Federal officials see Canada’s failure to take advantage of a rapidly growing market for international tourism as a key economic challenge facing the country.

Canada has seen its ranking as a destination for international tourists fall from eighth in the world in 2000 to 15th in 2009, according to documents from Industry Canada officials used last year to brief Maxime Bernier after being appointed minister of state for small business and tourism.

These documents, attained through an access-to-information request, highlight how Canada’s share of international travellers had declined from 2.9 per cent in 2000 to 1.8 per cent in 2009. That was despite a trend of expanding world travel that’s seen international trips made by people rise from 440 million in 1990 to 935 million in 2010 and to be on track to reach 1.6 billion by 2020.

“Long-term growth of the tourism sector in Canada is dependent on improving competitiveness in the global market and capturing a greater share of the growing number of international travellers,” the government documents say.

These briefings point to the importance of tourism to Canada’s economy, saying it accounted for about two per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product in 2010 and 3.6 per cent of the country’s employment with 617,300 jobs. It also said the industry generated $19 billion in revenue for various levels of government in 2009.

The information also indicates that 80 per cent of the revenue generated in Canada’s tourism industry comes from Canadian travellers, and the remaining 20 per cent from people of other countries.

Quinn Newcomb, spokesman for the Canadian Tourism Commission, said the country’s share of international travel fell further in 2010 to 1.7 per cent, adding it’s part of a trend that’s been ongoing since the 1950s as more countries become players in the world tourism market.

“It’s definitely a more competitive marketplace now,” Newcomb said. “There are a lot more players in the field; a lot more well-funded marketing organizations, especially from some new emerging markets.”

Scott French, a spokesman for Bernier, said the government is taking steps to make Canada more competitive in the world tourism industry.

“Tourism is an important industry that creates jobs in every region of the country,” he said in an email. “In order to seize upon the opportunity to attract more travellers to Canada, our government launched the federal tourism strategy this fall.

“Working with industry, our government’s strategy will better co-ordinate governmentwide efforts to support Canada’s tourism industry while positioning tourism businesses to become more competitive internationally.”

Newcomb said the tourism commission, a Crown corporation, is responding to the situation by more aggressively promoting the unique experiences one can have in Canada, ranging from the Calgary Stampede to seeing polar bears in Churchill, Man.

The government briefings show the Americas and Europe received 87 per cent of international travellers in 1980, but that had fallen to 76 per cent by 2000 and is expected to drop to 64 per cent by 2020. More tourism in Asia was cited as a main factor.

Chinese youth wearing white cowboy hats and waving Canadian and Chinese flags filled spiral staircases as Harper helped launch a new tourism marketing campaign highlighting the centennial of the Calgary Stampede as a reason for more Chinese to travel to Canada.

Harper opened a Canadian tourism office in Beijing highlighting the centennial of the Calgary Stampede as a reason for more Chinese to travel to Canada.

It’s the first in a series of stops for the prime minister who’s on a three-city tour of China in part to promote people-to-people ties.

Canada received Approved Destination Status from China in 2009, which allows Canada to be officially marketed as a destination.

Chinese tourism to Canada up 25%

Since then, tourism to Canada has increased by 25 per cent, including an estimated 232,000 travellers in the first 11 months of 2011.

“It is one of the few industries in the world whose raw material is goodwill and whose finished product is friendship,” Harper said at the China Youth Travel Service headquarters.

“And I think the world needs all the friendship and goodwill it can get.”

The head of CYTS said the Chinese are already impressed with Canada’s landscape and citizens.

“Travel is the best way to build bridges between people and countries,” said Zhang Li Jun, through a translator.

At the event, officials were handing out copies of the Canadian classic Anne of Green Gables translated into Mandarin.

Harper’s wife Laureen wrote the forward and had signed copies.

In an editorial, a Chinese state newspaper says Harper’s visit comes at an important moment in bilateral relations.

