Tourism In Canada Research Articles

Climate Change and the Future of Ski Tourism in Canada’s Western Mountains

Winter, snow, and mountains, epitomized by the world-renowned Rocky Mountain range, are an integral part of Canada’s sport-culture identity and international tourism brand, yet the climate change risk posed to this important ski tourism region remains uncertain. This study used the ski operations model SkiSim 2.0 to analyze the climate risk for the region’s ski industry (26 ski areas in the province of Alberta and 40 in British Columbia) with advanced snowmaking, including changes in key performance metrics of ski season length, snowmaking requirements, holiday operations, and lift and terrain capacity. If Paris Climate Agreement targets are met, average seasons across all ski areas decline 14–18% by mid-century, while required snowmaking increases 108–161%. Regional average operational terrain declined only 4–9% in mid-century, as the largest ski areas were generally more climate resilient. More pronounced impacts are projected under late-century, high-emission scenarios and in low latitudes and coastal British Columbia regions. When compared with continental and international ski tourism markets, Western Canada has relatively lower climate change impacts, which could improve its competitiveness. The results inform further research on demand-side as well as the winter sport-tourism industry and destination-scale climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies.

Seasonal Price Adjustments in Winter Tourism: Impact on the Car Rental Market in Canada (2015-2022)

This research explored seasonal price adjustments within the car rental market, offering a comprehensive analysis contextualized within the sphere of winter tourism in Canada from 2015 to 2022. Through an exploration of historical trends, consumer behavior, and market forecasts, the study uncovers the cyclical pattern of price fluctuations closely tied to the peaks and troughs of winter tourism demand. Noteworthy transformations within the winter tourism industry during this period, coupled with the increased reliance on car rentals for accessing remote winter destinations, underscore the pivotal role of seasonal price adjustments in shaping the accessibility and affordability of winter experiences. The implications extend across stakeholders, prompting car rental companies to balance profitability and competitiveness, while policymakers are urged to craft adaptable regulatory frameworks. Industry stakeholders are guided by insights to develop customer-centric strategies, embracing technology and sustainability for enhanced resilience. The study serves as a stepping stone for understanding the symbiotic relationship between winter tourism and the car rental market in Canada, providing valuable insights for industry adaptation and innovation.

Motivations, risks, and constraints: An analysis of affective and cognitive images for cannabis tourism in Canada

The aim of this study was to explore Canada's image as a cannabis tourism destination and investigate how tourists' motivations, perceived risks, and travel constraints affect their intentions to visit Canada for leisure cannabis consumption. By examining the image formation process from a pre-travel perspective, this study investigated the impacts of motivation, perceived risks, and travel constraints on the affective and cognitive images that contribute to the formation of a pre-travel image and visiting intention for cannabis tourism.Empirical results indicated that potential cannabis tourists' visiting intentions were influenced more by their affective image towards Canada than their cognitive image. Furthermore, perceived risk fully mediated the relationship between cognitive image and visiting intention. These findings provide valuable insights for local governments, destination marketing groups, and businesses interested in developing the cannabis tourism market.

Tourism As an Agent of Cannabis Normalization: Perspectives from Canada

The 2018 legalization of cannabis in Canada provides an opportunity within a federally legalized context to offer recreational and leisure experiences that incorporate the purchase, consumption, production, and education of cannabis. The establishment of cannabis tourism as a tolerated and increasingly widespread and socially significant practice under the frameworks of legalization and normalization challenges its association with deviance in the tourism literature. The purpose of this article to rethink cannabis tourism as an agent of normalization. In adopting cannabis as a resource, the tourism industry sets standards that become embedded in a broader context of social acceptance. Evidence from a study that documents cannabis tourism in Canada in the first few years following legalization is used to illustrate how tourism suppliers have adopted cannabis as a resource. This article contributes a qualitative assessment of normalization to the literature through an examination of both a database of cannabis tourism-related businesses and the narratives of suppliers in the cannabis tourism industry. Tourism is conceptualized as an agent of normalization by illustrating how it facilitates the accessibility and availability, everyday prevalence, increased tolerance, and social and cultural accommodation of cannabis.

