Contents
Introduction_ 2
Canada in Brief 3
Canada as a country with developed tourism industry_ 4
Transportation in Canada 4
Accommodation_ 9
Catering service 11
Cousine 11
Caterers 12
Tourism industry_ 17
Conclusion_ 22
Literature 24
Introduction
Canada is the second biggest country in the World – ittakes one week non-stop to drive across the country coast to coast. Only partsof this huge territory are unhabited, as most Canadians live within 200 kilometersof the USA border.
Although one can feel the American modern life influence,Canada generally is safer and quieter than the USA. We are not allowed to carryguns! Canada has a much smaller population and more wilderness than our neighborsto the south.
Canada is very multicultural, with over 100ethnic/linguistic minorities accounting for 40% of the population. It hasalways prefered multiculturalism over assimilation, but now suffers identityproblems: one multicultural nation, or many different nations in one country?Quebecer and natives, respectively 25% and 2% of the population, clearly (andlegally) define themselves as a nation.
The main cities are interesting and very multicultural. Forests,mountains, coastlines, islands, vast wilderness, and arctic areas are also fantastic.The central Prairies will appeal to those that love big sky view and openplains.
The West coast is great, it has beautiful nature andlaid-back people, but the St. Lawrence and Great Lakes valley has more history.
The canadian Hospitality Club network, proportionally tothe population size, is the most important in the Americas. Otherwise there arelots of camping grounds and cheap hostels.
The climate is cold and icy in winter except on the WestCoast. In summer it is warm to hot in the south, cold in the Arctic East side,warm in the Artic west coast.
Top Things to See and Do: Vancouver and Vancouver Island, Inside Passage to Alaska,Coast Mountains, Rocky Mountains, Lake Louise, Badlands, Yukon-Whitehorsedogsledding, Toronto, Montréal, Ottawa, Québec Old walled city,Sault Ste. Marie, The Canadian Shield, Gaspésie, Mont-Tremblant. Neighboringcountries: USA and Russia.
Canada in Brief
Landscape: Mountains, Prairies, Desert, Arctic Tundra,Glaciers, Valleys, Foothills, Rivers, Lakes, 9,976,000 sq km (3.9 million sqmi).
Population: 30 Million.
Capital city: Ottawa, Ontario (pop: 1,010,500).
People: British descent (28%), French descent (23%),Italian descent (3%), aboriginal peoples (2%), plus significant minorities ofGerman, Ukrainian, Dutch, Greek, Polish and Chinese.
Languages: English, French and 53 native languages.
Religion: Catholic (45%), Protestant (36%) and minoritiesfrom most of the world's major religions.
Government: Parliamentary democracy.
Prime Minister: Paul Martin.
GDP: US$774 billion.
GDP per head: US$25,000.
Primary sectors: services 74%, manufacturing 15%,construction 5%, agriculture 3%, other 3%.
Annual growth: 3%.
Major products/industries: processed and unprocessedminerals, food products, wood and paper products, transportation equipment,chemicals, fish products, petroleum and natural gas.
Major trading partners: USA, Japan, EU (UK, Germany,Netherlands), China and South Korea.
Political Divisions: Key Attractions, Transportation,Wildlife.
Canada as a country withdeveloped tourism industry Transportation in Canada
There are five primary modes of transportation in Canada –air, road, rail, water and pipeline. Depending on the circumstances, one modeof transportation usually dominates over the others. Air transportation isbecoming increasingly important in today's world. TransCanada Airline, whichbegan in 1937 was Canada's first airline. In its humble beginnings, it had 10passenger airplanes and one crop duster. In 1965 the company changed its nameto Air Canada, and today has 157 aircraft serving 545 destinations around theworld, and is Canada's largest airline. Air Canada's main competition--Canadian Pacific Airlines --began operation in 1942. By 1969, the new airlinehad links to the far East, Australia, and South America. In 1968, CanadianPacific Airlines became CP Air. In total, Canada has 515 airports with pavedrunways, 878 with unpaved runways and 17 heliports. Ontario alone has more than60 airports with scheduled flights and 20 that service jet aircraft. Ontariohandles 40% of Canada's national passenger traffic through the Lester B.Pearson Airport in Toronto. This airport serves 45 different countries aroundthe world. It is also ranked fourth in North America in terms of the number ofinternational passengers using the airport. The heliports are used primarily byHelicopter Transport Services which opened in Timmins, Ontario in 1974, and nowoperate throughout Canada and the United States. The helicopters are used fornews broadcasts, air ambulance services, executive transport, aerialconstruction, police aviation and sightseeing. However, they are used mostextensively in the resource sector, serving the forestry and mining companies.While airplanes are very attractive for longer journeys, most people prefer theautomobile for shorter distances.
