Introduction
Environment scanning of tourism businesses is one of the pertinent approaches to identifying the occurrences and trends regarding the external and internal environment (Zhang, Majid, & Foo, 2013). It ultimately bears the success in the future of business through shaping strategies and goals. The environmental scanning will examine how the tourism businesses headed to the establishment can get benefit in the future by considering some aspects, including demographic, sociocultural, technological, competitive, economic, and regulatory. This particular analysis is intended to assess all the advantages and disadvantages of an intended tourism business in Canada by emphasizing these factors.
Demographic
Demography is one of the significant external factors in the tourism business as it helps to identify current demand and available workforce to conduct the business. The report presented by the government of Canada has revealed that tourism spending in this country has outgrown 19.8% in the second quarter of 2022 (Government of Canada, 2022). In addition, the survey led by Statista has disclosed that the age group of 18 to 34 is fascinated with travel to Canada and out of their home provinces (statista, 2022). Moreover, Canada’s millennial travel more consecutively compared to the other age groups in the country.
The tourism sector of Canada has made a huge contribution to the flourishing of the economy, and approximately 1.9 million full-time jobs are associated with this sector. On top of that, 748000 employment is straightforwardly attributable due to tourist spend (Kara & Mkwizu, 2020). People who come under the age range of 15 to 24 have created around 31% of the workforce in the tourism sector. Aged workers are also not an exception in this regard. They also contribute to this sector through excellent productivity which makes up 28.5% of the workforce in Canada’s tourism. The sector is also complemented by the women workforce in this sector with the presence of 48.1% in the various categories like accommodation, travel services, and food & beverage services (Pasaco-González, Campón-Cerro, Moreno-Lobato, & Sánchez-Vargas, 2023). Apart from all that, the tourism management industry in Canada is one of the most renowned and fastest-leading industries in the entire world. Numerous job opportunities are emerging rapidly. Therefore, the benefits of a potent workforce would be one of the effective advantages of targeting millennials for opening the tourism business.
Socio-cultural
The socio-cultural factor might include the great community sense along with expanded social capital in the tourism business. Filled with incredible culture, historical wonders, and some famous landmarks can provide an inexplicable experience to the tourist where they can discover various cultures, including the most famous French-Canadian culture. The tourism sector of Canada has also concentrated on some cultural events that attract most tourists in the past. One such noted event is the Calgary Stampede which provides the experience of the world’s largest adventurous activities, including rodeos (Rosenthal & Schäfer, 2015). In today’s world, tourists belonging to any age are captivated by the Heritage of any destination that has the ability to capture a discerning and mature market. Canada’s destinations are well placed in that case, providing benefits ranging from trends and various travel experiences to marketing heritage. Positive attitude development should also be included in the set of positive socio-cultural benefits for the tourism business in Canada (Rosenthal & Schäfer, 2015). The tourism businesses in Canada can be left with positive impacts on the indigenous people where they can learn the culture, decreasing negative perceptions along with stereotype development from each other. It ultimately encourages pride development, tolerance, and understanding of a specific culture, alongside interaction and satisfaction.
On the contrary, tourism businesses in Canada also affect local ecology positively and negatively. It comprises increasing mass tourism and converting it into mass consumption, inadequate resources, and pollution (Zielinski, Jeong & Milanés, 2021). Nevertheless, there is no impact on the people’s lives in terms of tourists in the local communities, for instance, the pseudo conflicts. Therefore, by implementing some controlling and regulating measures, the sociocultural factor in Canada can provide various benefits to the tourism business.
Technological
In today’s digital era, technology has a great impact on the tourism business in Canada. Increasing international tourist spending in Canada has the major consequences of increasing popularity and growth of the electronic payment system through credit, debit, and prepaid cards. The advancement and expansion of electronic payment technology in Canada tourism has provided a contribution of 196 billion dollars (CDN) to the country’s economy for the previous 25 years (Neumann & Mason, 2022). The recent covid-19 pandemic has catalyzed the utilisation of technology not only in the retail and manufacturing industry but also in Canada’s tourism industry. All the destinations in Canada are incorporating digital technology to improve security and increase the connection that can drive a seamless experience for all customers in terms of tourists. With one of the latest and emerging technologies called artificial intelligence (AI), tourism companies can add value to customer services through personalization. In addition, customer-centric technology can also be beneficial for the destination where the business can streamline the entire travel experience at the time of introducing the solutions to accumulate information and also understand the visitor’s behavior in a real-time and better manner (van Nuenen & Scarles, 2021) Given the user requirements, the tourism business can uplift its profile with the help of the digital divide in this country. Furthermore, the upcoming tourism businesses in Canada have a great opportunity for expanding the communication infrastructure as the country administration is already headed to implement the communication infrastructure between the tourism operators and all the communities.
