Tourism numbers are looking up, at least on paper. According to the Ministry of Tourism, cruise arrivals jumped by five percent in the first quarter of 2025, and overnight stays saw a modest two percent rise. Minister Anthony Mahler says those figures reflect a healthy start to the year. But not everyone’s feeling the momentum. Some industry stakeholders are raising red flags, saying business has slowed down in recent months and it’s starting to hurt.
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism
“Actually the year started very strong and then I believe that all the issues that are going on around the world right now, in terms of the geopolitics, trade wars, wars with real bombs have played an impact in people travelling. Sometimes Canadians have to travel through the U.S. and they are hesitant to do that. You have Europeans, but all and all we are still performing at the same rate as last year. If my memory serves me we are three hundred and fifteen thousand nine hundred, between January and June this year and it was about three hundred and fifteen thousand and five hundred last year, so just a marginal increase, which I also think that last year, if you look at 24 compared to 23, it was an anomaly, a huge growth and I would prefer a more sustainable growth path.”
Paul Lopez
“You will accept that there are stakeholders and investors saying the money is not running in the tourism industry right now as some projected it would.”
Anthony Mahler
“I have heard some people say so, but the numbers are not showing that. Even if you look at the hotel revenue for the first six months, we are up by a million and a half dollars for the entire country. We would want it to be a bit more but barring the circumstance, I think we are doing ok.”