Road transportation is most competitive over smalldistances and offers the most spatially unrestricted form of transport inCanada. Following World War II, large sums of money were poured into theconstruction of a road network in Canada. In 1962, the TransCanada Highway wasofficially opened. At 7 821 kilometers, the TransCansda Highway is the longestnational highway in the world stretching from St. John's, Newfoundland toVancouver Island in British Columbia. The highway varies from a two-lane roadto a limited access divided highway, which breaks into two different routes innorthern Ontario and out west. The main southern route stays within one hour ofthe Canada-US border and runs along the northern shores of the Great, while themore scenic route runs farther north along wild rivers, untouched lakes, manysmall towns and various kinds of wildlife. At Portage- la- Prairie just west ofWinnipeg, the highway breaks into two routes again with the main route crossingthe southern edge of three prairie provinces and the northern route running upthrough Yorkton and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where it becomes the YellowheadHighway. Throughout its entirety, the TransCanada Highway is marked by highwaysigns bearing a green and white maple leaf. Mile zero is marked by a monumentin Victoria on Vancouver Island. Starting here and traveling east, the highwaypasses through the Kicking Horse Pass in the Rocky Mountains, Kamloops and theprairies, the forests of the Canadian Shield and the Atlantic provinces.
The only province that does not have a portion of thehighway is Prince Edward Island. Along with the TransCanada Highway, Canada hasnumerous smaller provincial highways and roads. In 1995 there was an estimated1 million kilometers of highways in the country — 358 371 kilometers paved and 662 629 kilometers unpaved. In Ontario, there are 72 000 kilometers of paved roads and highways, putting 40% of the total population of North Americawithin a 24 hour drive of the province. Highway 401 is Ontario's main highway,allowing people to travel from Windsor, Ontario to Montreal, Quebec. It has aminimum of four lanes but reaches 14 lanes in Metropolitan Toronto. Secondaryhighways (502 — 673) exist only in northern Ontario, and are often not pavedand are used to connect remote areas to major provincial roads. Tertiaryhighways are also exclusive to northern Ontario, are mostly gravel and connectall the remote areas that secondary highways do not reach. Territory highwayshave a tendency to end suddenly at a river, lake or other feature. Beforehighway travel and automobiles became the main ways of traveling, the train waswidely used as a means of getting goods and people from one place to another.
The first railway began operation in 1854 and was theprimary method of moving unprocessed resources from remote areas to industrialcenters. In 1881, Canada's first transcontinental railway — the CanadianPacific Railroad — was established by a Calgary-based company. This railroadcovers 25, 000 square kilometers and connects the Atlantic and Pacific coastswith the interior of North America. It links major Canadian cities and 16Midwest and northeastern US states. Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) is a freightrailway that transports food (sugar, canned goods, molasses, fresh and frozenfruits and vegetables etc.), consumer manufactured products (firebrick,concrete, girders, household appliances, rubber, cotton etc.), and also handleslarger volumes of two-way traffic within North America for importers andexporters. The second transcontinental railway in Canada is the CanadianNational Railway (CNR). Established between 1917 — 1923, the railwayincorporates the Old Grand Trunk Railway, Grand Trunk Pacific, Intercolonial,Canadian Northern and National Transcontinental Railway. CNR connects Halifaxin the east to Vancouver and Prince Rupert in the west with the Gulf Coastthrough Chicago and New Orleans. Covering some 72 963 kilometers of track, the railway has more than 85, 000 railcars and carries mainly coal, grainand petroleum. Canada also has railways that specialize in passenger transport.
Canadian Passenger Rail Service provides rail transport tomany places in Canada through its connections with other passenger traincompanies in the country. The Algoma Central Railway provides passenger servicefrom Sault St. Marie to Hearst, while AMT operates in Montreal. The OntarioNorthland Railway offers travel from North Bay up to Moosonee and the QuebecNorth Shore and Labrador, and the West Coast Express services western Canada.BC Rail is the third largest freight/passenger service train behind CNR andCPR. Formally know as the Pacific Great Eastern Railway in 1912 and the BritishColumbia Railway in 1972, it became known as BC Rail in 1984. It has 1 573 kilometers of line from North Vancouver to Fort Nelson and operates mainly on the west coast. VIARail runs trains throughout Canada on a need only basis.
