National tourism indicators, second quarter 2024
Released: 2024-09-23
$23.7 billion
Second quarter 2024
0.7% 
(quarterly change)
$18.0 billion
Second quarter 2024
0.7%
(quarterly change)
$5.8 billion
Second quarter 2024
0.5%
(quarterly change)
1.60%
Second quarter 2024
690,500
Second quarter 2024
0.3%
(quarterly change)
Tourism spending in Canada grew 0.7% in the second quarter, following a 1.4% increase in the first quarter as both international and domestic tourism spending increased. Tourism gross domestic product (GDP) (+0.8%) and jobs attributable to tourism (+0.3%) also rose in the second quarter.
Increased tourism spending on passenger air transport (+1.0%) and accommodation services (+1.2%) contributed the most to the rise in the second quarter. Overall, tourism spending is still 6.4% below its level in the fourth quarter of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chart 1
Tourism spending increases
Tourism GDP rose 0.8% in the second quarter, with the largest contributors to growth being transportation (+1.8%) and accommodation (+0.8%) services. By comparison, economy-wide real GDP by industry rose 0.5% in the second quarter. On a nominal basis, tourism's share of GDP increased to 1.60%.
Chart 2
Tourism and major industrial sectors, gross domestic product, second quarter of 2024
Tourism jobs increased 0.3% in the second quarter after rising 0.9% in the first quarter. Second quarter job growth in the recreation and entertainment (+1.3%), air transportation (+1.7%) and food and beverage services (+0.4%) industries was partially offset by a 1.2% decline in accommodation services. The total number of jobs in Canada rose 0.6% in the second quarter, causing tourism's share of total jobs to decline slightly to 3.30%.
Chart 3
Tourism gross domestic product and jobs attributable to tourism increase
Tourism spending by international visitors increases
Tourism spending by international visitors in Canada increased 0.5% in the second quarter, following a 0.8% gain in the first quarter. Spending on accommodation services (+0.9%) accounted for nearly half of overall growth in the second quarter. Overnight travel to Canada by international visitors increased 3.7% in the second quarter.
Chart 4
Share of tourism spending in Canada by international visitors is stable
Tourism spending in Canada by Canadians increases
Tourism spending in Canada by Canadians was up 0.7% in the second quarter, following a 1.6% increase in the first quarter. Domestic tourism spending on passenger air transport (+1.1%) and accommodation services (+1.3%) were the main contributors to the rise in the second quarter.
Government revenue attributable to tourism increases in 2023
Tourism is an important source of revenue for all levels of government, having contributed $29.6 billion to government revenue in 2023, up 12.8% from 2022. Federal, provincial and territorial governments collected 93.7% of the government revenue generated by tourism in 2023. The remainder was collected by municipal and Indigenous general governments.
Taxes on products sold to final consumers ($15.2 billion), such as the goods and services tax and the harmonized sales tax, were the largest source of government revenue attributable to tourism in 2023, followed by corporate and individual income tax ($6.8 billion).
Domestic tourism spending accounted for over three-quarters (77.0%) of the government revenue attributable to tourism in 2023, with the remainder coming from tourism exports. Revenues attributable to tourism exports rose 43.6% in 2023, reflecting the continued recovery in tourism spending by international visitors (+45.0%) in Canada that year.
Every $100 spent by Canadian tourists in Canada generated, on average, $26.40 in government revenue in 2023, while $25.39 was generated for each $100 spent by non-resident tourists. Overall, every $100 in tourism spending generated $26.16 in government revenue, down 3.9% from 2022.
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Sustainable development goals
On January 1, 2016, the world officially began implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—the United Nations' transformative plan of action that addresses urgent global challenges over the next 15 years. The plan is based on 17 specific sustainable development goals.
The national tourism indicators are an example of how Statistics Canada supports the reporting on the global goals for sustainable development. This release will be used in helping to measure the following goal:
Note to readers
With the second quarter of 2024 release of the national tourism indicators, data have been revised for the first quarter of 2024. Government revenue attributable to tourism for reference years 2020 to 2022 have also been revised.
Growth rates for tourism spending and gross domestic product (GDP) are expressed in real terms (that is, adjusted for price changes), using reference year 2017, as well as adjusted for seasonal variations, unless otherwise indicated.
Tourism jobs data are also seasonally adjusted.
Tourism's share of economy-wide GDP is calculated from seasonally adjusted nominal values.
Tourism's share of economy-wide jobs is calculated using seasonally adjusted values.
Government revenue attributable to tourism is expressed in nominal terms.
Economy-wide GDP is obtained from Table 36-10-0449-01. Economy-wide total number of jobs is obtained from Table 36-10-0207-01. Overnight travel to Canada by international visitors is obtained from Table 24-10-0054-01.
For information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
Associated percentage changes are presented at quarterly rates unless otherwise noted.
Non-tourism industries, also referred to as other industries, are industries that would continue to exist in the absence of tourism. For example, retail trade industries, which benefit from tourism activity, would not cease to exist in the absence of tourism. Tourism GDP takes into account the production of these products purchased by tourists.
Non-tourism products, also referred to as other products, are products for which a significant part of its total demand in Canada does not come from visitors, such as groceries, clothing and alcohol bought in stores.
The national tourism indicators are funded by Destination Canada.
New data tables for the Tourism Human Resource Module
The following five new data tables are now available on our website: 36-10-0700-01, 36-10-0701-01, 36-10-0702-01, 36-10-0703-01 and 36-10-0704-01. These tables provide data on jobs, compensation and hours worked in tourism industries, by characteristics such as gender, age group, immigrant status, education level and occupation.
Data were originally released on June 7, 2024, and updated to include occupations on July 26, 2024, and were previously available upon request.
Next release
Data on the national tourism indicators for the third quarter of 2024 will be released on January 9, 2025.
Products
The document "The 2020 to 2023 revisions of the National Tourism Indicators," which is part of Latest Developments in the Canadian Economic Accounts (13-605-X), is now available.
The Economic accounts statistics portal, accessible from the Subjects module of the Statistics Canada website, features an up-to-date portrait of national and provincial economies and their structure.
The Latest Developments in the Canadian Economic Accounts (13-605-X) is available.
The User Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (13-606-G) is available.
The Methodological Guide: Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts (13-607-X) is 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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