“Merely to See and Touch It”: On Service, McCrae, and Literary Tourism in Canada

Long dismissed as a “critical error” ( Booth 2016 ) and still capable of inciting “embarrassment palpable” ( Watson 2006 ) among scholars otherwise happy to emphasize the material contexts that inform the circulation of texts, literary tourism has recently become the focus of serious academic inquiry. Recent work has begun to disaggregate the various forms of literary tourist sites ( Fawcett and Cormack 2001 ), but continues to have a methodological gap surrounding the specifically literary aspects of the practice itself, and—with the notable exception of Green Gables (Squire 1992; Devereux 2001 )—has left Canada predictably unexamined. This essay begins with a brief introduction to literary tourism in Canada before moving into a comparative analysis of two National Historic Sites associated with Canadian literary authors: the Robert Service cabin in Dawson City, Yukon, and the John McCrae House in Guelph, Ontario. The sites offer a compelling comparison as the former homes of two of the best-known Canadian poets of the early twentieth century whose works have become popularly synonymous with two of Canada’s most heavily mythologized eras. The enduring popularity of poems like “The Cremation of Sam McGee” reflect not only Service’s central role in mythologizing Canada’s north but also a strategic “cultural commoditization” of the area’s gold rush heritage ( Jarvenpa 1994 ; Grace 2001 ), while McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields” retains its status not only as the “most popular poem” of the First World War in Canada and beyond ( Fussell 2000 ), but also as a primary example of the ideological function of Great War literature within Canada ( Holmes 2005 ; Gordon 2014 ). Although the two author houses may initially appear a study in contrasts, I draw on recent work in literary tourist studies to argue they are linked in their function as “materialized fictions” ( Hendrix 2008 ), or concrete interpretative frames that aim to offer tangible evidence of the Canadian myths their former inhabitants helped to fashion.

Rural Food and Wine Tourism in Canada’s South Okanagan Valley: Transformations for Food Sovereignty?

This interdisciplinary research analyses the relationships between food sovereignty principles and food and wine tourism in rural contexts by asking how rural tourism stakeholders understand these concepts, mobilize the interrelationships, and to what purpose. Wine and food tourism is one of the fastest-growing rural tourism niches, with effects on the orientation of food systems, the livelihoods of producers, the viability of rural communities, and the biophysical environment. Secondary research and semi-structured interviews provide insights into how qualities of food sovereignty transitions are conceptualized, recognized, developed, supported, and promoted in the case of British Columbia’s South Okanagan Valley. An appreciative approach was used because this research aims to understand rural food and wine tourism’s potential contribution to food sovereignty. Although the term ‘food sovereignty’ did not resonate for most participants, qualities of a transition towards food sovereignty such as reorienting agriculture, food processing and consumption to the local region, supporting rural economies and environmental sustainability were considered integral to rural food tourism. Participants saw future opportunities for rural food and wine tourism to serve broader transformative purposes that would benefit locals, visitors, and the environment. Research results could be used to inspire critical academic, community and policy dialogue about food sovereignty in wine and food tourism destinations.

Leisure in the time of coronavirus: indigenous tourism in Canada and the impacts of COVID-19

For the first time in recent history, the world has stood still. In particular, global travel has come to screeching halt as people around the world shelters in place due to the treacherous Covid-1...

From unlikely to likely partnerships for change - child welfare and Indigenous tourism in Canada

The Indigenous tourism sector in Canada is rapidly developing. However, Indigenous communities are challenged by the overrepresentation of Indigenous children in the child welfare system. This multidisciplinary paper explores the intersection of child welfare and Indigenous tourism in Canada, specifically, by examining the role of Indigenous tourism in contributing to the welfare of Indigenous children in their communities. This paper reviewed grey Canadian tourism literature and analysed whether the industry is publicly acknowledging child welfare in their public discourse. Results indicate that Canadian tourism associations are not addressing child welfare in their public facing documents. Applying complexity theory as a lens, this paper discusses how this unlikely partnership between the child welfare and Indigenous tourism industry is critical in increasing the benefits of tourism, while intentionally finding ways to reduce the risks, particularly to children. This article concludes with recommendations on how this unlikely partnership can be fostered to become a likely partnership.

Health tourism in a developed country with a dominant tourism market: the case of the United States’ travellers to Canada

ABSTRACT Health tourism is a booming billion-dollar business, which has attracted the attention of academia and industry. Most of the research conducted on health tourism has been conceptual or has mainly focused on health tourism activities from developed to developing countries. This study investigates the impact of tourism demand on health-related tourism spending in a developed country (Canada) with a dominant tourism market (United States (U.S.)). The study considers both volume and price effects of health tourism during the period of 1986–2016, by applying time-series analysis, including unit root and cointegration testing and application of autoregressive distribution lag modelling. The results show a positive long-term effect of U.S. tourism demand on overall health-related tourism spending in Canada, but varying results when considering the volume and price dimensions. The findings provide further insights for managing the niche business of health tourism in Canada.

