Ottawa Pledges Millions To Promote Holiday Travel In Canada
Ottawa is earmarking millions of dollars for promoting holiday travel inside Canada to bail out the tourism industry in today’s challenging times.
Melanie Joly, the Economic Development Minister, announced plans to include $30 million earmarked originally to attract foreign visitors through the federal tourism marketing agency, Destination Canada.
The money will be utilized to assist provinces and territories in encouraging Canadians to discover their “own backyard” as the country’s international borders remain closed mainly because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Canadian government is also setting aside around $40 million that will help tourism agencies in southern and northern Ontario, as well as western Canada, can adapt their operations during these challenging times, especially with the busy summer season approaching.
“A lot of people who have lost their jobs are in the tourism sector right now and the entire idea right now is to save the summer, but to save the summer differently,” Joly said. The Economic Development Minister of Canada also said, “There’s an entire movement across the country to shop locally. We see that people want to discover or support even more their local businesses. … Well, I would add to that a new movement: visit local. And rediscover your beautiful city and your region.”
Charlotte Bell, President and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, described the announcement as a “step in the right direction,” Bell also called for more talks between government and industry around long-term action.
“The survival of this industry, which pre-COVID contributed more than $100 billion to the Canadian economy and supported 1.8 million jobs, depends on a coordinated plan for recovery and reopening that includes input from the tourism industry,” she said.
On the other hand, NDP tourism critic Gord Johns criticized the fund announcement as inadequate.
“This can’t be it,” he said. “Considering the sacrifices the industry has made, an announcement that includes redirecting previously announced funding initially intended for foreign investment — while welcome — is the least the government could have done.”
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