New U.S. Campaign Worries Canadian Tourism Sector

Grand Canyon tourism | BCBusiness
The U.S. has launched a campaign to bring more international tourists to some of its most popular destinations, including the Grand Canyon.

As our southern neighbours launch their first-ever effort to pull in more international tourists, Canadian tourism officials fret over possible repercussions on their own industry.

Our neighbours across the border are openly inviting foreign travellers to discover America — and they’re spending a pretty penny to spread the message.
 
The U.S. has launched its first-ever international tourism campaign dubbed Discover America, which has Canadian tourism officials fretting over our ever-diminishing slice of the international tourism pie.
 
The campaign, created by a coalition of private and government partners called Brand USA, has an annual budget of $200 million, and it plans to spend $20 million of that here to draw more Canucks south.
 
The revelation has Canadian tourism officials worried as they’ll have to battle with a new formidable opponent for international visitors. According to the U.S. Travel Association, the average international tourist spends $4,000 when in the U.S., and a stalling economic recovery has the American hospitality sector scrambling for every dollar.
 
While the U.S. has beefed up its global marketing, the Canadian Tourism Commission’s budget was slashed to $58.5 million for 2013, down from $72 million for 2012. And in 2010, Canada fell to the 15^th slot for the world’s top tourist destinations. We held 7^th place in 2002.
 
With significantly less money to compete, Canada could have a tough time keeping up with America’s marketing prowess in its fight for tourists.