Experts say niche tourism has the potential to bolster this country's sagging tourism industry, which is moving along at minimal growth rates.
"Canada is hobbling along with one-per-cent to two-per-cent tourism growth," says Christopher Jones, vice-president of public affairs for the Ottawa-based Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC). "World tourism is growing at about 6.3 per cent annually."
A new TIAC report on Canada's tourism competitiveness says this country has become complacent about its tourism industry, assuming that visitors will always come, or when there are marked declines that they will eventually rebound.
One new strategy, though, would be to focus on cultural and heritage tourism.
According to the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), global cultural and heritage tourism is growing by an unprecedented 15 per cent per year.
This market targets a traveller interested in experiencing the authenticity of the culture and the heritage of the country visited.
"In spite of the unprecedented growth in this tourism sector, Canada has been complacent about developing our cultural and heritage assets, relying instead on our natural beauty, such as Jasper and Niagara Falls," says Shyam Ranganathan, dean of Toronto's Centennial College's school of hospitality and founding dean of the school's Culture & Heritage Institute.
"If you look at the international models and if we emulate those international models, Canada has the potential to increase its tourism."
Ranganathan says the cultural and heritage tourism market wants to see as much of a country as possible in a 10- to 12-day period, is sensitive to ecological concerns and wants to leave as small a carbon footprint as possible in their travels.
Part of Canada's problem, he adds, is that while this country is full of attractions that would interest the culture and heritage traveller, current tourism packages are largely oriented to specific destinations - as opposed to packaging attractions in a larger region that could cover a wider variety of offerings.
Expensive travel costs within Canada also hurt.
"This is where we have to work on regional plans, reasonable packages that bring down costs substantially. We need to work with airlines and the rail system to put a package together and bring the price down to reasonable levels so we can market Canada internationally," says Ranganathan. "My opinion is that we are increasingly becoming a niche market that's more on the upper level-type of travel - and that's limiting us."
But some niche markets do make sense, says TIAC's Jones.
"Cultural heritage tourism is a growing segment of the leisure travel business, we do need to put more of our eggs in those baskets," he says. "We do need to focus more on spa and wellness tourism, culinary and wine tourism, which is growing, as well as sport and adventure tourism and eco-tourism. These are growing market niches."
