Wildfires, smoke having ‘huge impact’ on some tourism operators across Canada

“We have had a few conversations with our members and we’re already seeing domestic and international visitors cancelling trips,” said Madison Simmons with the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario. It’ll put a further strain on tourism insurance.”Canada’s travel and tourism industry was set to almost fully recover from the pandemic this year, the World Travel and Tourism Council said in mid-May. In northern Saskatchewan, wildfires have forced an Indigenous tourism conference to reschedule. Candice Evans-Waite is the project coordinator for Westside Indigenous Experience Inc., a non-profit that supports tourism operators in northwest Saskatchewan. Keith Henry, chief executive officer of the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada, said in 2019 Indigenous tourism contributed nearly $2 billion in revenue to Canada’s economy and supported roughly 40,000 jobs.