“Everything changed!” – the ramification of the Second World War on the Canadian North

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to retrace past developments that occurred in the Alaskan and Canadian North as of result of the Second World War and illustrate the ramifications of these events in the Canadian and American political landscapes as it pertains to warfare tourism. The paper also intends to initiate a discussion on how certain narratives pertaining to warfare tourism are promoted, while others are overlooked. Design/methodology/approach This paper analyses the political, economic, socio-cultural and technological factors that resulted in tourism growth or the lack thereof in the Canadian and American Norths. Findings Warfare tourism, like most types of tourism, is expected to grow. Through this growth comes opportunities to expand and integrate the discussion pertaining to warfare tourism in the Canadian and American Norths while also providing a starting point for discussion about potential solutions to address warfare tourism and cultural dissonance. Research limitations/implications This viewpoint is dependent on literature reviews. Practical implications The relationship between Indigenous peoples and other marginalized populations in the Second World War and warfare tourism is a relatively new research area. For warfare tourism to become integrated into tourism policies and developments, a willingness to address cultural dissonance and integrate populations formerly marginalized in the Second World War will be required. This paper examines how northern and other marginalized voices can be integrated in future commemoration and interpretation strategies. Social implications The paper provides an opportunity to examine the growth and healing that can result from warfare tourism. Originality/value This interdisciplinary collaboration conducted by a military historian, a northern historian and a tourism research researcher provides one of the first examinations of the impacts of the Second World War in North America, and the relevance of these impacts to the interpretation of warfare tourism in Canada.

Thoughts from the think tank: lessons learned from the sustainable Indigenous tourism symposium

ABSTRACT Indigenous tourism has the ability to foster, promote and preserve Indigenous culture and traditions and is closely in line with Indigenous perspectives. In Canada, Indigenous tourism has been developing at an exponential rate. This paper is a synopsis of a think tank held in Nanaimo, British Columbia at the Sustainable Indigenous Tourism Symposium in April 2017. The purpose of the symposium was to create an interactive forum to facilitate the sharing of knowledge and support community empowerment, cultural expression and economic prosperity within the tourism industry for Indigenous communities in Canada and globally. On the final day of the symposium, a think tank was held to identify key challenges and issues facing the development and competitiveness of sustainable Indigenous tourism in Canada; to share innovations in sustainable Indigenous tourism amongst all stakeholders; and to identify how to support stakeholders in Canada and abroad with the knowledge and tools to develop sustainable Indigenous tourism. The think tank included consultation and collaboration with 82 stakeholders including Indigenous peoples, students, academics, government actors, tour operators and tourism associations. The results of the think tank identified several key themes and the Naut’sa mawt Declaration of the Development of Sustainable Indigenous Tourism was developed from these discussions.

Differences in the importance of weather and weather-based decisions among campers in Ontario parks (Canada).

Parks and protected areas represent an important resource for tourism in Canada, in which camping is a common recreational activity. The important relationship between weather and climate with recreation and tourism has been widely acknowledged within the academic literature. Howbeit, the need for activity-specific assessments has been identified as an on-going need for future research in the field of tourism climatology. Furthermore, very little is known about the interrelationships between personal characteristics and socio-demographics with weather preferences and behavioural thresholds. This study uses a stated climate preferences approach (survey responses) to explore differences in the importance of weather and related weather-based decisions among summer campers in Ontario parks. Statistically significant differences were found among campers for each of the four dependent variables tested in this study. Physically active campers placed greater importance on weather but were still more tolerant of adverse weather conditions. Older campers placed greater importance on weather. Campers travelling shorter distances placed greater importance on weather and were more likely to leave the park early due to adverse weather. Campers staying for longer periods of time were less likely to leave early due to weather and were willing to endure longer durations of adverse weather conditions. Beginner campers placed greater importance on weather, were more likely to leave early due to weather and recorded lower temporal weather thresholds. The results of this study contribute to the study of tourism climatology by furthering understanding of how personal characteristics such as gender, age, activity selection, trip duration, distance travelled, travel experience and life cycles affect weather preferences and decisions, focusing this time on recreational camping in a park tourism context.

Domestic tourism of Chinese in Canada: Distinct differences

Abstract Domestic tourism in Canada has seen a significant increase in recent years; however, surprisingly little attention has been paid to it. Immigrants are an important part of the Canadian population and bring both opportunities and challenges to its tourism industry. Yet they have seldom been studied in previous research, and their heterogeneity is usually neglected. Canadians of Chinese origin are the largest non-European ethnic group in Canada, and therefore represent an increasingly important segment. This study examines the tourist behaviors of three ethnic Chinese groups based on their birthplace: Canada, Hong Kong and Mainland China. The findings show that they do not represent a homogeneous segment in the Canadian domestic market, although the tourist behaviors of Caucasian Canadians are similar to Chinese born in the country, suggesting a certain assimilation by the second generation. This research enables destination management organizations to understand the differences between the three Chinese groups and provides insights into potential marketing approaches to better attract and satisfy these segments.