But in order to develop them, both sides need to treat each other with respect and appropriately handle sensitive issues, The China Daily said.

“It is hoped the two countries can make their relationship a model for relations between countries of different social systems and modes of development.”

Harper, who arrived in Beijing early Tuesday, is making his second visit to China since 2009. Since then, the two countries have grown closer thanks to a series of high-level meetings.

Harper to meet Chinese Premier

Harper is hoping to push forward the relationship with a series of events highlighting people as much as product, as well as signing new deals.

Tourism in particular is an important revenue stream in Canada, contributing nearly $15 billion to the economy in 2010, according to government figures.

Another key topic of discussion on this trip will be oil and gas, and the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, which could deliver oil from Alberta to ports in B.C. and then onwards to China.

A delegation of executives, many from Canada’s energy sector, is travelling along with the prime minister.

Harper is scheduled to meet Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Beijing on Wednesday for bilateral talks and the expected signing of an agreement to further economic ties.

But first he and Laureen were to visit a key cultural icon in Beijing, the Temple of Heaven. Centuries ago, the temple was where emperors flocked to pray for a good harvest.

However, there will also be some difficult issues to tackle on this trip, such as Syria.

The prime minister is expected to raise China’s decision to veto a UN resolution that would have supported a plan to see Syrian President Bashar Assad give up power.

Police arrested José Ramón Acosta Quintero, who is expected to appear before a judge within the next two days to face charges of attempted murder.

Sheila Nabb, a 37-year-old office manager in Calgary, and her husband Andrew were vacationing at the five-star Hotel Riu Emerald Bay when she was found beaten and bloodied in a hotel elevator last week.

Authorities presented Quintero to the media on Saturday. He spoke in both Spanish and fluent English, according to freelance reporter David Agren.

Agren, who attended the news conference, said Quintero was “low-key” as he outlined his version of events.

“It wasn’t planned or anything like that. It just happened in the moment,” Quintero told reporters. “I didn’t try to abuse her, or I didn’t … I didn’t try to kill her or anything like … or rob her or anything. I was just afraid and I wanted to leave.”

Quintero said he got into the hotel elevator after a night of drinking with a Canadian friend and “doing a line of cocaine,” with the intention of going to the top floor to look at the lights of the city.

He says he encountered Nabb, who he said wasn’t wearing any clothes, at the sixth floor and when he tried to prevent her from leaving she screamed, and he panicked.

“I covered her mouth and I said don’t … don’t … please don’t yell. I’m gonna go home … just stop. But she continued yelling. She got more afraid when I covered her mouth. And then I hit her … four or five times in the face with my fist. And then I left.”

Reporter Ioan Grillo told CTV News Channel earlier Saturday the state’s prosecutor said Quintero is known to “get friendly” with guests.

Police identified the suspect from a video where they could see him getting out of the elevator where Nabb was assaulted and from blood on one his sandals, Grillo said.

“The sandal matches some of the blood from the victim,” Grillo reported the prosecutor as saying.

Agren said police also say they found khaki shorts and a grey sweatshirt that are similar to clothing seen on the suspect in surveillance video taken from the hotel.

Police remain baffled as to a motive for the attack, he said. According to Agren, authorities have devoted a lot of resources to the investigation.

“They have been taking this very seriously,” he said. “This is a town where cruise ships stopped coming in last year, so that has really impacted the tourist economy heavily here.”

The freeze on tolls and fees has been in effect since 2008, says Jewel Cunningham, P.E.I.’s field unit superintendent.

The freeze has been extended until 2014. The aim is to encourage more Canadians to visit parks and assist the tourism industry in this time of slow economy.

Entry fees account for only a portion of the revenue Parks Canada makes to keep parks operating, said Cunningham.

“A lot of revenue associated with P.E.I. national parks are associated with licensing and we also have business operations going on within our facilities as well.”

Some examples are golf courses and hotel operations, as well as gift shops and, to a lesser extent, donations, she said.

