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Researchers
Are you looking for up-to-date information on the state of the tourism industry? Each year, the CTHRC conducts, updates, and publishes several major reports containing the most recent data of interest to members of the tourism sector. Our member and community area encourages tourism stakeholders to get involved in ongoing research projects. Full members are granted access to all of the CTHRC’s research, including the complete Compensation Study report and Total Tourism Sector Employment report free of charge.
Developed by Statistics Canada, the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) is a world-leading economic account of tourism activity which highlights the economic activity recorded in the System of National Accounts that relates to tourism. Along with Statistics Canada, the CTHRC developed the TSA Human Resource Module (HRM), an annually updated addendum to the TSA that provides timely and reliable statistics on the human resource dimension of tourism. The TSA/HRM provides employment data such as the number of employee jobs, hours worked, productivity, and employment earnings based on full-time or part-time employment status, by occupation.
Customized tabulations from the 2006 Census form the basis of the CTHRCs report, Who’s Working for You, A Demographic Profile of Tourism Employees. Data from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey and Business Register are also incorporated. This report examines the number of people actually employed by the tourism sector. It provides a profile of the tourism labour force, by industry group for 38 occupations. This profile of tourism employees provides stakeholders with an image of the Canadian tourism labour force as it exists today. Additionally, Statistics Canada provides the CTHRC with numbers for a Tourism Specific Labour Force Survey.
CTHRC, along with the Canadian Tourism Research Institute (CTRI), has also developed the Tourism Labour Supply/Demand Projections Model, a macroeconomic labour projections model that includes labour force supply and demand projections for key occupations in each industry group at the national, provincial, and regional levels. The model is updated frequently to keep abreast of changing economic conditions. The most recent update, The Future of Canada's Tourism Sector: Economic Recession Only a Temporary Reprieve From Labour Shortages, was released in June 2010. For a comparison of how changing economic conditions have affected the long-term labour needs of the sector, the 2009 update, The Future of Canada’s Tourism Sector: Labour Shortages to Re-emerge as Economy Recovers, is also available.
The CTHRC’s Compensation Study is more than a report on salaries and wages. It also examines the non-cash elements of compensation and provides information on human resource policies as well as salary and administrative practices. The first study was completed in 2006, the 2010 update was released in the spring of 2011. The 2010 Canadian Tourism Sector Compensation Study report provides compensation data for 31 benchmark positions at the national, provincial, and, where possible, regional levels. Data was gathered from 1,961 organizations representing 65,799 incumbents. The study provides tourism operators and managers with invaluable information that will help them competitively plan their human resource offerings.
For the past several years, the CTHRC has been looking at the feasibility of measuring and improving productivity in the tourism sector. Two recent studies were commissioned. Using HRM Practices to Improve Productivity examines the literature on human resource management and how best practices can be applied to the tourism sector, making six recommendations on how employers can improve their businesses productivity. Several opportunities for future research are also recognized. Measuring Productivity in the Service Sector: A Survey looks at the traditional measures of productivity (developed for the manufacturing industry) and the factors that impact productivity, then seeks to explain the low productivity and productivity slowdown in the service sector. It also examines whether traditional measures can be adapted to accurately evaluate productivity in the tourism sector.
The CTHRC has developed the Return on Training Investment (ROTI) tool. The ROTI tool is designed to measure the return on investment tourism employers receive from training employees in any department or occupation within the tourism sector. It can also be used as a planning tool to forecast the return expected from training. The tool looks at six performance measures: sales, up-selling, staff turnover, customer satisfaction, employee competence, and cost savings.
Other Sources for Canadian Tourism Research
Statistics Canada is the federal government department that produces statistics with the aim of better understanding Canada. To this end, it releases sets of reports and statistics, including several related to travel and tourism. Included amongst these are the National Tourism Indicators, which provide information that allows monitoring and analysis of tourism and its related activities in Canada.
A list of the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) can also be found on their site. This is a comprehensive industry classification system that encompasses all economic activity. It is a hierarchical system that uses a six digit code of classification. The first two digits designate the sector. The third designates the sub-sector, the fourth the industry group, and the fifth the industry. Canada’s tourism sector comprises five industry groups; within these are 29 industries as defined by the NAICS.
Also available are the National Occupational Classification for Statistics (NOC-S). These are a complete listing of all categories under which Canadian jobs are classified and their descriptions.
The Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) promotes canadian tourism worldwide by marketing Canada as a tourism destination par excellence. As part of this, the CTC is dedicated to providing accurate information to the tourism sector by delivering and funding marketing and research initiatives that examine statistics, market knowledge, product knowledge, and trends and outlooks for the canadian tourism sector.
The Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) is the private sector advocate for the tourism industry. TIAC promotes tourism in Canada and promotes measures to help the industry grow. As part of this process, TIAC acts as a clearing house of information on tourism issues, publishing several reports, some available publicly and some available to members only.
The Conference Board of Canada (CBoC) conducts, publishes, and disseminates research on various topics of interest to Canadians. Best known for its research and analysis of economic trends, the CBoC also conducts research on organizational performance and public policy issues, ranging from health, to security, to governance.
International Tourism Research
The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations agency that deals with tourism issues. It conducts and publishes information on competiveness and trade in the tourism services, market trends, sustainable development, and the tourism satellite account and also aims to foster the development of national systems of tourism statistics. The UNWTO provides facts and figures for those interested in the state of international tourism, and also publishes the World Tourism Barometer, which monitors the short-term evolution of tourism.
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) was created to raise awareness of travel and tourism as one of the world’s largest industries. To do so, it quantifies travel and tourism’s impact on world and national economies and brings this knowledge to the attention of policy leaders and decision makers. The WTTC provides economic research by country and region, and has released policy papers on a wide range of topics of interest to the sector. It has also developed a Tourism Impact Data and Forecast Tool.
