Skift Take
Canada's adapting to changes to its tourism sector and relationship with the Chinese market.
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The U.S., Britain, and other Western destinations are still waiting for Chinese group tours to return to their pre-pandemic levels. Canada, however, has been adapting to the continued absence of Chinese groups. The country has sought other sources of tourism growth, such as through its new fund to attract business events and its plans to co-host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
"There are some geopolitics going on right now that are having an impact on tourism," said Destination Canada CEO and president Marsha Walden.
Canada last year surpassed its 2019 tourism revenue thanks to visitors from the U.S., Europe, Mexico, and Australia. It accomplished this feat despite disputes between the leaders of Canada and China souring relations. For over three years, China has banned travel agencies from selling group trips to Canada — traditionally a key tourism source.
In a wide-ranging interview, Destination Canada’s Walden spoke with Skift about a new tourism data project launching in May, a new fund to lure business events that the country launched last month, the country's preparations for hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and more. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Skift: What has been the pace of Canada's post-pandemic international tourism recovery?
Marsha Walden: We've already fully recovered in terms of revenue, and we feel really good about that despite some areas of our overall market portfolio that haven't been performing like they did pre-2019.
China is still missing. There are some geopolitics going on right now that are having an impact on tourism. We don't have nearly the number of flights that we had from China. We're currently not on China’s Approved Destination Status (ADS) list.
That's not to say that Chinese travelers can't come to Canada. The ADS ban just prevents group travel from being sold into Canada.
But we're not necessarily seeing that as a huge negative because it aligns more closely with how we see our strategy goi