As Canada’s leading tourism conference, TIAC’s Congress brings a program and sessions aligned to national interest topics and TIAC’s ongoing advocacy work. In the weeks leading up to Congress, this section will give you; the what, the who and most importantly the WHY of each session, starting with:

“Tourism Congress Official Opening”

The official opening of Congress sets the tone for the rest of the conference. What can industry learn from each other and tourism experts around the world? What is the state of the industry in Canada? What sectors are showing the most growth, and what do we need to prepare for?

These are all questions TIAC looks to answer as we advocate for the tourism industry on Parliament Hill and meet at Congress. There are several things we use as context for these discussions, including:

• In 2017, tourism spending added $97.4B to the Canadian economy;
• Tourism supports 1.8 million jobs;
• We are one of the few sectors in Canada with presence across the country;
• Tourism in Canada has grown consistently the last number of years;
• 2018 stands as Canada’s best year ever with 20.8 million international arrivals;
• Globally, tourism is one of the world’s fastest-growing sectors;
• The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) estimates that 1.32 billion people travelled the world in 2017
• Canada ranks 17th as an international destination (UNWTO);
• 2% of global travellers visit Canada every year;
• Canada faces slower growth than popular destinations and emerging markets

This top-level view sets the tone as we kick off Congress to see what industry does well, what we can do better, and how we can work with government to set the policies that support ongoing growth.

Have you registered yet? https://tiac-aitc.ca/cgi/page.cgi/Register_Now.html