Industry Snapshot

Tourism is critical to New Brunswick's culture, heritage, arts, recreation, and entertainment industries, and it also contributes significantly to New Brunswick's service industries including transportation and travelling services, accommodations, and food and beverage services.

All of these industries comprise the tourism sector, and in New Brunswick, an estimated 34,500 employees worked in over 3,300 business establishments in this sector¹ in 2008.

Visits to and within the province of New Brunswick in 2008 contributed an estimated $989 million in tourism-related expenditures on accommodations, restaurants, shopping, travel, and travel activities.

Tourism spending by visitors from outside of the province were estimated at $508 million in 2008². The total impact on provincial GDP by these tourism expenditures in 2008 has been estimated as $765 million, or 3% of provincial GDP. This estimated tourism share of provincial GDP ranks with the combined 3% share that primary industries of agriculture, forestry, and fishing represent in the New Brunswick economy.

This economic activity sustained an estimated 21,400 full-time equivalent jobs (FTEs) within the tourism sector in 2008, with 11,100 of those considered incremental and attributable to tourism in New Brunswick³. New Brunswick jobs sustained by tourism extend beyond the tourism sector itself, as tourism demand must also be supplied by New Brunswick's retail and manufacturing industries.

Tourism spending also benefits New Brunswick's provincial and municipal governments through estimated tax revenues of $107 million and $17.2 million, respectively, in 2008⁴. This allows for further investment in culture and recreation facilities that benefit the residents of New Brunswick, and provides incremental funding to support education, health care, and other vital programs.

1. Source: Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council, and Statistics Canada Business Register (June 2008). These businesses include all active businesses in Canada that fall into the 29 industry groups that are part of the Canadian Tourism    Satellite Account, and have corporate income tax (T2) accounts and GST accounts with annual gross incomes of over $30,000.

2. Source: Statistics Canada, 2008 Travel Survey of Residents of Canada, and the 2008 International Travel Survey.

3. Source: New Brunswick Department of Tourism and Parks

4. Source: New Brunswick Department of Tourism and Parks