There are four main categories of VIA Rail trains operatingwithin Canada: 1) corridor trains that run from eastern Quebec City to Windsor,Ontario 2) western trains that make trips from Toronto to Vancouver, stoppingin Sudbury, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Jasper and Kamloops — a journey thattakes three days 3) eastern trains — the 'Chaleur' and the 'Ocean' whichtravel between Montreal and Gaspe and Montreal and Halifax, respectively. 4)northern trains — Skeena, Saguenay & Abitibi and The Hudson Bay --that runin Alberta, Northern Quebec and Manitoba respectively. Water transport inCanada occurs mainly on the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway System, which is aseries of locks, canals and channels which link the Atlantic Ocean and the St.Lawrence River to Ontario and the upper Great Lakes.
The system extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the city ofLakehead on the west shore of Lake Superior. The seaway provides access to 15major and 50 minor ports from late March to early December, and consists ofmore than 245 752 square kilometers of navigable waters. The seaway directlyserves Canada's two largest provinces, Quebec and Ontario, as well as a numberof US states including New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana,Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. More than 40 provincial and interstatehighways connect the seaway ports with key cities in the US and Canada, and nearly30 railway companies serve the ports by moving bulk, break-bulk, and heavycargo. Approximately, 90% of the cargo carried by ships on the seaway is bulkcargo such as grain, iron ore, coal and petroleum (10%). Grain is the largestcargo by volume (40%) as it is primarily a US and Canadian export. Iron pelletsare also shipped from mines in Labrador, Quebec, Ontario and Minnesota to mineslocated on the great lakes. Approximately 60% of the traffic in the seaway isfrom overseas. Canada Steamship Lines operates 12 vessels on the Great LakesSt. Lawrence Seaway System. Their vessels consist of self-unloading bulkcarriers with inland, coastal and deep-sea traveling capabilities.
The company has the largest fleet of self unloading vesselsin the world that carries 30 million tonnes of bulk load annually; one ship iscapable of discharging 6 000 tonnes per hour in a continuous operation. Thecompany is headquartered in Montreal and has offices in Halifax, Winnipeg,Burlington and Singapore. Since 1845 it has been supplying North America withraw materials for their steel and thermal station power plants. In the beginning,Canada Steamship Lines served only the Great Lakes regions but has now expandedto the east and west coasts, the Caribbean, South America, Europe and the farEast. The Canadian Energy Pipeline Association represents companies whotransport more than 95% of crude oil and natural gas in Canada. Its membercompanies, which include Foothills Pipe Line Ltd., NOVA Gas Transmissions andTrans Canada Pipelines Ltd., operate more than 100 000 kilometers of Canada's 540 000 kilometers of pipelines. The company has operations in BritishColumbia, NorthWest Territories, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario andQuebec, and in 1997 the total volume of natural gas exported was 5. 6 trillioncubic feet. Pipelines are important because they connect oil and natural gasproducers in remote areas of Canada with urban markets. They allow gas producedon one side of the country to be used to heat homes on the other side. Forexample, much of the crude oil produced in the western provinces is shipped bypipeline to Quebec and eastern Canada. Pipelines are also the most costefficient way of transporting oil and natural gas. The cost of moving oilthrough a pipeline is 10% of the cost of the barrel, which in 1997 was $27. 00(Cdn). Oil and natural gas travel through pipelines under pressure. From herethe raw materials are sent to transmission lines. These in turn carry the oiland gas to large oil and gas corporations which then send it out to homes andbusinesses through smaller distribution lines. One of the companies that is amember of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association is Foothills Pipeline Ltd..Formed in the mid-70's in Calgary, the company is now one of Canada's largesttransporter of natural gas; it can transport up to 2. 5 billion cubic feet ofnatural gas each day through its 927 kilometers of pipeline.
Of all the natural gas exported from Canada to the US,Foothills Pipeline transports 1/3 of it and in 1998, moved 938 billion cubicfeet of natural gas into the United States. TransCanada Pipelines Ltd. is alsoone of North America's leading natural gas transporters. It has 13 955 kilometers of interprovincial pipelines, numerous pumping plants located all over the countryand supplies 45% of North America's natural gas. By the year 2000 a new pipeline will be built called the Alliance Pipeline. It will be 3 100 kilometers in length and will be used to transport natural gas from western Canada to Chicago,Illinois. The pipeline will begin at Fort St. John, British Columbia and willextend through Alberta to Chicago where it will join the North Americanpipeline grid. The Canadian portion of the pipeline will consist of 340 kilometers of 1 067 millimeter and 1 220 kilometers of 914 millimeter diameter steel pipe. There will be seven main compressor stations and mainline blockvalves spaced every 32 kilometers These five main modes of transportation — air, road, rail, water and pipeline --are extremely important to the Canadianeconomy. At one time or another each dominated the Canadian transportationsector. Because of Canada's large geographical area one type of transportationcannot provide service to every part of the country. Therefore all five modesnecessary components of Canadian transportation. Accommodation
A wide range of hotels is available for temporary staysupon arrival in Canada. A Canadian hotel is defined as having inside access,private rooms, and daily cleaning service. It is always best to makereservations in advance, and during the peak tourist season, it is essential.From May until August, hotels are booked most heavily (90 per cent full), andfinding a reasonable place to stay without a reservation can be challenging ifnot impossible. Although most reservations can be made with a week's notice, besure to check ahead for any major festivals or events as it will be moredifficult to reserve rooms during these times.
