A third of Canadian tourism operators are planning to call it quits due to rising operational costs, unpredictable business demand, and government regulations they experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, a report by a federal commerce regulator says.
Released on Aug. 15, the report by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) noted that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism sector have expressed more interest in closing their businesses for good than from other sectors.
“A higher proportion of tourism SMEs have plans to sell, transfer, or close their business in the next five years, at 32.2 percent compared to 24.9 percent of businesses in all industries,” said the report, titled “SME Profile 2020: Tourism Industries in Canada.”…