Domestic tourism spending will recover in 2024 suggests Destination Canada report

New research from Destination Canada may indicate the full recovery of Canada’s travel economy by as early as 2024, led by the continued strength of the domestic market and the quickly rebounding U.S. market.

The report presents three scenarios: upside, downside and expected. It suggests there is room for optimism even in its “expected” scenario: “Domestic tourism spending has been more resilient in the face of pandemic travel restrictions. After reaching 92 per cent of 2019 levels in 2022, domestic tourism spending will fully recover in 2023. The domestic market is expected to continue to expand through a mild recession and reach 129 per cent of 2019 levels by 2030.”

It is expected the United States recovery will follow, reaching 91 per cent of 2019 spending levels in 2023 and fully recovering in 2024. Relatively stronger economic growth in the U.S. will drive continued expansion of travel to Canada with associated spending reaching 151 per cent of 2019 levels by 2030.

Overseas tourism spending, however, will recover more slowly in line with visits, recovering to 2019 levels in 2025.

Read the report highlights.