Tourism is a massive — and growing — industry in Canada. Last year, a record 22 million people visited Canada from around the world. Around one in 11 Canadians worked in the tourism industry, also the number one employer of Canadian youth. Tourism represented 2 percent of the country’s GDP. 

Then 2020 came, and things changed — quickly. As borders closed and temporary shutdowns discouraged domestic travel, the tourism industry effectively grinded to a halt. The industry lost 881,700 jobs between February and April. While tourism employs around 10 percent of Canadians, it accounted for 30 percent of all job losses during this period. Local economies have been devastated by the loss of one of their biggest industries, with small communities the hardest hit.

But the industry is beginning to pick itself back up: Tourism HR Canada reported steady increases in employment in the sector in May and June, and the federal government has committed $30 million to promoting travel within Canada this summer. 

This is a critical moment, say the organizers of a new, global coalition called Future of Tourism. 

Tourism has a massive carbon footprint. A 2018 study found that the industry accounts for 8 percent of global carbon emissions, and that percentage was growing rapidly year over year. It’s also been heavily criticized for exploiting and failing to respect local communities.

As tourism begins to reawaken around the world, the Future of Tourism coalition says, now is the time to reimagine its future, implementing far higher standards for environmental sustainability and respect for destination communities. 

The declaration has more than 200 signatories globally, from businesses to tourism boards to advocacy organizations like the World Wildlife Fund. In its guiding principles, the coalition explains that “poorly managed tourism, driven by short-term, unguided market forces, has disrupted communities and ecosystems, worn away cultural and historic sites, added to environmental stress, and degraded the travel experience itself.”

The coalition is urging tourism professionals to commit to 13 principles for a more sustainable future of the industry. 

In the second principle, the coalition is asking for more widespread adherence to already-existing sustainability standards, like those established by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council. But it’s also calling for brand new commitments — or at least new levels of commitment to sustainability and respect for local communities. 

On the local communities side, the coalition is urging governments to “manage tourism development based on quality of visitation, not quantity of visitors, so as to enhance the travel experience while sustaining the character of the destination and benefiting local communities.” It calls for policies that “maximize retention of tourism revenues within those communities,” and “account for all tourism costs in terms of local tax burdens, environmental and social impacts, and objectively verifiable disruption.”

It also urges governments and the industry to completely redefine what economic success in tourism looks like: “Rather than raw contribution to growth in GDP, favour metrics that specify destination benefits such as small business development, distribution of incomes, and enhancement of sustainable local supply chains.”

Environmentally, the coalition is calling for investment in “green infrastructure and a fast reduction in transport emissions involved in tourism — air, sea, and ground,” and a wholesale move away from single-use plastics in the industry, when it’s safe to do so post-pandemic. 

It also calls for limits on tourism’s land use: “Discourage resort sprawl from taking over coasts, islands, and mountain areas, so as to retain geographical character, a diverse economy, local access, and critical ecosystems.”

To bolster the sustainability of the sector itself, the coalition urges governments and industry leaders to “encourage robust domestic tourism, which may be more resilient in the face of crises and raise citizens’ perceived value of their own natural and cultural heritage.”

As tourism industries around the world restart, the coalition plans to support signatories with tools, guidance and opportunities for collaboration. 

The movement is essential for revitalizing all communities post-pandemic, Future of Tourism says. “Decades of unfettered growth in travel have put the world’s treasured places at risk – environmentally, culturally, socially, and financially. Now the tourism industry faces a precarious and uncertain future. Re-centering around a strong set of guiding principles is vital for long term deep-rooted growth.”

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