The services of online travel arrangements are in demand, and it is growing steadily in Canada. One of the significant manifestations of Technology in Canada’s tourism sector is online hotel booking, which became possible with mobile optimization, cloud computing, and increased bandwidth. It ultimately increases guest satisfaction through escalating efficiencies and minimizing costs (Pai, Liu, Kang, & Dai, 2020).
On the flip side, some travel industries in Canada, such as travel accommodation and arrangement industries, confront an array of challenges when it comes to leveraging the technological environment. One of the common technological advancements, like the internet, can be viewed as an opportunity on the one hand, which can ultimately pose a threat on the other hand. For example, the online reservation system and internet distribution channels generally dampen the hotel services and influence the customers to bypass the travel agencies (Majeed, Zhou, Lu, & Ramkissoon, 2020). Although, it can be regulated by providing premium services to customers. Therefore, the technological aspect can be a g, artificiall businesses in Canada.
Competitive
The report published by Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has disclosed that the future travelers are likely to gravitate to destinations associated with health, cleanliness, and safety. The sentiments of early visitors have identified the strong influence on the context of booking behavior which is the main reason for changing the competitiveness in the individual destinations depending on how the country is tackling the challenges, especially the negative consequences of the pandemic (Salinas Fernández, Guaita Martínez, & Martín Martín, 2022). The magnificent and high vaccination level in Canada, along with various destinations, is providing a nature-related and unique experience to the customers that can confer a competitive age nowadays when certain tourism companies in the other country are encountering new difficulties in business operations. The tourism sector of Canada is also indulged with a well-respected brand that builds the capability to perceive the confidence of travelers through giving trustworthy services on the matter of health and safety (Streimikiene, Svagzdiene, Jasinskas, & Simanavicius, 2020). The tourism sector of Canada also created a culture of equity that helps to promote diversity and inclusion. Due to this particular reason, the tourism sector in Canada can drive toward creativity, innovation, and competitive age in the organizations and supply chain at the time of building current and future employees. Thus, any new tourism business in Canada can get a positive competitive advantage.
Economic
There is no doubt that the sudden catastrophic covid-19 pandemic has had an enormous effect on the tourism sector in Canada. The main reason for including this statement is that around 9 lakh jobve been submerged because of the crisis. Indigenous tourism has also faced some miserable conditions where employment scaled down to 68% in 2020. Nonetheless, the spending in the tourism sector has grown by 1.3% in the first quarter of the year 2022 (Government of Canada, 2023). Is the increment of tourism spending for the fourth consecutive time where the tourism gross domestic product (GDP) has been by 0.9% positively, and also the employment in this sector is revamping since the first quarter of 2022 (Government of Canada, 2023). This growth has been driven by expanding tourism spending by the Canadian people, which is measured + 2.9% in this country. In addition to that, the transportation services of Canada, which is a great contributor to the country’s economy, have also increased. In contrast to that, the spending by international visitors has decreased from the perspective of the tourism sector but the report has challenged this statement and proved that international customer spending in this sector is increasing. Customers’ expenditure of international tourists has increased annually , increasing up to 281.0 % and representing approximately 21.8% of overall tourism spent (Government of Canada, 2022). Along the same line, the regional development agencies in Canada are facilitating that tourism business by exaggerating economic growth. In the eyes of all discussion, the economic factor will positively impact the upcoming businesses in the tourism industry in Canada.
Regulatory
The tourism sector of Canada follows various regulatory mechanisms in order to ensure destination development and tourism promotion. The federal government, 3 territorial governments, and 10 provincial governments, along with various municipalities, act as an administrator in the tourism sector to maintain innovation and economic development in this specific sector (Rahman, Gazi, Bhuiyan, & Rahaman, 2021). The Canadian government has mandated three different pillars to foster the tourism business in this country. In this case, the upcoming tourism businesses in Canada must concentrate on attracting investment in the tourism sector, diversifying tourism offerings, and creating jobs. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) tourism trends and policy has also made the necessaries of the tourism businesses with the collaboration of public and private sectors, including airlines, for promoting the country Canada as a premier destination for the tourist (OECD, 2020). The regulatory mandate presented by Canada is easy to implement and follow. Thus, it will be efficacious for the tourism businesses to follow.
Conclusion
From the analysis, it can be concluded that almost all the aspects mentioned here can provide a positive implication and outlook to the tourism business in Canada. The tourism sector in Canada has an important stimulus for increasing the economy and commercial growth. However, some aspects, such as technology, may have some negative implications due to the rapid utilization of the Internet which can ultimately reduce the prices of all services given by the hotel sectors. Online booking is also one crucial reason in this regard. However, it can be balanced through some regulatory actions by the government. Overall, the analysis has recognized a huge benefit in opening tourism businesses in Canada.
References
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