Industry committee  Obviously when you're looking at statistics and numbers, there are always going to be some numbers that you can fall back on and say there are some positive reflections there. But for each one of those, we certainly have some numbers that reflect a different point of view, like our travel deficit, like our growth compared to our competitors around the world.

Industry committee  We have asked for seven strategic areas to be looked at and 53 different initiatives in our report. Some of them are government, some of them are private sector, and some will involve both public and private sector. It's an indictment not only on the way government has looked at tourism, but also on our own industry and the things that we have to do as a private sector.

Industry committee  Obviously the report indicates a $400 million investment from the federal government in tourism-related activities, and we wouldn't argue that point. Obviously when you're investing money in our national parks and in various projects, including convention centres and infrastructure through the Building Canada fund and so on, those are certainly tourism related.

Industry committee  The first question was to Mr. Allan. I don't know if he'd like to answer that, or do you want me to go?

Industry committee  I would support that recommendation wholeheartedly. We've been asking for a national tourism strategy. There is a document that exists, a framework document for building a national strategy. It hasn't been authorized or authenticated or supported by all other departments, but we'd like to see a national tourism strategy developed that is supported by all departments of government and is the full government strategy and has the support of all departments.

Industry committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and honourable members of the committee. With me today is our vice-president of public affairs, Christopher Jones. First let me thank the committee for the opportunity to appear before you to share our views on the current state of Canada's tourism industry.

Industry committee  No, that's fine.

Industry committee  I thought she was directing it to you. Keep exploring.... One of the real assets here is that Americans have a north-south relationship with Canada. In other words, people in Washington State or California know British Columbia very well, but they don't know central or eastern Canada or the north.

Industry committee  If there's anything we could leave you within the short time we have available, it is to remember access to Canada. That means we need people to know about our country, which means increased marketing. Then we need to make them feel welcome at our borders. We need the infrastructure there to do that.

Industry committee  I would just add that Canada has what the world is looking for. We've always presented ourselves as a value destination. We aren't a cheap destination. We never were presenting ourselves that way. An Anholt study showed that Canada was third in the world as the most desired destination to go to.

Industry committee  All northern hemisphere countries have a travel deficit. We were $1.7 billion. We've been as low as $500 million. But we've always had a travel deficit.

Industry committee  So in answer to that question, we were as low, at one time, as $500 million, but now we will be at $8 billion, which is a new record. People still think of Canada as a vast, open country, with lots of nature, snow, a safe, secure destination, so they still think of us in those terms, but we're trying to broaden their experience about moose, Mounties, and mountains.

Industry committee  As my colleague Chris said earlier, cultural tourism is one of our strengths. We are a mosaic of different cultures and countries that have resided in Canada--so the face of Canada. And one of the challenges we talk about at the tourism level is this. If you're welcomed by an Asian at a Canadian hotel, is that the way you want to present?

Industry committee  Are you? Okay. I'm sorry about that. You asked four questions and didn't give me....

Industry committee  I'll try and tackle all four of your points very quickly. The first is Canada in the minds of foreigners. Just so the members are aware, we've just gone through a rebranding of Canada. That exercise took over a year. It was very consultative with our foreign customers, and so on.