But tourism, perhaps, is the most promising sector. Robert C. O’Dell Management, Inc. was privileged to contribute to the work on the Tourism Investment Opportunities Report. We took a short term look — through the year 2002 — and a longer term look — from 1996 to 2016 — to understand what were the global trends in tourism investment and how these might apply to the Niagara Region. What we found was impressive, to say the least.

In general, tourism is the world’s largest and fastest-growing industry. Ten percent of all jobs in the world are in tourism, nearly 200 million workers. Industry revenues are $1.5 trillion a year worldwide. From now through the year 2010 the annual rate of job growth in tourism is projected to be 2.6 percent. Even if the Niagara Region weren’t the home to the world’s most popular and best-known tourist attraction, tourism would be a primary engine of regional economic growth.

In Canada, the picture is similar. Tourism spending is growing faster than the Canadian economy as a whole. From 1987 through 1998 tourism spending by Canadians increased 77 percent and by foreign residents by 136 percent. From 1997 to 1998 alone, international trips to Canada increased by 6.6 percent, U.S. based trips by 8.3 per cent, and overnight visits by 11.1 percent. In 1998 total revenues from tourism were $47 billion.

Tourism looms large as an element of the Ontario economy, too. Forty percent of the Canadian tourism industry is in Ontario with greater revenues than lumbering, petroleum, agriculture, mining, or telecommunications. Four hundred thousand people in Ontario work in the tourism sector drawing $6 billion in export revenues annually.

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Yet, in relative terms, Ontario tourism has been sliding. Since 1988 the Province has lost about half of its global market share. We’re growing, but others are growing much faster. In response, the new Ministry of Tourism designated the Niagara Region as the key to a turn-around and the new focus for investment.

Clearly, the Niagara Region isthe key for Ontario tourism. The largest volume of both domestic and foreign visitors traveling to Ontario go to Niagara. Half of all Ontario tourists enter via Niagara. The total number of visits has risen rapidly, from 9.6 million in 1996 to 13.4 million the following year to an estimated 16.4 to 19.7 million by 2002 and a projected 30 million by 2016. Spending has also risen quickly, from $923 million in 1996 to $1.5 billion in 1997 and $2 billion or more projected for 2002.

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