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Canadian tourism satellite account
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Tourism accounted for 2.2% of Canada's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2002. This matched the combined contribution of the agriculture, fishing, forestry and hunting industries, and was considerably more than the 1.3% contribution of the motor vehicle manufacturing industry.
Tourism GDP at basic prices reached $23.3 billion, up 4.1% (in nominal terms) from 2000. Tourism expenditures rose to $56.6 billion in 2002, a 5.3% increase from their level in 2000.
The number of jobs in the Canadian economy increased 3.5% over this period, whereas tourism jobs lagged behind, remaining fairly steady at 611,100.
The number of international visitors to Canada was 7.7% lower in 2002 than in 2000, as a result of fewer same-day visits from the United States, as well as fewer numbers of overseas visitors. However, the number of overnight visitors from the United States was up.
Note to readersThe Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) has become the internationally accepted framework by which to measure tourism activity in an economy. The Canadian TSA (CTSA) follows the international guidelines adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission and is rooted in the Canadian System of National Economic Accounts (CSNEA). The CTSA provides a coherent framework within which to integrate and analyse economic statistics relevant to tourism, both on the supply (that is, industry) side and on the demand (tourist) side. It provides measures of the economic importance of tourism in terms of expenditures, gross domestic product(GDP) and employment, which are comparable with similar measures for the overall Canadian economy. The CTSA also serves as the foundation for a variety of related statistical products, including the National Tourism Indicators, the Tourism Human Resource Module and studies on the government revenue that can be attributed to tourism. The Canadian tourism satellite account is updated every two years. This release incorporates the most recently available final input-output data for the year 2002. All references to GDP are at "basic prices." All growth rates of dollar denominated series are in nominal terms. The CTSA is funded by the Canadian Tourism Commission. |
Improvement in tourism trade deficit
Canadians travelling abroad in 2002 spent $20.6 billion, down 1.6% from 2000. On the other hand, non-residents spent $18.1 billion on tourism in Canada, a 1.7% increase from two years earlier.
This resulted in a tourism trade deficit of $2.5 billion, an improvement from a deficit of $3.1 billion in 2000.
While Canadian spending on tourism outside of Canada slipped between 2000 and 2002, spending on tourism at home rose 7.0% to $38.4 billion.
As a result, Canadian spending as a share of overall tourism demand in Canada increased from 66.9% in 2000 to 68.0% in 2002.
Canadians spent less of their tourism dollar within Canada on transportation in 2002. Transportation cost them 38 cents for every dollar spent on tourism, compared with 42 cents in 2000.
Spending on air transportation down sharply
Spending on air transportation in 2002 was 7.2% below its 2000 level, while industry profits were sharply lower.
Tourism was already facing increasing demand for low-cost travel and declining demand for business travel. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, further eroded the demand for international air travel and hampered the industry's performance.
Factors affecting the industry's bottom line included the introduction of the Air Travellers' Security Charge in 2002 as well as increased security and insurance costs in the aftermath of September 11.
Tourism GDP for air transportation amounted to $3.1 billion, down a sharp 16.1% from its level in 2000.
Travel agency services most reliant on tourism
According to the Canadian tourism satellite account, the travel agency services industry is most reliant on tourism. About 92.2% of the industry's economic activity came from tourism in 2002.
Other industries most dependent on tourism are air transportation and accommodation. Tourism accounted for 78.7% of the air transportation industry's GDP in 2002 and 66.4% of the economic activity of the accommodation industry.
Various non-tourism industries produce goods and services that are purchased by tourists, such as groceries, souvenirs and other retail goods. In 2002, tourists spent $10.0 billion buying such items, more than was spent on accommodation. This was up 15.6% from 2000.
In 2002, these "other industries" accounted for 23.2% of tourism GDP, up from 22.5% in 2000. Tourism generated 120,800 jobs in these industries.
| Canadian tourism satellite account, 2002 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tourism gross domestic product (GDP) | |||||||
| millions of dollars | % change from 2000 to 2002 | % share of total GDP | |||||
| Industries | |||||||
| Transportation | 5,526 | -7.2 | 0.5 | ||||
| Accommodation | 5,708 | 8.8 | 0.5 | ||||
| Food and beverage services | 2,898 | 7.7 | 0.3 | ||||
| Other tourism industries1 | 3,786 | 9.3 | 0.4 | ||||
| Total tourism industries | 17,919 | 3.2 | 1.7 | ||||
| Other industries2 | 5,400 | 6.9 | 0.5 | ||||
| Total tourism gross domestic product | 23,319 | 4.1 | 2.2 | ||||
| Tourism employment | |||||||
| thousands of jobs | % change from 2000 to 2002 | % share of total employment | |||||
| Industries | |||||||
| Transportation | 77.9 | -8.9 | 0.5 | ||||
| Accommodation | 160.5 | 0.7 | 1.0 | ||||
| Food and beverage services | 144.7 | 1.0 | 0.9 | ||||
| Other tourism industries1 | 107.3 | 4.2 | 0.7 | ||||
| Total tourism industries | 490.3 | -0.1 | 3.1 | ||||
| Other industries2 | 120.8 | 1.2 | 0.8 | ||||
| Total tourism employment | 611.1 | 0.1 | 3.9 | ||||
| |||||||
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 1910.
The research paper "Canadian Tourism Satellite Account, 2002," part of the Income and Expenditure Accounts Technical Series (13-604-MIE2007058, free), is now available from the Publications module of our website.
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact the information officer (613-951-3640; iead-info-dcrd@statcan.gc.ca), Income and Expenditure Accounts Division.
