Report: Ontario Tourism Won't Recover Before 2025

A new report jointly issued by the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce paints a grim picture of a struggling industry about to be knocked on its heels by an economic downturn.

The report, obtained by the Toronto Star, said the tourism industry in Ontario—a $36B sector before the pandemic hit—was “disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic” and “is not fully expected to recover until 2025.”

The trade groups say that tourism activity has declined 35% from pre-pandemic levels; tourism operators on average are making just 64% of pre-pandemic revenue.

According to the trade groups, the situation for tourism in Ontario was dire before the economic slowdown began this year, primarily because of an overall lag in international tourism, which also is impacting a brisker domestic tourism recovery in the US.

With a global recession looming, the situation for the slowly unfolding post-pandemic recovery for the tourism sector in Ontario “looks grimmer” as economic headwinds intensify.

Suggesting that the government’s approach to tourism has been “incoherent” and uncoordinated, the trade groups issued a call for a more proactive strategy to attract tourists to Ontario, which they helpfully reminded us “is on everybody’s bucket list to visit.”

“If you take a look at the backdrop—concerns of a looming recession, cost of living, supply chain disruptions, workforce woes and perhaps even dampened consumer spending—there is a need for a more comprehensive strategy as it relates to supporting Ontario’s tourism sector,” said Daniel Safayeni, the chamber’s VP of policy, told the Star in an interview.

The Ontario chamber exec told the newspaper that Indigenous and Francophone tourism are emerging “areas of interest” in Ontario tourism, and nature-based activities.

The chamber also believes it can capitalize on Canada’s status as the first G7 country to legalize cannabis as a tourism magnet for Ontario.

“We have a uniquely domestic industry and supply chain around cannabis and with a couple of policy changes here at the provincial level, we can potentially unlock a whole aspect of tourism that revolves around the cannabis economy,” Safayeni said.

The Ontario chamber envisions cannabis companies hosting special events, with weed products available on site, or in special “consumption zones” at big sporting events and concerts, giving new meaning to the term “tail-gating.”