“Entry fees are a fairly small portion of revenue in this geographic location. We are fortunate in that the entry fee freeze won’t be felt as tremendously here as in other parks around the country.”

Fees for other programs, such as guided walks or tours, which have costs outside of entry fees, also help in generating revenue, she said.

“There’s a variety of ways we can help reduce the impact of the fee freeze. They would be scheduling maintenance and spreading costs out across multiple years.”

P.E.I. parks have been well maintained in recent years and recent upgrades were made to facilities as well, she said.

“We have been successful in receiving a lot of funding from Canada’s Economic Action Plan. We here on P.E.I. have been fortunate enough to receive enough funding for road upgrades and upgrades at Brackley Beach for instance.”

But she said there are no firm promises that everything will be the exact same as its always been.

“In terms of a net loss, it’s really reduced by a number of things. Although we’ve had some decrease in visitation, we’ve also had some pockets of increased visitation. We have been able to expand visitation to Green Gables with the cruise industry on the rise, for instance.”

About 450, 000 people visited P.E.I.’s national park in 2010, a decrease from the 700,000 people who attended in 2006.

But the way in which Parks Canada counts visitors has also changed.

Before 2008, anyone entering the park was counted, even if they were not using the park. Now, only actual park users are tabulated which would help account for some of the drop in numbers.

The P.E.I. National Park will celebrate its 75th year anniversary this year since opening in 1937, and will host various events in celebration throughout 2012.

The 10-year plan aims to make the territory north of the 49th parallel a “world-class sustainable tourism destination by 2021,” Quebec’s tourism minister Nicole Ménard said at a Nov. 23 press conference in Quebec City.

The strategy, which falls under the province’s sweeping Plan Nord, envisions opening up Nunavik and the province’s three other regions (James Bay-Eeyou Itschee, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean and Côte Nord) to more eco- and adventure tourism, with a spotlight on regional and Aboriginal culture.

“We have an extraordinary opportunity to produce a tourism experience of the highest calibre,” Ménard said.

But the tourism strategy offers few details on how that product will be built up, saying only that the plan will focus primarily on infrastructure development.

That means investing in more accommodation, welcome centres, tourist products, human resources and marketing.

Quebec will spend about half of what officials estimate will be needed to implement the strategy — $70 million — the rest to come from “economic bodies” in the territory.

But the development of this new tourism destination will mean significant spinoffs for northern communities, Ménard said.

Quebec wants to see tourism generating an estimated $1.16 billion for the region by 2021.

That translates into tourists spending $140 million in northern Quebec every year.

“For every $100 a tourist spends north of the 49th parallel, $80 will go to profit the Quebec economy,” she said.

When asked about the how tourists will pay the hefty price tag to travel between Montreal and Nunavik, Ménard said that is something her department will continue to focus on.

“We’re very aware of this,” she said. “It will require working with all of our regional partners.”

Quebec’s native affairs minister Geoffrey Kelley said Nunavik has already come a long way in developing its tourism product and making it more accessible to southern visitors.

“We’ve seen an incredible progress in the infrastructure development in Kuujjuaq,” he said. ‘The capacity to welcome visitors has grown significantly in recent years.”

Kelley heaped praise on Nunavik’s tourism attractions, from its wildlife to the Pingualuit crater and the Torngat mountains.

“These are things we rarely get to experience but it’s something I would recommend to anyone,” he said.

The province has also created an assistance program for regional tourism projects in northern Quebec — its details will be announced later.

“So we’re going to improve our infrastructure, we’re going to introduce new technologies, we’re going to improve cargo and security screening, all designed to make it easier for our companies to do business and create jobs,” said Obama.

Harper added, “Trusted travelers should cross the border more quickly. The key that locks the door against terrorists also opens a wider gate to cross border trade and travel.”

The President says an estimated $1 billion of merchandise crosses our shared border each day.

In a brief statement issued Monday, the Waterloo-based company said: “RIM expects that its employees conduct themselves in a manner reflective of our strong principles and standards of business behaviour.