Determinants of Travel Intentions to a Neighbouring Destination

The primary purposes of this study were to collect information on neighboring travelers’ past visits and determinants of future intentions for an overnight pleasure trip. Data was collected on a wide variety of travel behaviors. The study is based on a telephone survey of 3,688 residents of New Brunswick (NB) and Nova Scotia (NS), two sister Provinces to Prince Edward Island, a major Canadian tourist destination. The results reveal 51.9% have visited PEI within the past five years, 36.7% have visited PEI more than five years ago, and 11.4% have never visited PEI. Linear logistic regression analysis revealed that all three groups had a positive reaction to at least one form of advertising used. In all cases, if the potential visitor recalled and/or responded to an advertisement for PEI, they were much more likely to revisit than those who did not.

Patterns and organization of Japanese tourism in Canada: 1960–2010

AbstractThe tourism production chain is utilized to understand the major periods of emergence, growth, and decline of Japanese tourism in Canada. Interviews with personnel at airline companies, tour operators, and hotels indicate the salient features of the Japan‐Canada tourist production chain, as well as the spatial patterns of tourism circuits over the 1960–2010 period. The article argues that by the end of the study period the tourism production chain had split into two markets, comprising group tours and free independent travellers. The spatial pattern of Japanese tourists had broadened somewhat but continued to focus on the “8‐day dash,” a tour circuit involving travel across Canada to visit Niagara Falls, Banff in the Rockies, and Vancouver. To promote Canada to Japanese tourists, this analysis underscores the need to involve the Canadian Tourism Commission, provincial agencies, Air Canada, and local governments together in a “team Canada” approach, as well as including Japanese tour operators.

Heritage sport tourism in Canada

The objective of this paper is to illustrate the opportunities and challenges of heritage sport tourism by examining (1) the Arctic Winter Games and (2) the Canadian Football League as heritage sport tourism attractions in Canada. A review of the heritage sport tourism literature provides the context for this assessment. Key opportunities were found in (1) the manifestation of sport as a meaningful form of culture; (2) sport's impact on collective identity and by extension – destination image and (3) unique connections of sport heritage to place that can be positioned for competitive advantage. The central challenges include those associated with (1) processes of globalization and (2) the fragmented nature of the heritage sport tourism industry.

An early effort in cultural diplomacy: The Canadian Co-operation Project and Canadian tourism

The Canadian Co-operation Project (CCP) was one of the more unusual episodes in the economic and cultural relationship of Canada and the United States. Conceived between the federal government and the Hollywood film industry, the 1948 agreement called on Hollywood to produce more films in Canada and to make efforts to promote American tourism in Canada. The paper argues that the CCP was less the surrender to Hollywood than is generally understood and more an early example of cultural diplomacy in which the Canadian government used cultural relations with the United States for its own ends, primarily the promotion of tourism in Canada.

Fictional Spaces, Contested Images: Anne 's "Authentic" Afterlife

This article addresses the active afterlife of L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (1908) in terms of its commodification. Focusing specifically on the Anne dolls available in the market, as well as certain Canadian tourist spots inspired by Anne , the article delves into the thorny issue of "authenticity"—imagined in textual, legal and corporate terms—in case of these literary spin-off products. Finally, it takes up the question of materiality, with respect to Anne dolls in particular, in order to interrogate (English-) Canadian nationalism in the context of global Anne commodity circulation.

A Study of Cultural Tourism: The Case of Visitors to Prince Edward Island

Culture is an important part of the tourism “product” and is one of the factors that can improve the competitiveness of a tourism destination. Cultural tourism covers all aspects of travel that provide an opportunity for visitors to learn about another area‟s history and way of life. However, it has been difficult to demonstrate how important cultural tourism and cultural tourists are for a specific destination. This paper‟s objective is to examine the meaning and significance of cultural tourism for a major Canadian tourist destination. In doing so, the paper attempts to identify cultural tourists and profile trip characteristics of cultural tourists in an island setting. The results indicate that there are significant differences between “cultural” and “non-cultural” tourists. Cultural tourists were more likely to use travel information sources, to stay more nights at the destination, to recall communities they visited, to engage in all other travel activities, and to spend more money than non-cultural tourists. Consequently, the results demonstrate that cultural tourists are valuable in terms of their economic contribution to the destination and cultural/social interaction with communities.

The Effects of Advertising Awareness and Media Form on Travel Intentions

Travel intentions are directly tied to destination awareness, and potential visitors' perceptions of a destination and their personal circumstances. Marketing campaigns are often used to increase the purchase intentions of a relevant target market by creating awareness, changing perceptions, or reinforcing previously held views. Tracking intentions to visit is an important measure of the effectiveness of a destination's marketing strategy. This article reports on one such study for Prince Edward Island (PEI), a major Canadian tourist destination. The results are based on 103,402 responses, over two years, to a web-based travel intentions survey. The results indicate that intentions to visit PEI are highly related to how potential travelers learn about the official PEI visitor website and the ability to recall specific forms of advertising seen or heard. Visitor recall of PEI, measured through exposure to one or more types of advertising, has a pronounced impact on the intention to visit.