Hotel services, price and quality vary. Rooms in largercities will generally be more expensive. In general, however, you will findhotels in Canada to be clean, comfortable and reasonably priced. Most hotelsaccept major credit cards, and reservations can be made either directly or by atravel agent in your home country.
Here are some general estimates for the cost of hotelaccommodation per night. Please note that prices vary according to occupancyrates, location and season.
Low price range: $45-$75 CDN (It is advised to carefullycheck accommodation in this price range, as good quality hotels at these pricescan be difficult to find, particularly in large cities.)
Moderate price range: $55-$135 CDN
Expensive price range: $135-$250 CDN
Five-Star Hotel price range: $250 CDN & upwards
Bed-and-Breakfast
Another temporary accommodation option is thebed-and-breakfast. Rooms are located in private homes or locally-runestablishments, and the cost includes your own room and a generous breakfast.Many rooms do not have private toilets and baths. Bed-and-breakfastaccommodation comes in a variety of forms — it can be in a heritage home,modern townhouse, rural farmhouse, or seaside home. Most establishments areregistered with a professional association, and are a great way to meet localpeople.
Average cost of a room in a bed-and-breakfast: $35 to $105CDN per night.
Youth Hostels/YWCA/YMCA
Hostelling is a temporary and inexpensive way to stay inmajor cities. Accommodation is basic but economical, and primary facilities(toilets, baths and kitchens) are shared. Rates are calculated daily, and costsare less than other accommodation choices. A Canadian hostel must be inspectedand approved by the Canadian Hostelling Association.
Average cost of a room in a hostel: $10 — $20 CDN pernight.
For further information, you can contact the InternationalYouth Hostelling Association in your own country; or for information on hostelsin Canada, contact:
Hostelling International — Canada
400-205 Catherine Street
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada K2P 1C3
Tel: (613) 237-7884 or 1-800-663-5777
Fax: (613) 237-7868
E-mail: info@hostellingintl.ca
The YWCA/YMCA hotels are also inexpensive, clean, safe andcomfortable. Many of these establishments also have pools and fitness centres.Keep in mind, though, that hostels and YWCA/YMCAs fill up quickly during thesummer months, so you should plan ahead.
Average cost of a room in a YWCA/YMCA: $24 — $45 CDN pernight.
For more information contact:
YWCA of Canada
590 Jarvis Street
5th Floor
Toronto, ON
Canada M4Y 2J4
Tel: (416) 962-8881
Fax: (416) 962-8084
E-mail: national@ywcacanada.ca Cateringservice Cousine
Canadians like to eat. Recent statistics show we are someof the chubbier people on the planet. Two factors contribute to our state ofgirth: long, harsh winters which make it difficult to venture outside to getmuch exercise beyond shovelling the driveway and our, fatty, fried food diet.Here then is a tour of Canadian cuisine. Poutine — Invented in the late 1950'sin Quebec, this artery clogging dish consists of thick cut french fries andcheese curds covered in turkey gravy.
Many restaurants offer imitations (the McDonald's andBurger King versions are abominable) but accept no substitutes — only turkeygravy and cheese curds will do. Doughnuts — also spelled «donuts»-this food isn't especially Canadian but a hockey player named Tim Horton openeda chain of 24 hour donut shops which have become omnipresent sight on off rampsacross this land.
Bagels — other than that the best ones are, without doubt,found in Montreal, these too are more Yiddish than Canadian (not that the twoare mutually exclusive of course) but another hockey great, Darryl Sittler, isattempting to outdo Tim Horton by opening up a chain of bagel shops acrossCanada.
Try the spinach cream cheese. It's quite good. Beer — According to the Canada Food Guide, one should have mostly grains in theirdiet.
The hops and barley in beer should handle that. Maple Syrup- Mrs. Butterworth and Aunt Jemima are shysters.