“RIM does not condone behaviour that conflicts with applicable laws and employees are expected to act, at all times, with integrity and respect,” it said.

RIM won’t reveal what positions the pair held, but sources have told the Star that George Campbell, 45, was a senior vice-president and Paul Alexander Wilson, 38, was a vice-president.

Under Sedi securities filings, Campbell is listed as an “insider,” a senior officer since 2009.

At RIM headquarters in Waterloo, there has been talk about how Campbell and Wilson had to drive back after the court hearing.

The two are barred from travelling on Air Canada during the probation period.

WestJet Airlines says regulations allow one airline to decline a passenger for previous conduct on another airline for reasons of safety.

Employees at the Enterprise Rent-A-Car office in Richmond, B.C., recall two men renting a car on Wednesday for $495.72, which included a $200 drop-off fee for the one-way rental.

The car, rented in the name of a Paul Wilson, was dropped off at Enterprise’s Winnipeg airport location.

Staff remembers the two because it’s rare to get a request for a one-way booking.

“People usually don’t want to drive across the country. It’s cheaper to fly,” said one staffer.

This incident comes after months of bad press and bad news for RIM, from the extended service outage in October, to news Monday that BlackBerry officials in Indonesia could face charges related to a stampede over a sale.

In Jakarta, police spokesman Baharudin Djafar said Canadian Andrew Cobham is among four suspects facing possible charges of negligence leading to injury.

The crime carries a maximum penalty of nine months in prison.

Dozens were injured and several people fainted at the Nov. 25 debut of RIM’s BlackBerry Bold 9790 in Jakarta. There were reports that 5,000 people attended, drawn by a 50 per cent discount to the first 1,000 shoppers.

Queen’s University marketing professor Ken Wong praised RIM’s decision to fire the two executives who disrupted the flight.

“It’s an example of RIM did the right thing,” he said. “It’s good management.

“This was a catastrophic lapse in judgment. You can’t have that in senior management,” he said, especially for a company that prides itself on the responsibility and security of its product.

“You can imagine how bad it must have been for them to have to turn around and land,” Wong said, adding Air Canada’s cabin crews are well-versed in handling tipsy passengers who are urged to sleep it off. “This must have been such a major disturbance.”

Campbell, of Conestogo, Ont., and Wilson, 38, of Kitchener, pleaded guilty to one charge of mischief in Richmond Provincial Court on Wednesday.

They were given suspended sentences, a year’s probation, and ordered to pay restitution to Air Canada of $35,878 each.

They were on a non-stop flight from Toronto to Beijing last Monday, but consumed “too much alcohol” and “disobeyed” the flight crew, the RCMP said.

The brochure, called How to Market Your Business to China, said: “[Tourism British Columbia] will also require that any partner operator agrees to prohibit the promotion of casinos, gambling and gay tourism, per the China National Tourism Administration.”

It is believed the sentence began life on a Powerpoint slide, where it read: “Some market segments may not be promoted or advertised – gay and gambling.”

One staff member seemingly took the sentence to mean gay market segments and gambling should not be promoted at all, rather than only being unlikely to be featured in publications abroad.

This led to the sentence becoming “Promotion of casinos, gambling, gay tourism are strictly prohibited” in a subsequent slide, before it made its way into the guide for businesses promoting Canada abroad.

The report into the error, which was issued yesterday, said: “Not identifying these issues was the result of poor judgment, not malicious intent.”

Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Pat Bell said “disciplinary action” has been taken with those involved, but no one had been dismissed over the error.

The brochure went on to say the market in China is “not a sophisticated” one, and partners should see it “as we would with a child, for the day when they grow into a mature and strong adult.”

As European officials scrambled to assemble a monetary firewall against further debt crises after failing to agree on one on Friday, they turned to the International Monetary Fund, and to cash-rich emerging economies like China and Brazil, for extra loans to help top up the trillion-euro fund known as the European Financial Stability Facility.

