Tourism 2030 – A World of Opportunity: The Pioneering Vision for Canada
Destination Canada’s new tourism growth strategy, Tourism 2030: A World of Opportunity, provides a roadmap to make Canada a leading global destination by 2030. This ambitious strategy aims to transform the tourism sector and propel Canada back into the top seven leading destinations globally.
Destination Canada unveiled its new tourism strategy, Tourism 2030, A World of Opportunity, earlier this year. The ambitious plan includes a roadmap to generate $160 billion in annual revenue by 2030, transcending the traditional constraints that currently cap the tourism industry’s potential at $140 billion. Additionally, the strategy aligns with the Canadian Government’s Federal Tourism Growth Strategy. The plan aims to contribute to the overarching goals and objectives set forth by the federal government for the growth and development of the tourism sector.
The World Economic Forum Index measures several factors and policies enabling sustainable tourism development and its contribution to over 100 countries worldwide. Canada was recently ranked 11th, two spots up from the previous 13th-place ranking. According to Destination Canada, this rebound was anticipated and comes at a critical juncture as Canada strives to increase its global competitiveness and boost tourism revenues. This new strategy puts Canadians at the heart of its roadmap, providing opportunities for transformative growth, yielding tangible benefits for Canadian communities from coast to coast to coast, and creating sustainable and meaningful experiences for locals and visitors.
As nations continue to invest in tourism, the new strategy helps ensure that Canada is at the forefront of international competitiveness and aims to transform how Canadian tourism is experienced, expanded, and promoted.
“This is a pivotal time for Canada’s tourism industry. We know tourism is already outpacing the global and Canadian economies, but without a transformative shift, we risk stagnation and vulnerability to future economic shocks. But we cannot do this alone. To truly transform, there must be collective action. Together, we can drive transformative growth, inspire civic and national pride in what we have to offer, create sustainable, meaningful experiences for our guests, and yield tangible benefits for our communities from coast to coast to coast.” Marsha Walden, President and CEO, Destination Canada
As the new strategy outlines, transitioning to becoming a leading global destination requires collective action from all industry stakeholders. Destination Canada’s strategy outlines four strategic drivers that will be crucial to achieving the targeted transformative growth. Each driver will be backed by coordinated initiatives and actions. These four strategic drivers are Sector Advancement, Brand Leadership, Destination Development, and Collective Intelligence. For each strategic driver, key performance indicators will measure progress and defined initiatives and actions will provide clarity on Destination Canada’s role and the roles of partners and stakeholders.
Sector Advancement: A Competitive Canada
Gaining support from stakeholders through a collaborative approach is a central theme to advancing Canada’s tourism sector. As a key convener within the tourism sector, Destination Canada is helping to rally industry and governments to achieve common goals that advance Canada’s competitiveness. Sector advancement focuses on strengthening national support for tourism, supporting Canada’s commitment to tourism, and supporting the advancement of sector competitiveness, that is, how well Canada competes compared to other destinations. Sector advancement also encompasses adopting regenerative practices and supporting Indigenous tourism advancement in Canada as policies of regenerative practices and Indigenous tourism facilitate responsible and sustainable growth for the tourism sector. To advance tourism, a collaborative approach requiring input from stakeholders, including industry leaders and government officials at all levels, is important in identifying key industry needs and supportive policies needed to increase global competitiveness. Competitiveness not only helps to attract investment, but this strategy also provides the path to sustainable economic growth, innovation, infrastructure developments, and service improvements. Canada will benchmark itself against leading global tourism destinations to drive positive change within the tourism sector.
Brand Leadership: Driving the Brand
A central theme in driving brand Canada is the sharing of authentic and inspiring stories that differentiate Canada from the competition and increase engagement amongst the target audience. Canada’s unique brand value proposition of warm and open hearts, smart and open minds, and wide-open spaces position the country as the ideal destination for travel, investment, business events, education, work, and living. The strategy reinforces the brand’s commitment to unifying the country’s people, landscapes, and ideas. To compete on the global stage, the brand aims to amplify its value proposition through meaningful interactions with travelers at all touchpoints throughout their journey; from pre-trip marketing, planning, in-trip experiences, and word of mouth. To strengthen its national brand promise, Destination Canada wants to create constructive collaboration by telling compelling and authentic stories, promoting businesses across the country, and solidifying Canada’s reputation as an open destination to attract both leisure travel and business events.
