This report contains a review of and outlook for tourism activity in Ontario, assessing the impact of COVID-19 and the public health restrictions on tourism. It examines domestic, U.S., and overseas activity as well as the situation in Ottawa, Toronto, and the Niagara region.
Document Highlights
- With the easing of health restrictions, we expect the recovery in Ontario’s tourism sector to begin in earnest in 2022, with a full recovery to 2019 levels in 2025.
- There remain significantly fewer risks to booking a trip nearby rather than one further afield, so intraprovincial and interprovincial travel should recover before international travel does.
- Lots of accumulated savings, a preference for short trips close to home, and the government’s Staycation Credit will provide a substantial boost to tourism within Ontario.
- The removal of capacity limits for spectators, especially for sporting events and concerts, will also help drive tourism to Ontario’s major attractions, particularly those in the Niagara region and Toronto.
- In all, we expect both intraprovincial and interprovincial travel to recover in 2023. Travel from the United States will, in 2026, reach levels above where it was in 2019. Overseas travel, however, will not recover even by 2026.
- With the largest business centre and the two largest government centres in Canada, a slow recovery in business travel will be noticeable in some segments. Overall, we do not anticipate business travel returning to pre-pandemic levels through 2026.
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