Our sincere thanks to all participants in our annual survey of partners and stakeholders and to those who distributed the survey to their members. Your insightful feedback allows us to respond to industry needs and keep on top of emerging issues affecting our sector.

We asked a lot of key questions and are starting to dig through the robust data. Detailed analyses will follow, but here is a preliminary look at the highlights so far.

Since 2010, when Canada received approved destination status in China, the number of Chinese visitors coming to Canada has more than tripled. The Government of Canada has set a goal to double Chinese visitation to Canada by 2021.

Tourism operators are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit and retain workers. Over the past 17 years, 100,000 jobs were unfilled. These were advertised positions for which tourism employers were unable to find workers, and despite demand, business expansions never occurred because they lacked the workers to deliver on the services. These vacancies accounted for $11 billion in lost revenues.

Tourism HR Canada is pleased to announce the availability of the third in its series of three labour supply and demand reports. Bottom Line: Bridging the Labour Gap quantifies the effect of strategies that could fill the 240,000-job shortfall in the tourism sector.