Essay Example on Global Tourism Thriving: International Travel Brings Export Revenues

Introduction

The global tourism industry is flourishing as international travel between countries is currently ranked the fourth-fastest increasing export revenue generator round the world. In 2018, more than a billion tourists worldwide spent over $1.4 trillion outside their boundaries (Gelbman & Timothy, 2019). The trend has also been experienced in Canada as new travelers from China, Russia, and India are able to explore the world due to their rising economies. Hanafiah and Zulkifly (2019) reported that the country recorded $78.8 billion from its tourism industry, which also employed over 600,000 people in 2018. Because the sector spreads over transportation, food and beverage, accommodation, and events, it provides the country with stimulus growth to the economy (Valeri & Paoloni, 2017).

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According to a special report by the Canadian Tourism Commission (2013), on average, tourism earned over $15.4 billion in export revenue annually from 2005. The growth of the tourism industry in Canada was heavily influenced by milestone achievement in the transportation sector including the rise of railway, the arrival of cars, and finally, air travel. However, other factors played vital parts, including the Great Recession and intervention by the Canadian government. Nonetheless, the United States has been the dominant market for Canadian tourism contributing over 80 percent of total visitors since the 1930s. This study follows the growth of tourism over the years especially between Canada and the United States by reviewing how each of the factors mentioned above affected trends in American visits to the country. American visitors to Canada are crucial for the survival and competitiveness of the Canadian tourism sector.

Development of the Transportation Industry and Its Impact on Tourism

Canadian Tourism Sector During Railway Age

The railway age in the country began from mid-19th century, with the first line being launched in 1836. Before World War I, Canada already had four railways dominating its landscape, including Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR), Canadian Northern Railway (CNOR), and the Grand Trunk Pacific (GTP) (Mason, 2008). The rapid expansion experienced in the railway sector soon caused the collapse of the last three companies forcing them to join in 1923 under the Canadian National Railway. During this period, there were traces of tourism in the country, but visitors were mainly from far lands including Europe and Asia (Murray et al., 2017).

With the introduction of railway transport in the country, various travel agencies were introduced, offering first commercial packaged tours, which included a printed guide and railway tickets. Commercial tours were more cost-effective compared to travelers paying their own tickets. However, during this era, tourism between Canada and the United States was minimal because it depended on highly underdeveloped car transport. The decline in railway transport in the country started in the mid-1930s. By 1978, the interest in rail travel had declined to the point of forcing Canadian National Railway to combine their passenger services with the Canadian Pacific Railway to form VIA Rail (Cavaliere, 2016).

The Rise of Automobiles

While the decline in rail travel was partially blamed on the rising popularity of car travel, tourism industry benefited the most from the introduction of car travel, particularly between Canada and the U.S. However, it took time before car travel could be developed and be accepted in the country as cars were banned from entering parks by the National Parks Branch on the basis that they were a nuisance. This notion quickly changed as by 1930, parks such as Cape Breton Highlands National Park were being established to attract people with cars by offering scenic drives. The amount of travel between Canada and the U.S was still negligible because paved roads were mainly within the country. Decades later, coast-to-coast highways were constructed with Trans-Canada Highway being the first of its kind in the country. Spanning one-fifth of the globe, the road was the longest in the world in the 1970s.

The tourism sector landscape changed with the introduction of highways. Slowly, U.S citizens started replacing Europeans and Asians as the highest number of visitors to the country. It was not only the scale of American visitors that changed between the 1920s and 1970s but also the scope of tourism. Because of technological advances, especially in the transport sector, travel times were reduced dramatically. As a result, visitors could now embark on more ambitious vacations. Besides, the period between the late 1940s to early 1970s was characterized by steady economic growth, especially in North America translating to more disposable income (Murray et al., 2017).

Other Factors that Facilitated Expansion of Tourism Industry

Government Intervention

Government involvement in the tourism industry may have been involuntary as the officials were conserving the parks and other areas. The idea of preserving Canadian natural spaces started in the late 1870s when the railway boom was also beginning. According to Mason (2008), Banff, constructed in 1885, was the first national park in the country. During the period of establishing these parks, the public was restricted from accessing the areas as they purely served a conservation purpose. It was not until the late 1920s that the government would allow its citizens to visit the parks. By the early 1930s, the government introduced conservation officers to enhance tourist experiences in the parks. This move was necessitated by the increasing number of foreign visitors to the country interested in viewing scenic beauty that Canada had to offer.

Parks became the number one tourist attraction in the state, compelling the establishment of the National Park System which had separated Canada into 39 regions (Karagiannis & Metaxas, 2017). The main objective of the system was to create parks and preserving them for future generations. More Americans were visiting the parks than any other international visitors. This observation may be partly because Canadian parks offer more diverse sceneries compared to the parks in the U.S. Interestingly, the highest number of national parks in Canada are located closer to its border with the U.S.

