespread across provinces.
Note to readers
The Canadian Tourism Activity Tracker is part of a shift at Statistics Canada from measuring the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic to assessing the recovery. The tracker combines data from multiple sources, including counts of international travellers, domestic and international commercial aircraft and surface movements, as well as hotel occupancy rates and restaurant sales.
When combining these data sources, each series is first normalized using a ratio method that removes seasonality and allows comparison with the same month from the 2019 base. Then, weights are used to combine these normalized values into a single estimate for a given month and geography. The weights are determined based on the data series correlation with overall tourism; the higher the correlation, the larger the weight.
The domestic tourism value is calculated using domestic-related data, while the inbound value uses international-related sources. The two values are combined proportionately based on pre-pandemic National Travel Survey and Visitor Travel Survey data, with the level set to zero for each month in the 2019 base year. For a given month in subsequent years, a tracker value above zero indicates that tourism activity is greater than the 2019 base, while a value below zero indicates the opposite.
As an experimental product, caution is warranted when interpreting these estimates. As such, tracker estimates should be viewed as preliminary and are subject to revision. With more data sources being considered along with new methods, this may entail the need for further revisions.
Products
The product "Canadian Tourism Activity Tracker," part of the Data Visualization Products series (71-607-X), is now available.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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