Vancouver (TAN): The tourism minster of Canada’s British Columbia province, Lisa Beare, has said the tourism industry in the state was pushing up the overall economic growth figures with record number of tourists visiting the region, The Province reported.
Speaking at a conference of tourism operators, the minister said the industry had added CAD 9 billion – a growth of 6.7 per cent from the previous year – to British Columbia’s GDP in 2017 as compared to the province’s overall 4 per cent growth.
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“It goes to show people really value the unique, authentic experiences you can get in BC,” the report quoted Beare as saying.
Stating tourism was the third-largest industry in the province, she said the government expected the tourism industry to grow by six per cent a year for the next several years.
The tourism industry in British Columbia, situated in Canada’s southwest, employed more than 137,000 people and their wages were rising by almost seven per cent every year. The province has more than 19,000 tourism-related businesses.
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More than six million tourists visited BC in 2018, said Beare.
In a statement, tourism industry spokesman Glenn Mandziuk said tourism operators supported the government’s efforts to ensure people, culture and the environment remained the hallmarks of tourism policy in British Columbia.