Since its introduction in the country, tourism was primarily played by private firms. Due to its rapid increase, especially between 1900 to late 1920s, the Canadian government saw the potential of the sector in promoting the national economy to recover from the Great Depression. In 1934, the federal government created the Canadian Travel Bureau to facilitate a coordinated and efficient marketing campaign (Karagiannis & Metaxas, 2017). The Bureau embarked on expanding and modernizing the country's tourism sector by offering advice to Canadian tourist entrepreneurs on how to maximize on tourists' expenditures. It also crafted various campaigns to lure visitors to visit the country. The Bureau focused its efforts on its neighboring countries, specifically the U.S because of its proximity. By doing so, the government ensured that visitors injected money into the local economy. Other provincial authorities and civic organizations also ventured into attracting visitors to the country. Most of these bodies intended to attract visitors and changing them to investors to promote industrial and agricultural output of the local communities.

The Great Depression and World War II

As briefly mentioned earlier, tourism was the only viable solution to the economy during the Great Depression of the 1930s. A publicity bureau based in British Columbia touted a "100 for 1" multiplier effect of visitor spending. This strategy resulted in tourism revenues in the district rising to 13.5 percent of its income in 1930. In 1934, the Tourist Trade Development Association (TTDA) was formed to come up with effective strategies for stabilizing the industry by increasing the length of the visitors' stay (D'Amore, 1992). The Bureau of Industrial and Tourist Development (BITD) was established in 1937 to increase tourist traffic from the U.S. With a $105,000 budget, the Bureau carried out marketing campaigns both in Europe and North America before the planned opening of the Lions Gate Bridge in 1939. These activations saw tourism numbers increase steadily for the next two years. Unfortunately, in 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, causing a disruption of tourism in the region. Canada saw the number of U.S visitors drop to 183,600 from 307,000. However, two years later, the number jumped to approximately 369,250 (Jasen, 1994). The change was a result of aggressive campaigns by Canada that were aimed at Americans, which showcased the country as "comrades in war."

The Rise of Skiing Industry

In Canada, the rise of the ski industry was a major player in tourism after the war. Over the years starting in 1959, several skiing lodges were opened, including Tod Mountain and Whistler, among others. These companies introduced the concept of collaborative marketing in the Canadian province of British Columbia when they founded the Ski Marketing Advisory Committee (SMAC), which was supported by Big White and Tod Mountain. The collaborative spirit is still evident in the industry as today's West Ski Area Association rose from SMAC. This marketing strategy is the reason why Canada dominates the world skiing industry by owning 90 percent of the market. Since the 1960s, American tourists are the largest share of all the tourists visiting Canadian ski resorts (Brondoni, 2017).

In 1979, the ski resorts reported a record high of over-night stays at 480,000 all from the U.S. During this period, the visitors pumped over $347 million into the country's economy (Beyrouti, 1987). Tourism in Canada continued to experience steady growth through the 1970s and 1980s as more government bodies were being formed. In 1986, Canada's Vancouver won the bid to host Transpo 86, which saw the country host over 20 million guests (Mason, 2008). Before the event, Canada had transformed its infrastructure by improving its rapid rail system, airport, and construction of hotels to accommodate as many guests as possible. With further expansion of the country to Americans through major highways, more visitors flowed into Canada through to 1990.

Tourism from the Year 2000 and Beyond

Historically, Canada has depended on tourists from the U.S since the 1920s. The share of American visitors to the country was rising steadily over the years, reaching a record high of 98 percent in the 1990s. Unfortunately, in the 21st century, the trend has reversed with fewer visits being recorded each year. The over-reliance on the U.S market has proven to be troubling resulting in Canada dropping from 8th place in international arrivals in 2001 to 19th in 2011 (Brondoni, 2017). This trend contrasts with global expansion experienced in the industry. The decline recorded in the recent past does not mean that the country is less beautiful, or visitors have exhausted its scenic resources. Instead, it reflects Canada's failure to adapt to changing the global tourism market. Other factors that may have contributed to the decline may be out of control. For instance, the rising power of the Canadian dollar against the American dollar, post-9/11 effects, and the U.S. recession (Valeri & Paoloni, 2017).

In addition, Canada is lagging behind its peers in terms of marketing investment. Gelbman & Timothy (2019) established that the country reduced its marketing to $58 million, representing a 20 percent cut. As a result, the Canadian Tourism Commission is forced to compete with countries that are increasing their tourism budget every year. Because too few resources...