Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
My name is Beth Potter. I am the president and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada. I will be speaking in English, but I will be happy to answer your questions in French during the question-and-answer period.
Before making my remarks, I want to acknowledge that we're gathered here on the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Anishinabe and Algonquin.
TIAC serves as the national advocate for Canada' s tourism industry. We represent thousands of tourism businesses from coast to coast to coast and across the suite of sectors that make up our industry. In carrying out our mandate, we work closely with our indigenous tourism industry partners as well as our provincial and territorial tourism industry associations.
To put my comments related to ArriveCAN in context, I'll first share with you some background that I believe is important for you to know, especially from an international trade perspective.
Prior to the pandemic, tourism employed one in 10 Canadians and was a $105-billion-a-year industry. We were an economic powerhouse, one that was outpacing Canada's overall GDP growth for years. Of that total spend, 22%, or $23 billion a year, was the result of foreign travellers coming to Canada. We were welcoming a record 32 million international visitors, 22 million of whom stayed overnight. U.S. travellers accounted for 75% of all international visitors.
Just one year later, things had changed dramatically. Total tourism spending decreased by half, and spending by foreign travellers in Canada dropped to just $4 billion, a decrease of 83%. The number of overnight foreign travellers dropped to three million, a decrease of 86%, and the tourism industry lost 400,000 jobs. It is no exaggeration when I say that tourism was the first hit, the hardest hit, and will be the last to recover from this pandemic.
Our industry now seems to be starting to turn a corner after having lost two full travel seasons. We are really hoping that this summer will see a significant resurgence in tourism. People want to travel. There is a pent-up demand. The latest data from November of 2021 shows that tourism's GDP was 78% of what it was in January of 2020, so we're making progress. The latest projections estimate that international tourism may not recover until after 2025, but domestic tourism should recover by the end of 2023.
My colleagues have already talked about the fact that international tourism brings new money into our economy, and it's something that we have to continually remember.
Now I'd like to turn my thoughts to the ArriveCAN app specifically. When it was first introduced to curtail the spread of COVID-19 into Canada, all travellers, with limited exceptions, were required to provide mandatory travel information before and after they entered the country, whether by air, land, rail or marine vessel, and they must submit the information within 72 hours of arrival.
If an inbound traveller does not submit using the app, they may be denied boarding their plane or cruise ship or entry into the country if crossing at a land, rail or marine border crossing. Despite all best efforts, we all know that COVID spread across Canada, and the omicron variant, in particular, spread very quickly last December and January, even though the mandatory use of ArriveCAN was in place. I would argue that the mandatory use of ArriveCAN is no longer needed for COVID-related purposes.
I would concur with my colleague Mr. Agnew that looking for a digital adoption process to smooth the entry of international travellers into the country is something we have been advocating for.
With pre-departure and arrival testing now eliminated in pretty much every country, it no longer makes sense to force travellers to use ArriveCAN when entering Canada to prove vaccination status, and with yesterday's announcement around the end of vaccine mandates for domestic and outbound travellers, the point is even more sound.
ArriveCAN has not been proven to be the effective tool to stop COVID. It is largely viewed as a hindrance to travel, and it is causing significant delays upon arrival in Canada. There are a host of other issues related to the app, which my colleagues have spoken to, so I would just finish with pointing out that, on public transit, in major stadiums and in restaurants across the country, proof of vaccination is no longer required. In fact, masks are not even required; yet, when you cross the border into Canada, you have no choice but to use the app.
Something in this strikes us as a bit off, and we need to see a level playing field. Travel and tourism is the only industry that still has restrictions associated with participation in the activity. Every other industry in the economy does not.
Thank you.