14 March 2023
Jenica Atwin, MP, Fredericton
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Dear MP Atwin,
Re: Federal Support for the Tourism Sector
I am writing today to express the Fredericton Chamber of Commerce’s support for the tourism sector and endorse the pre-budget recommendations made by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (“TIAC”) in their 2023 submission, which can be found in its entirely here: https://tiac-aitc.ca/_Library/Tourism_Growth_Strategy/TIAC_Submission_Re_TGS_Consultations.pdf.
Specifically, TIAC recommends:
- A new bold and achievable target for total tourism spending in Canada be set at $134 billion by the end of 2030.
- A specific target for total spending in the Indigenous tourism sector be set at $2.5 billion by the end of 2030.
- The dispersion-related targets be maintained, as was done in the 2019 strategy.
- A total labour target be set at 2.5 million workers by the end of 2030.
- The target for the total annual international overnight visitors coming to Canada be set at 30 million by the end of 2030.
- A goal be set for Canada’s tourism industry to place in the top 5 in the WEF Index by 2030.
As you know, the tourism sector is a key piece of New Brunswick’s economy. Prior to the pandemic, annual tourism visitor spending was estimated at $1.3B, making it the third largest export service sector in the provincial economy. With tourism-specific travel returning in earnest, this is a critical time to not only leverage our current assets, but also for both the private and public sector to make the investments needed to maximize our potential and generate a sustainable return for those investments.
As is evident from the TIAC recommendations, these needed investments include infrastructure and human resources with a view to achieving KPIs and targets. It also means continuing to help the sector recover from the effects of COVID-19. From their submission:
In preparing for the Strategy consultation, TIAC surveyed businesses in the tourism industry in June 2022. The key areas in which the survey focused were the financial situation of businesses, debt loads on businesses, future growth prospects, investment expectations, labour market, and priorities for federal intervention. With a fairly high response rate, representative across industry sectors and geography, and including businesses in the Indigenous sector, TIAC is confident the insights garnered from our survey accurately represents the current state of businesses in the Canadian tourism industry.
Tourism businesses across Canada continue to struggle financially, face barriers to attracting investment and have considerable challenges attracting the necessary workforce to successfully carry out their business. Survey responses provided evidence in each of these areas. It is important to note that the large majority of these businesses are small, having fewer than 100 employees (79% of respondents) and less than $10 million in annual gross revenue (78% of respondents).
It is important that the government play an active role in support the tourism industry. It is a sector that is well understood and where we have demonstrated success in the recent past – a safe industry for the government to invest.
Sincerely,
Krista Ross, CEO, Fredericton Chamber of Commerce
cc: Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Finance, Government of Canada
cc: Yennah Hurley, Deputy Minister, Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture, Government of New Brunswick
cc: David Seabrook, Director, Recreation, Tourism & Community Engagement, City of Fredericton
cc: Beth Potter, President & CEO, Tourism Industry Association of Canada
cc: Andrew McNair, CEO, Tourism Industry Association of New Brunswick