Destination Development: Industry Renewal & Investment
Under the Destination Development strategic driver, Canada will employ a collaborative approach to develop long-term destination development strategies, identify needed tourism infrastructure, and the products, services, workforce, access, and experiences required to meet the expectations of visitors and the needs of local communities. Work under this strategic driver will also focus on attracting and influencing strategic investments – from both the private sector and government – to deliver exceptional itineraries and experiences for the traveler and meet the needs of residents and the broader community. Product development in key areas, including Indigenous tourism, will attract additional visitors and promote Canada's cultural heritage. The Tourism Corridors Strategy Program is a supply-side capacity-building program that aims to accelerate the intentional development of tourism corridors or clusters of tourism assets across Canada. This will help Canada create alluring experiences for travelers seeking legendary journeys across the country.
Collective Intelligence: Leading with Data
Good data is the key to good decision-making, and Destination Canada aims to utilize data insights and analytics to guide the industry towards the goals of the 2030 Strategy. This driver focuses on the importance of reliable and timely data to enable industry partners, stakeholders, investors, and government entities to make informed decisions. Collective intelligence not only strengthens the ability to compete globally but also helps provide policymakers with key insights and helps the organization and industry stakeholders make better decisions on the ground. New customer-focused data will arm the sector with robust insights into target guests, while supply-side data will highlight the need for additional investment and identify areas of economic growth. Initiatives like the newly launched and award-winning Canadian Tourism Data Collective, bring this strategic pillar to life by providing the sector with centralized, democratized access to robust and timely tourism data in a purpose-built platform featuring a suite of AI-enabled data products that provide Collective Intelligence for the sector. These products include Industry Intelligence, Destination Intelligence, and Traveller Intelligence, offering predictive forecasting, spend analysis, and customer segmentation, among other features.
Key Takeaways from Tourism 2030: A World of Opportunity
1. Collective Action
This is critical to transforming and unlocking the full potential of any destination’s tourism sector. Working together through ongoing consultations and collaboration at the community, provincial/territorial, and national levels is key to ensuring that all stakeholders have a voice in holistic, all-of-sector efforts to drive transformative growth. This growth is reflected both in revenue and in creating sustainable, meaningful experiences for guests and tangible economic, socio-cultural, and environmental benefits for communities.
2. Data is Power
Good decisions are grounded in good data. Data-driven decision-making is key to sector growth and transformation, and critical to this is access to timely, reliable, and robust tourism insights such as those available in the Canadian Tourism Data Collective. Data should always inform marketing, investment, and destination development decisions.
3. Strategic Investments
Working together towards attracting and influencing strategic investments—from the private sector and all levels of government—is a key component of any growth strategy. Consult with communities and corridors to create long-term destination development strategies and identify needed tourism infrastructure and the products, services, workforce, and access required to make exceptional travel itineraries and experiences that reflect the essence of the destination.
Summary
Destination Canada’s new tourism strategy, Tourism 2030: A World of Opportunity, outlines the organization’s vision and roadmap for transforming the tourism sector by 2030. Closely aligned with the Canadian Government’s Federal Tourism Growth Strategy, this plan supports the two large overarching goals of the Federal Tourism Growth Strategy: making Canada a top 7 global destination and growing tourism’s GDP by 40% by 2030. Learn more about Destination Canada’s Tourism 2030 vision.
About the Author
Stephanie is a recent graduate of Johnson & Wales University with a Master’s Degree in Global Tourism and Sustainable Economic Development. Previously, she worked as an Intern with Solimar International assisting Destination Marketing Organizations in formulating Tourism Development strategies for the Samtskhe–Javakheti region in Republic Of Georgia and the Sisian region of Armenia. Additionally, she is the author of a Tourism Research Proposal detailing ways in which Destinations can promote the concept of Sustainability to its consumers for a lasting positive impact. With a background in Tourism Development she is confident in her ability to help Destinations innovate into the future.
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