Lauren's Economic Expressions: Canada's Tourism Industry and Income Elasticity

    Making a significant recovery, tourism is among the fastest growing industries, following our recent economic recession. It is estimated that transportation, accommodation, food and beverage services, and recreation and entertainment sectors will contribute nearly 600,000 jobs to the Canadian economy this year. Also, tourism spending in Canada has increased for nine consecutive quarters for a total gain of 8.2%. Contributing most to this increase were amounts spent on passenger air transport and vehicle fuel. Emerging markets in China, Brazil, Mexico and India have lead to a significant impact in Canada's arrivals growth.

    As an employee of Ric's Lounge and Grill, located in the Four Points Sheraton hotel, I have personally watched our sales double over the past year. This is no surprise since Tourism Calgary is celebrating a year of accomplishments. I am lucky to be reaping the benefits of an 8.1% tourism growth, the largest of any major Canadian city. With the launch of government programs such as, "Federal Tourism Strategy", it is expected that we will see continual growth within Canada's tourism industry.

Contributions to travel and tourism are highly income elastic. Wealthy families or individuals have a larger percentage of income to spend on luxuries, such as travel, while a poor family would have little to no money to disperse among the tourism industry.