The Business & Community Newsletter – July 2015

Travel and tourism

We are a nation on the move, and travel and tourism make up a large part of how we choose to spend our leisure time. They are also a significant driver of the Canadian economy. In 2012, the tourism sector accounted for 1.7 million jobs, 9.4% of all jobs in Canada. The number of jobs in the tourism sector grew by 1.5%, outpacing job growth in the total economy.

With almost $85 billion in total annual spending, tourism significantly contributes to business and economic development in almost every community across Canada. As a community planner, or the owner of a small business, you might be interested in knowing what kind of tourism-related jobs are growing fastest, and how much they pay. Or, you may have specific questions about areas such as food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, transportation, accommodation or travel services. You'll be glad to know that Statistics Canada collects and publishes data on many of these topics. Allow us to show you how to access this information.

Travel between Canada and other countries

Travel to Canada in March 2015 rose 0.7% compared with February to 2.2 million trips. Travel from the United States accounted for 1.8 million trips in the month, an increase of 2.0%.

Travel from overseas countries decreased 4.2% to 431,000 trips. A decrease in travel from France (-20.8%) was responsible for the majority of this decline.

In the other direction, Canadian residents took 4.8 million trips in March, an increase of 0.3% compared with February. This rise was largely due to the number of trips to overseas countries, which was up 2.6% to 912,000.

The number of same-day automobile trips made by Canadian residents to the United States rose by 1.2% to 2.1 million. However, overall travel to the United States remained relatively stable at 3.9 million trips. For more information, refer to Travel between Canada and other countries, March 2015.

Ever wondered which foreign destinations and U.S. states are preferred by Canadians? Well, here are the answers:

Characteristics of international overnight travellers

Canadian residents made 7.1 million overnight trips abroad in the fourth quarter of 2014, accounting for $7.9 billion of spending. Of these trips, 4.9 million were to the United States, accounting for $4.2 billion of spending.

Residents of the United States spent $1.1 billion in Canada during their 2.2 million overnight trips.

Overseas residents made 0.9 million overnight trips to Canada during the fourth quarter, spending $1.4 billion. For more information, refer to Characteristics of international overnight travellers, fourth quarter 2014.

Employment in tourism

The number of jobs in tourism industries was 1.7 million in 2013. These jobs, which include both employee jobs and jobs from self-employment, represented 9.4% of the 18.0 million jobs in Canada.

In 2013, the average work week in the tourism sector was 29.6 hours, compared with 32.8 hours in the total economy.

Average hourly compensation in tourism industries was $20.67. This trailed hourly compensation in the total economy, which was $32.77 in 2013.

The food and beverage services industry was the largest employer, accounting for 55% of all jobs in tourism.

The occupational group "food counter attendants and kitchen helpers", accounted for the largest proportion (17%) of employee jobs in the tourism sector.

Women outnumbered men in the tourism sector in 2013. On average, men employed in tourism industries worked more hours than women, while hourly wages for women trailed those of men.

Young workers (those aged 15 to 24) held more than one-third of all employee jobs in tourism industries, and of these, three-quarters were in food and beverage services. For more details, refer to Tourism satellite account: Human resource module, 2013.

Travel arrangement services

Canada's travel arrangement and reservation services industry group recorded operating revenue of $11.7 billion and operating expenses of $11.4 billion in 2013.

This industry group is composed of tour operators, travel agencies and reservation services industries.

Tour operators dominated the travel arrangement and reservation services industry group, accounting for almost three-quarters (74.5%) of total operating revenue.

Operating revenue for tour operators was $8.7 billion in 2013, while operating expenses were $8.6 billion. This led to an operating profit margin of 1.0%.

The cost of tour package components represented the bulk of operating expenses for the tour operator industry. In 2013, it accounted for 86.5% of expenses, while the next largest expense item—salaries, wages, commissions and benefits—represented 4.8% of operating expenses.

The next largest industry in the group, travel agencies, accounted for 16.0% of overall operating revenue.

Travel agencies generated operating revenue of $1.9 billion in 2013, while operating expenses were $1.7 billion. This led to an operating profit margin of 7.5%, the strongest in the travel arrangement and reservation services industry group.

The travel agency industry is characterized as having small, labour-intensive firms and, as such, salaries, wages, commissions and benefits accounted for more than half (54.0%) of total operating expenses.

Reservation services, the smallest of the three industries, represented 9.5% of the overall industry operating revenue in 2013. Operating revenue for this industry was $1.1 billion in 2013 while operating expenses were close to $1.1 billion. For more details refer to Travel arrangement services, 2013.

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Final note

There will be no August edition of the newsletter. We will be back in September.