But it was left to the Canadians to pour cold water on that idea. In a sequence of statements, Canada’s leaders said that the world’s credit should not be used to help Europe, which is the world’s largest economy.

On Saturday night, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty travelled to Berlin, where he took part in a panel discussion in which he delivered a subtle version of this message. Afterwards, talking to reporters, he stated it more explicitly:

“There is a view, which I share, that the euro zone countries are relatively rich in world terms and have the tools and resources themselves” for righting their fiscal problems, Mr. Flaherty told the Financial Times.

That echoed a message delivered by Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the G20 summit in Cannes on Friday, where he told reporters in no uncertain terms that Canada would not be contributing any loans or funds to the European bailout – and that the 17 nations that share the euro should not be expecting any other help from outside.

“These are wealthy countries who’ve got to have, and do have, the means to deal with their own problems,” he said, noting that the United States managed its own large-scale bailout three years ago without resorting to external funds.

Both Mr. Flaherty and Mr. Harper noted that the IMF’s funds, and those of China and Brazil, ought to be saved for crises that could afflict the developing world.

That sort of tough-love message may have raised hackles in some quarters – notably in France and Germany, which had hoped to avoid spending further taxpayer resources on bailouts. As such, it could contribute to a growing diplomatic disquiet between Canada and the continent, where conflicts over the European Union’s boycott of Alberta oil and the seal hunt have raised tensions.

But it did put Ottawa on good terms with the developing world, where the idea of a poor-country bailout for Europe raised a number of eyebrows.

“Canada is Utah’s largest international tourism market and we’re looking forward to sharing what’s new in the industry with travel trade industry leaders in Alberta as we work to increase visitation from that country,” said Herbert.

Tour operators, travel agents, media and other invited guests, will join the Utah delegation at a tourism networking event at the residence of Consul General Laura Lochman in Calgary on Tuesday evening, November 1, 2011.

“Canadians spent an estimated $88 million (USD) in Utah last year and we’re optimistic they will continue to have a positive impact on our economy,” said Spencer P. Eccles, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED).

Nearly 306,000 Canadians visited Utah in 2010, according to data from Statistics Canada based in Toronto. Nearly 43 percent of those visitors came from Alberta, followed by the provinces of British Columbia and Ontario. More than half are seniors ages 55-74. Seventy percent are parties of two. An estimated 68,000 spent one night in Utah last year.

“Utah has great accessibility and activities to offer the Canadian traveler regardless of the season,” said Leigh von der Esch, managing director of the Utah Office of Tourism, an agency of GOED. “We’re in Canada to showcase what Utah has to offer the snowbirds who will be heading south for the winter. Our research shows if we captured those who stayed overnight last year just an extra half a day, it would generate millions for the state of Utah and our local economies.”

More than 60 percent of Utah’s visitors from Canada arrive by car. Salt Lake City International Airport also has 26 weekly departures to Canada on Delta Air Lines and its affiliates, including non-stop flights to Calgary and Vancouver. Thirteen weekly departures are direct flights to those cities.

Research shows that a majority of Utah’s Canadian visitors are coming for vacation and another 13 percent are coming to visit friends and relatives. About 11 percent own second homes or other property.

St. George’s Red Rock Golf Trail is very popular with Canadian golfers. “St. George is a golfer’s paradise with a nice variety of challenging but affordable courses,” said Joyce Kelly who oversees international marketing for the St. George-Zion Convention and Tourism Office. “Blue skies, very little wind, and mild winter temperatures make conditions ideal for your golf getaway.”

Home to five national parks, 43 state parks, seven national monuments, two national recreation areas and “The Greatest Snow on Earth¬Æ,” Utah represents the best of the Rocky Mountains and the Desert Southwest. Visitors can enjoy easy access to Utah from the West Coast to scenic vistas, world-class recreation, shopping, dining, and Western culture.