Real maple syrup costs, like, ten dollars a bottle andtastes far nicer on your pancakes. Caterers
There are two main sectors within the catering industry;contract caterers and social event, or banquet caterers. The contract cateringmarket is dominated by large national firms and chain operations, like MarriottCorporation, which manage and operate foodservice facilities such as cafeteriasand camps on a contract basis. Institutions, industry and businesses comprisethe main markets for contract caterers and many operations focus on serving aspecific market's foodservice needs.
Industrial contract caterers specialize in providingfoodservice to workers at industrial sites such as mines and oil rigs and alsoprovide foodservice at remote sites such as tree planting locations. Businesscaterers focus on operating full-scale cafeterias as well as vending and mobilecarts that provide foodservice to employees of a variety of businesses.Institutional caterers serve Canada's large number of hospitals and nursinghomes, universities and colleges, public school and prison facilities.
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A comprehensive survey of foodservice operations across thecountry shows a brisk demand for catering. Operators of every stripe arefinding ways to exploit the trend, seeing their talented staffs and idlekitchens as sources of untapped potential. Even the most unlikely players aregetting into the act. Managers of institutional feeders such as schools,hospitals, and corporate dining halls have stepped outside their traditionalroles and into the world of catering.
The growing market for catered events has fueled an effortto use all available capacity. We're not just talking about weddings and barmitzvahs. Business events now dominate the market for catering.
Catered events are increasingly taking place within walkingdistance from the caterer's kitchen — on premises. This surveys also shows thatcatering jobs come in all sizes, and most of them are relatively intimate.
So you might ask yourself: why am I not catering? Or, if youare catering to groups in your dining room or loading a truck with trays everyweekend, how can you do it better?
Frequency. Catering is a volume business. Social caterersand hoteliers typically cater at least one event every day, usually more. Theyhave a voracious appetite for bookings and the capability of handling up to 100functions a month.
As worn out as operators of fine dining restaurants mightbe, more than one-third cater in excess of 13 functions per month. Most ofthese take place in their restaurants.
Among the non-commercial operators, hospitals, colleges,and contract employee feeders wrack up the catering jobs. They serve patients,students and employees. And, they cater events, usually for fewer than 50people, on their premises. These kitchens are running a type of room servicewith small groups eating and meeting in rooms throughout the facility.
The survey also shows sharp differences in theaggressiveness of kitchens run by contract operators over those managed by theinstitutions themselves. Most contractors tackled more than 13 events permonth; whereas, almost 60% of the self-run operations settled for less.
Who works the jobs? Entering the catering business to offerstaff more hours will probably work. Restaurants and hotels rely on existingwait-staff for catering jobs, often reinforcing them with casual hires,including family members. Social caterers show an especially high tendency totap family, since their work force must ebb and flow in response to bookings.
Busiest seasons: «If you're not prepared to take a hitin January and February and think this is a flat-line business, then youshouldn't be in this business,» says Shelly Pedersen, a longtime catererand President of the National Association of Catering Executives (NACE). But,catering's seasonality makes sense. Family restaurants, with their casual fare,see catering opportunities rise with summer temperatures. Schools respond tobusy classrooms and academic activities in spring and fall. Most other cateringoperations post their best receipts in winter — largely due to intensiveholiday catering. Balancing Pedersen's warning against the fat winter numbers,one can fully appreciate the frenzied holiday party season.
Business vs. social: Hidden in the unremarkable splits betweenthe business and the social markets is a surprising strength among familyrestaurants in catering business functions. They report that more than 71 percent of their catering dollars come from business and corporate clients.
Businesses and corporations obviously keep the cateringphenomenon alive. Even schools (66 percent of them) cater business events. Infact, there are more schools handling corporate events than handling communitymeetings, according to the survey.
Social caterers most often answer the call for ethnic themeparties. According to Kramer, the rise in international corporate affiliationshas opened the field for ethnic themes. If a firm opens a new branch in China,for instance, get ready for dragons and fireworks. She also points out the carewith which ethnic themes must be executed. «Corporations have to be intune with their audience. Once you've done enough research, you can create atheme with wonderful ambiance. Anytime you can theme an event and be socially,politically, and morally correct, you've got a hit.
On-premises vs. off: Family restaurants serve more cateredmeals outside than inside. And even fine dining restaurants attribute 41% oftheir catering sales to off-premises events.
Social caterers rely on attractive facilities and settingsfor their parties. With demand rising, good rooms are scarce. Therein lies anopportunity that restaurants are seizing with banquet rooms and off-nightfunctions. Besides, off-premise catering often presents unseen dangers.»The science of the food is different," says Shelly Pedersen.«As are the equipment needs and the demands on the staff.»
