TIAC: “This Is The Time To Reimagine Tourism”
Speaking to over 400 tourism industry leaders at the 2022 TIAC Tourism Congress, TIAC vice president, policy and government affairs Marc Seguin, laid out an ambitious recovery plan, and the path forward for Canadian tourism, reports Debra Sara Ward, who is covering the event for Baxter Media.
Kicking off the first day of the Congress with the annual TIAC Leadership report, Seguin reviewed the association’s work of the past year including its government advocacy. But despite progress in many areas, he cautioned that that the sector was still a very long way from a full recovery, even as new Destination Canada research suggests that tourism could rebound to 2019 levels as early as 2024.
TIAC has a plan to move forward. In a recent submission to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, Randy Boissonnault, TIAC set goals to be achieved by 2030, which include total tourism spending in Canada at $134 billion, a total tourism labour workforce of 2.5 million workers, and 30 million total annual international overnight visitors, among other key goals.
“We know that there are four key areas where a host of policy actions are needed,” he said. “TIAC and the member-businesses and organizations we represent are confident our proposed goals are achievable by 2030 if adequate financial resources are earmarked in support of the new (federal tourism growth) strategy… but to get us there, a number of other things need to happen.”
The four key goals in TIAC’s submission are:
- Attracting and retaining a sustainable tourism workforce,
- Improving access for visitors to and within Canada,
- Developing and promoting tourism assets, and
- Building a regenerative and inclusive tourism industry
TIAC consulted extensively with its members, other industry leaders and organizations across Canada to develop these four pillars. The industry can expect to find out more about the government’s response, and its own tourism recovery strategy when tourism minister Randy Boissonnault addresses the Tourism Congress this afternoon (Nov. 23)
