BBC
Jack Rivers admits being a full-time tour guide wouldn't be for everyone
Canada has launched a new initiative aimed at attracting more foreign tourists to the country. However, staff shortages, forest fires and the dispute with China will not make the task easy.
“You can learn about nature, indigenous culture and our history,” says tour guide Jack Rivers.
These are three reasons why he thinks more people should try their luck on vacation in Canada.
Mr. Rivers, who is Indigenous, leads hikes around the unceded territory of Wiikwemkoong on Manitoulin Island, Ontario.
It is a preserved region, where dense forests line the shores of Lake Huron.
The walking tours are part of Wiikwemkoong Tourism, an Indigenous tourism organization that teaches visitors about Indigenous history and land.
Mr. Rivers says his job is “great,” but he admits it’s not for everyone. “It’s not an 8-to-4 job,” he says, adding that “it relies on people working weekends and being away from their families.”
As a result, Wikwemikong Tourism has struggled to retain staff, a problem reflected in a Canada-wide tourism sector still short hundreds of thousands of workers.
These staff shortages will need to be addressed if the Canadian government succeeds in its new initiative to increase the number of visitors to the country.
The initiative, led by government agency Destination Canada, comes as the number of visitors to Canada has failed to recover post-Covid to reach its 2019 peak of 22 million people. Last year the total was 18.3 million, a drop of 17%.
The new strategy, called A World Of Opportunity, aims to increase revenues from the Canadian tourism sector to C$160 billion ($116 billion; £89 billion) by 2030, from C$109 billion a year ago. last year.
He also wants Canada to become the seventh most visited country in the world, up from the current 13th place.
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Canada has no shortage of spectacular landscapes
More than 3,000 km (1,864 miles) west of Manitoulin Island is the popular tourist town of Jasper in Alberta's Rocky Mountains.
Last July, a forest fire dubbed “the region’s largest in a century” destroyed a third of the city’s buildings.
One of those successes was the Maligne Lodge, a hotel that has been welcoming guests since the 1960s. Owner Karyn Deco says the fire was “devastating.”
“There's a lot to do, but I try to focus on what I have to do today and leave tomorrow for tomorrow,” she says.
Fortunately for Ms. Deco, Maligne Lodge was insured and she hopes to rebuild it before next summer. But how long will it take for all the other hotels in the city to reopen?
“Jasper is an international tourist destination and hotels here are 100% booked between June 1 and mid-October,” she explains. “We are already full for next summer. The challenge is that fewer people will be able to visit Jasper until all the hotels are rebuilt, and we don't know how long that will take. »
Karyn Deco
Karyn Deco is concerned about how long it will take for the town of Jasper to fully recover
Another major problem for the Canadian tourism sector is the decline in the number of Chinese visitors.
Relations between the two countries have been strained since a diplomatic row in 2018.
That year, the chief financial officer of Chinese telecommunications company Huawei was arrested in Canada in response to a U.S. arrest warrant. China responded by arresting two Canadian citizens living in China for espionage.
The three men were not released until 2021.
Some analysts say this dispute is one of the main reasons why, in the wake of the Covid pandemic, China has still not put Canada back on its list of countries allowed Chinese citizens to visit.
James Griffiths, Asia correspondent for the Canadian newspaper Globe & Mail, says that “the freeze in bilateral relations (between China and Canada) has still not really recovered.”
He also highlights the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which means Western airlines can no longer fly over Russian airspace.
“A lot of North American and European carriers have really struggled with the routes to China because they can't go through Russia or over Russia, and by avoiding Russia you add about three hours to flight time, which is more expensive for airlines. and costly for passengers.
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Fewer Chinese tourists are visiting Canada to see sights like Niagara Falls
Canadian Tourism Minister Soraya Martinez Ferrada is the politician responsible for attracting more tourists to the country. She told the BBC that she also wanted them to “stay longer” and “spend more money”.
Asked about the decline in the number of Chinese visitors, she replied that Canada is focusing on its largest markets, Europe and the United States. But “with Chinese visitors, we see that Canada still interests them,” she adds.
The fight against climate change is another of the government's priorities, which, according to Ms. Martinez Ferrada, constitutes an “existential threat to Canadian tourism”.
Still, she said, Canada is a big country and “it’s not the whole country that’s on fire.” “We need to make sure travelers understand that there may be threats from climate change, but there are so many other places to experience that aren't affected.”
As for staff shortages holding back businesses like Wiikwemkoong Tourism, she admits: “I think we need to do a better job of promoting the sector and the career opportunities available to us.
“Having the skills and training to do that, I think is important.”
