The Travel and Tourism Industry Picks Up in Canada with the Number of Americans Visiting the Country Increasing by 6.7%

Dublin(PRWEB) March 13, 2006 -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c34215) has announced the addition of Travel & Tourism International 2005 -- Profile of Canada to their offering.

2003 was a grim year for the tourism industry worldwide but Canada was particularly afflicted by the downturn in travel. As well as external factors such as the Iraq war, which curbed travel from the United States, the country was plagued by a litany of internal disasters -- two outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Toronto, a case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BCE) in Western Canada, forest fires and an energy blackout in Ontario (the biggest ever in North America) at the height of the summer season.

In response, tourism officials and various levels of government have poured millions of dollars into promotional and advertising campaigns to get the travel industry back on its feet. In Ontario especially, these various initiatives, launched under the umbrella of the CDN$96.3 million Ontario Destination Revitalization Program, are showing positive results.

Preliminary figures for 2004 indicate that hotel vacancy rates are up, as are international air arrivals at Pearson International Airport, which last year opened a new terminal building to handle the over 24 million passengers annually that pass through its doors. By the end of October, 12.3 million Americans had visited Canada, an increase of 6.7% over the same period in 2003.

This country profile report is part of the Travel and Tourism International subscription. This series provides quarterly tourism profiles of destination countries. Each quarterly issue features six profiles, all providing a cross-section of countries either established or emerging as tourism destinations.

Vital to industry professionals who must accurately evaluate a country’s tourism prospects and capacity, each report pools together the most relevant market-based information and analysis.

The reports are compiled by a global network of industry analysts who provide market-based information as well as detailed, insightful and localised interpretation of facts and figures. Covering 24 individual tourism destinations over a 12 month period.

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c34215

Laura Wood

Senior Manager

Research and Markets

Fax: +353 1 4100 980

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