Average size group: The flexibility and experience ofsocial caterers seems to allow them to handle large crowds. Volume can widenprofit margins and social caterers, who fight for budget against rent andliquor costs, often make their money head by head. On the whole, gatherings of100 or less dominate the catering service.
Table service vs. buffet: The popularity of buffetscontinues with one notable exception. Within these figures, resorts and hotelsreport serving half their catered meals at table. Family restaurants boostbuffet scores among commercial operators, since they offer table service atless than ten per cent of the events they handle. Even among fine diningrestaurants, however, buffets remain more popular than table service.
Ginger Kramer sees the popularity of buffets continuing andincreasing along with the demand for theme parties. «Themes are hot»,she says. «And it's much easier to attach a theme to a buffet than to asingle plate.» She also points to the greater variety available at abuffet and its effect on social dynamics. Buffets allow party-goers to minglethroughout the room. Table service confines them to one table.
Where's the money? Commercial operations vary in theircommitment to catering; social caterers live by it; and non commercials seem totake care of their own people. These variations make direct analysis of profitmargins hard to ascertain. But one conclusion is obvious: with 50 per cent ofthe commercial operators, 78 per cent of social caterers, and a 25 per cent ofnon-commercial operators making more than $10,000 per year, catering is aliveand growing.
The future: Results show that respondents see healthygrowth in every market for catering. The highest numbers in each categoryreflect the strength of each type of caterer. Non-commercials see potential inon-premises events, as do commercial caterers. Ginger Kramer agrees.«There simply aren't enough banquet facilities and special eventsites,» she says. The survey confirms Kramer's assertion that caterers whodo both on and off-premises events will achieve the greatest business success.
Tourism industry
At the federal level tourism is the responsibility of theminister of state for small business and tourism through Tourism Canada in theDepartment of Regional Industrial Expansion. The promotion and development oftourism through a designated federal agency dates from 1934. The recognizednational industry association is the Ottawa-based Tourism Industry Associationof Canada (TIAC). It is an umbrella organization representing private sectorcompanies, organizations, institutions and individuals engaged in tourism inCanada and working in partnership with provincial and territorialtourism-industry associations. TIAC has represented the Canadian tourismindustry for 69 years and exists to lobby government, to communicate withindustry, and to increase public awareness of the importance of tourism and theneed for public support.
Tourism dates back to the early history of Canada. Writingsby the early explorers and traders contributed to the growing knowledge of theCanadian landscape, still the primary attraction of Canada's tourism industry(see EXPLORATION AND TRAVEL LITERATURE). From the mid-18th to the early 19thcentury TOPOGRAPHIC PAINTERS recorded an idealized landscape, scenes that wereoften reproduced as engravings in travel books published in Europe. The CANADIANPACIFIC RAILWAY, through its rail and steamship services, its hotels andpublicity campaigns, attracted affluent European and American tourists toCanada. Modern travel and the opportunity for mass travel came with the jetairplane. Business travel illustrates the degree of change: travel and relatedexpenses are the third-largest expenditure of Canadian business, after payrolland data-processing expenditures. Canadian companies spent $3 billion in 1986.
The Canadian tourism industry requires sophisticatedmarketing, delivering value and service. Beginning in 1984 Canada experienced aturnaround following 10 years of decline during which its balance of paymentsdeficit on the international travel account grew from $300 million to $2.2billion. Nineteen eighty-six was an exceptional year: foreign visitorsincreased 18%. The primary reasons for this growth were EXPO 86 in Vancouver, afavourable exchange rate with the US, an aggressive federal governmentadvertising campaign in the US and negative incidents in other parts of theworld which discouraged N Americans from travelling overseas. The bestpotential new source for travellers to Canada is likely in the Pacific Rimcountries. Arrivals from Japan and Hong Kong are expected to show an increase,continuing an upward trend that started in 1979. Australia remains stable. TheUS continues to be Canada's primary source of visitors; they comprise over 85%of our tourism market. Traditional European markets, including the UK, France,W Germany and the Netherlands, are expected to produce moderate growth over thenext few years.
Contemporary Canadian tourist attractions are often thesame as those extolled by early travel writers — the fjorded coast of BC, themajestic grandeur of the Canadian Rockies, the wide open spaces of thePrairies, the lakes, forests and rivers of central Canada, the Atlantic coastin its infinite variety of bays, coves, beaches and scenic vistas, the arcticenvironment and people, and, of course, such old favourites as NIAGARA FALLS.The works of humans have been added to these natural assets through thedevelopment of modern and sophisticated cities, and through galleries andmuseums, performing arts, historic sites, FESTIVALS, and events such as Expo86, the CALGARY STAMPEDE and winter OLYMPIC GAMES. To most of the world Canadais known as a tourist destination through its scenery, space and environment.
