“The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”
– St. Augustine

Growing up in a town that is fuelled by a tourism based economy, I have always been attracted to the travel/tourism industry. Combining that lifelong experience with my background in marketing and my most recent job in a travel agency, I got drawn to researching the travel and tourism industry for this artifact. Not only do I have a passion and interest for the industry, but also having moved to Canada originally from overseas, I feel that I am a good fit in the travel business as I understand the dynamics, the challenges and the customer side of the business.

With all that in mind, I conducted some research about the inbound flow of visitors into Canada. Based on the numbers, Canada has experienced a pretty steady number of visitors between 2007 and 2012, fluctuating between 15.583.000 and 17.793.000. Despite a decline in growth in the industry between 2007-2009, it picked up from 2009 onward and experienced a growth of 1.9% in 2010 and in 2012. However, this increase is not attributable to Vancouver in particular since the number of visitors declined remarkably between 2007-2009, which by many people is considered to be because the city is overly expensive.

Comparing these numbers to those of the USA, we see a significant difference in growth rates. In 2010, 2011 and 2012, the USA has experienced growth rates of 8.8%, 4.9% and 6.0% respectively, whereas Canada’s percentages were 1.9%, -1.0% and 1.9%. Even though the two countries are located in the same geographic region, USA’s larger population (approximately 10 times Canada) could be one explanation to the difference in these numbers.*

As mentioned above, I have been a traveler myself for as long as I can remember. I have been on the customer side of the travel industry many times and experienced all the great things about it as well as challenges. I believe that having that understanding gives me a great deal of advantage in performing on the business side of the industry. Not only because I can be empathetic with the client end, but also because I have a passion for the industry, which generally makes people more successful in what they do.

Vancouver is one of the most beautiful and livable cities in the world, yet it has experienced a decline in the number visitors per year. As someone who moved to Vancouver 6 years ago, I have experienced the city as a complete stranger, a tourist and now as a resident. Having been through those steps, I believe I have a lot to offer in terms of marketing the city to potential visitors.

* All the numbers are taken from Euromonitor International