Tourism operators across the country will remember the summer of 2025 fondly, as the amount of money spent by tourists reached an all-time high.
Canada’s tourism sector generated a record-breaking amount of revenue of between May and August, reaching $59 billion, a six per cent increase compared to the same period last year.
The only noticeable blemish was a drop in revenue by visitors from the United States, which decreased by 1.7 per cent.
Most of the revenue was the result of Canadians choosing to spend their travel dollars within the country, as domestic tourism was up seven per cent. Revenue from international travellers remained strong, particularly from overseas markets, which increased by 10 per cent, according to new figures released by Destination Canada on Thursday.
The national tourism organization began to notice in the spring that travellers were eager to experience many parts of the country.
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“We were seeing bookings growing from all of our target international markets and from Canadians who are looking to travel domestically. So we really saw those breadcrumbs through the start of the year,” said Joe Amati, a senior executive director with Destination Canada.
“We are feeling very cautiously optimistic that that momentum that we’ve built for the summertime will continue,” he said. “We see that sentiment is up. Travellers still want to come to Canada and are telling us overwhelmingly they want to visit Canada.”
Many Canadians might’ve canceled their plans to travel elsewhere in the world and explored a different part of the country instead, said Andrew Shepherd, general manager of the Malcolm Hotel in Canmore, Alta. (Michelle McCann/CBC)
Hotels were kept busy during the summer months, especially in August, when national hotel occupancy reached 80.7 per cent, the highest since 2014.
“We do get the international guests and the Americans coming up and experiencing what we take for granted and they’re in awe every minute that they’re here,” said Andrew Shepherd, general manager of the Malcolm Hotel in Canmore, Alta., about the beauty of the Rocky Mountains.
Shepherd hasn’t crunched the final numbers for the summer period, but expects revenue was higher compared to 2024.
“The tourism this summer was really good for me,” said Brent Koinberg, owner of Crowsnest Adventures, which offers guided ATV and other tours through the mountains in southwest Alberta.
Business was booming this summer as the number of tours and customers quadrupled compared to last year, said Koinberg. About 40 per cent of his bookings were from international travellers.
Summer of 2025 exceeded expectations for Brent Koinberg, owner of Crowsnest Adventures. (Kyle Bakx/CBC)
“It was unbelievable,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of families booked for next year already, too.”
Canadians were also spreading the wealth, as 89 per cent of regions posted year-over-year growth, according to the report, with Atlantic Canada seeing some of the highest growth rates in the country.