It’s no huge stretch to posit that COVID-19 will inflict serious harm on the vitality of Canada’s tourism industry and its many stakeholders. Just try to imagine for a second the loss of revenues from cancelled cruise ship visits alone. Add to that the economic damage from no-shows at Canada’s many campgrounds, historical sites, museums and adventure parks.
There is even some data that suggests that any healthy recovery will have to wait until 2023. Perhaps people won’t want to venture too far until there is a proven vaccine in place.
Indeed, it is a well-established fact that mass tourism (or leisure and hospitality) in general, wherever it may be a pillar of any jurisdiction’s economic sustenance, is highly allergic to uncertainty, instability and insecurity. Most people know that the travelling public is not in the habit of visiting destinations that can jeopardize its personal safety or its ability to flee a dangerous situation on short notice.
Those who study mass tourism in all its manifestations — from grisly genocide tourism to the pedestrian pleasure travel — are well aware that civil unrest, humanitarian disasters (like hurricanes and earthquakes) and political coups all spell major trouble for the travel industry. Moreover, acts of terrorism, and its attendant fear, are easily the quickest way to strangle the tourism sector.
The tourism industry, then, has always been vulnerable to the fickleness of well-healed travellers. After all, they can pick from thousands of safe and alluring travel spots around the world to visit. So there is no reason for anyone to put their life in harm’s way when there are untold numbers of alternative vacation destinations.
Obviously, the lethal coronavirus (and the current travel/medical restrictions) will have a deleterious impact on every province’s tourism industry and the hundreds of thousands of low-wage employees who work in this key sector of the economy. Simply put, no one is going to visit Canada with even the hint of a deadly virus hanging over their heads.
The Atlantic provinces are particularly vulnerable given that they are highly dependent upon tourism revenues during the summer months. On P.E.I., roughly 1.6 million total visitors in 2019 created revenues of almost $500 million and generated nearly 10,000 full-time equivalent jobs. Clearly, the industry generates important economic activity and tax receipts for governments, provides much-needed seasonal employment in an economically-depressed region of the country and buttresses a host of informal and cultural sectors.
On the Prairies, the tourism prospects are not looking much better. Banff, for example, is being described as a “ghost town” today as the lay-offs mount and the sundry shops are shuttered.
As one tourist operator explained: “It’s like a bomb hit Banff. We have to wait till the cloud clears to see what we have left.”
In terms of Indigenous tourism, the life-threatening virus has dealt it a devastating blow. Guided canoe trip bookings through B.C.’s Secwepenic Nation are being cancelled every day and many other remote family-run operations are facing dire circumstances. Some estimates put the number of Indigenous tourism businesses at risk of closing up at almost 2,000 — along with job losses totalling 12,000 or more.
It’s no surprise, then, to hear whispers that the federal government might be contemplating a financial package tailored for the tourism sector. Fistfuls of cash alone, though, won’t be able to bring back the millions of lost tourists to our shores.
But as the North American economy gradually opens up, and gas prices continue to slide, incorporating a low-cost travel pitch might be a way to lure back customers who are coming to grips with a traumatic experience. Offering cheap hotel prices, discounted tour packages and a waiving of docking fees may well do the trick.
Another option for the tourism sector is to strive aggressively to create a positive perception of Canada for prospective travellers. Accordingly, the marketing message — all part of a tourist destination’s “image recovery” — will need to focus on Canada’s planking of the COVID-19 curve, the country’s overall safety (along with enhanced sanitizing procedures, physical distancing measures and face mask protocols) and its warm and welcoming nature. Inspiring social media advertising on various platforms, including Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, should also be a key part of any tourism communication’s strategy.
Still, there’s no getting around the fact that the travel and leisure industry in Canada is going to be hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the Ottawa-based Tourism Industry Association of Canada, the losses in the tourism sector during the pandemic lockdown alone could easily exceed $6 billion a month and displace some 800,000 jobs.
The only questions that now remain to be answered are: When will those deep-pocked visitors come back and, secondly, how will the tourism industry and its workers keep body and soul together in the interim?
Peter McKenna is professor of political science at the University of Prince Edward Island.