During the review period, the travel and tourism industrywas under constant pressure beginning in 2001 with the terrorist attacks. In2003, the industry was tainted by the war in Iraq, which caused uneasinessabout travel, the SARS outbreak in Toronto and a sluggish US economy. SARS wascontained within two months of the outbreak, despite a second unexpectedresurgence, but the damage brought on by a WHO travel advisory was done. Theimpact of these events was greatest on international tourism, followed by USvisitors to Canada, but was not expected to significantly influence Canadians'decisions to travel.
Domestic tourism, which accounted for the bulk of theCanadian tourism industry, remained firm during the review period, withcontinuing popularity particularly among the older generation, highlighting thedesire to stay close to home, which resulted from security and economic concerns.However, more cautious spending patterns emerged towards the end of the reviewperiod, per capita expenditure for domestic trip fell by 6% since 2000, but adrop of less than 1% over the review period as a whole. Overall, the WTO rankedCanada as ninth in the world's top 15 destinations for travel, capturing 2. 8%of the total international travel market at its last ranking, in 2001.Demographic trends remained largely intact. Greying populations worldwide,including Canada, will mean demand for structured tourism products such aspre-packaged and all-inclusive tours and cruises and quality accommodations.
Women are also increasingly becoming a larger proportion ofCanadian travellers. The accommodation market suffered towards the end of thereview period. Hardest hit was Toronto, suffering losses of C$5million per dayin April, as many major conventions cancelled their reservations due to SARS.Accommodations across Ontario also reported losses, but not nearly assignificant as those in Toronto. Through the review period, accommodationrevenue increased by 9. 7%. Hotels struggled to keep up occupancy levels and in2003 there were tremendous value deals available in hotels. In such acompetitive environment, alternative, no-frills accommodation benefited, suchas hostels and guesthouses. Consumers were also more likely to stay withinternational brand names, such as Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. Merger andacquisition activity dropped off significantly in almost all areas of thetravel and tourism industry.
The tone in the industry as a whole was, at best, tomaintain market share and revenue with strong efforts made to avoid losingground because of the tough economic environment. There were no significantmergers and acquisitions in 2003, although as the economy improves, through2004 and 2005 the levels of activity may turn around.
Canada's travel deficit, pushed down to its lowest level inmore than 10 years, is benefiting from an influx of American tourism dollars.
The deficit declined by 42.1 per cent to $1.4 billion inthe first nine months of 1998, down from $2.4 billion during the same period in1997.
Foreign spending, up 11.2 per cent from the same periodlast year and valued at $11.1 billion, largely accounts for this decrease.Meanwhile Canadian tourism spending abroad also rose 0.7 per cent to $12.5billion.
«The record number of Americans visiting Canadacombined with fewer Canadians vacationing in the U.S. has resulted in a hugeshift in the international travel account,» explained Canadian TourismCommission (CTC) chairman Judd Buchanan. «This has buffered the impact ofthe drop in visits and spending by tourists from many of our primary overseasmarkets, particularly Japan, France and Germany.»
What key factors are responsible for this boom in Canada'stourism industry?
«Canadians are doing more internal travel because ofthe low value of our dollar, but that's not the motivating factor forAmericans,» explains John Olsthoorn, a spokesman for the Canadian TourismCommission. «The economic situation in the U.S. is positive, with lowunemployment and high consumer confidence, which means that people have morediscretionary funds.»
Olsthoorn notes that Canada also offers Americans what theywant: safe cities, the great outdoors, and friendly people. Another key factoris the Open Skies Agreement, which has opened more Canadian airports to directflights from the U.S. This gives Americans more choices about flying intoCanada.
«Americans can afford to travel more and they arechoosing Canada in record numbers because it offers them what they want to seeand do,» added Christena Keon Sirsly, chair of CTC's U.S. leisuremarketing committee and vice-president of marketing at VIA Rail Canada Inc.«Once in Canada, many of them realize their U.S. dollar goes further andthey end up spending more.»
This is clear when you look at the changes to Canada'stravel deficit with the U.S. Total tourism receipts from the U.S. jumped 23.7per cent, while Canadian tourism spending in the U.S. fell 3.2 per cent. Theoverall result is that Canada's travel deficit with the U.S. plunged 67.1 percent to $788 million.
In contrast, overseas tourism receipts fell $230 million,while Canadians' overseas spending rose $347 million, increasing Canada'stravel deficit with the rest of the world by $578 million during the first ninemonths of 1998.
Marketing is the final factor in the boom in Canada'stourism industry. In addition to vigorously marketing Canada to potentialtourists from the U.S. and overseas, CTC has forged partnerships withStatistics Canada (which produces the International Travel Account), theprovinces and territories, private industry and universities helping to makeCanada the world leader in tourism-economic research.
There are some facts about domestic tourism.
Domestic Tourism Demand, Third Quarter 2003
· Domestic demand steady whileforeign expenditures down
· Domestic expendituresreached $11.4 billion in the 3rd quarter of 2003, an increase of 3.2% over theprevious year, which represents the sixth consecutive year-over-year gain..
· Foreign spending in thethird quarter 2003 decreased 10% to $6.3 billion compared to the same quarterin 2002. This is the third consecutive quarterly decline in foreign spending.
· Spending at home remainedweak while Canadians increased touring abroad, thus the share of domesticspending was reduced to 64%.
· In comparison to the secondquarter 2003, seasonally adjusted third quarter 2003 domestic spending was up4.1% and foreign spending was up 3.3% (seasonally adjusted).
· The year-over-year datacontrasts the quarter-to-quarter, the first being attributed to continueddecreases in spending by international visitors.
Conclusion
Canada is the largest country in land size in the westernhemisphere with a population of only 29 million people. Its form of governmentcan be characterized as a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentarydemocracy. It comprises of 10 provinces and 3 territories, with Toronto;Montreal and Vancouver being the largest cities. Canada is a young and dynamiccountry where immigration is the foundation for economic growth and whichbrings people, customs and traditions, rituals and culture to the forefront ofcurrent Government policy.
Canada is a very large country geographically with a widelydispersed population. The economy still relies heavily on primary resources,which requires that goods be transported from one end of the country to theother. Subsequently, reliable and efficient modes of transportation are quiteimportant in Canada, probably more so than in some other countries.
Caterers are primarily engaged in serving meals by mobilecanteens or on private premises including halls, schools, factories, hospitals,offices and camps. Except for small single functions, catering is normally doneon an annual contract basis.
This section has been developed to indicate how certaincompanies redefine their workplace, position themselves to take competitiveadvantage of emerging niches and adapt to ever increasing public and privatesector flows of information and education. It indicates both positive andnegative responses to the marketplace.
Illegal basement caterers have driven some Edmontonoperators to form a professional society in an effort to clean up the industry.
The Catering Professionals Association of Alberta isrecruiting new members to add to the 19 companies already in the group.«When you think about it, you can put some food out without a whole lot ofoverhead or expertise,» says Todd Rutter, owner of A Cappella Catering andhead of the new organization. «But the problem is to do it properly, to doit legally and, therefore, safely, it requires much more than that.»
About 200 caterers are listed in the Edmonton Yellow Pages.An undetermined number operate without licenses or health permits, said StevenProbert, a public health inspector. «The guys who go legal spend a lot ofmoney only to be driven under financially by these illegal operations.»
To operate legally caterers must have a valid businesslicense, a health permit and liability insurance. They're obliged to makepayments to Revenue Canada and workers' compensation. They must also meetbuilding code standards with proper heating and ventilation systems — all ofwhich cost money.
Rick Dimock, the city's food program co-ordinatorresponsible for inspections, said inspectors are always watching out for peoplewho operate illegally. «We know it happens, but the only way we find outabout it is if we get a complaint from someone or we run into it.»
The city implemented a new system last October wherebyinspectors make three visits a year to each of the larger companies. The newcatering association hopes that setting rigid membership requirements andencouraging as large a membership as possible will stop people from gettingaway with breaking the law.
Accommodations in Canada — the place to visit for bed andbreakfasts, lodging, hotels, motels, resorts, inns and attractions acrossCanada who offer their guests a friendly mix of modern comfort, old world charmand warm hospitality.
Visitors from outside Canada make tourism Canada'sfifth-largest earner of foreign exchange after motor vehicles, auto parts,crude petroleum and newsprint. The bulk of Canada's tourism comes fromCanadians travelling in and exploring their own country. On the internationaltravel account, Canada has a falling share of the international market and a$1.2-billion deficit: Canadians spent $7.5 billion outside Canada. Catering totourists in Canada involves many large companies and about 100 000 small andmedium-sized businesses, including almost 300 000 hotel and motel rooms, morethan 45 000 eating places and 4000 travel agencies. These businesses serve over34 million visitors a year. Every 100 000 visitors to a community can mean $9million in revenue throughout the local economy.
Literature
1. Restaurant Hospitality and Food Management,Supplement, Fall, 2007.
2. canada.gc.ca
3. Christine Lindop. Canada. Oxford UniversityPress. 2001.
4. Canadian Press Newswire, March 6, 2005.