ontario, canada
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CHAPTER TWO Tourism: Its origins, growth and future
Indeed, Lickorish and Kershaw (1958) noted that the 1930s were important because countries began to recognize the economic importance of tourism. This was accompanied by the League of Nations encouraging the simplification of frontier formalities, removing visa fees and provision of customs passes for tourists’ cars and international driving licences. It also led to many destinations increasing the role of government to nurture this growing tourism economy (see Box 2.3 for a case study on Canada).
BOX 2.3: CASE STUDY: THE EMERGENCE OF DOMESTIC TOURISM PROMOTION IN THE INTER-WAR AND POST-WAR PERIOD – ONTARIO, CANADA With the changes in leisure and tourism habits and behaviour after the First World War, many destinations began to rediscover the potential of their local assets and regions for holidaymaking after the austerity and focus on the war effort up to 1918. Whilst many destinations can trace the origins of promoting their area to potential visitors to the nineteenth century and earlier, the 1920s saw concerted efforts by local and regional government agencies which were formed to promote destinations. In Ontario, Canada the Tourist and Publicity Bureau was formed in 1924 to promote the attractions and outdoors, to encourage tourism as an economic activity. This culminated in the production of an annual guide to the province. Interestingly, as early as the 1920s the tourist bureau was seeking to overcome issues of seasonal visitation by encouraging travel in the summer and winter period. This active promotion was mirrored in many other countries, notably in the UK where the railway companies worked in collaboration with destinations to promote such annual guidebooks and the famous railway posters of the 1920s and 1930s. In Ontario, the 1926 Guide – Your Vacation in Ontario – Canada’s Premier Province – extolled the virtues of the region which could be viewed and enjoyed by rail and car. In fact probably the most striking guide – the 1932 Beautiful Ontario Canada’s Premier Province – had artwork produced by artists which illustrates the degree of investment being made in the printed media to influence tourist travel habits. This reflects the fact that in the 1930s, of the American visitors crossing the border for vacations, 75 per cent chose Ontario. This was further developed by the Tourist and
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61
Publicity Bureau in the 1940s and 1950s by specifically appealing to those Americans seeking an outdoor holiday, particularly families who might enjoy a lake setting or for those visitors wishing to hunt and fish. To promote these elements of the Ontario tourism product, the Tourist and Publicity Bureau created brochures such as The Fisherman’s Ontario as well as actively using a public relations campaign by sending such publications to travel journalists in newspapers and magazines in the USA. This also combined with post-war campaigns such as Ontario – Canada’s Vacation Province ‘for your victory vacation’ in 1947 to different markets to capitalize upon the renewed interest in holidaymaking after the Second World War. To assist American visitors, arriving predominantly by car, maps with the location of accommodation were produced and distributed to visitors. In 1955, Americans spent US$300 million on travel to Canada which rose to US$316 million in 1956. Conversely, Canadian travel spending in the USA was US$390 million in 1956, double the 1950 amount (Lickorish and Kershaw 1958) illustrating additional motives for promotion to address the next outflow of tourist revenues by Canadians holidaying in the USA. This cross-border traffic is still one of the world’s largest tourist flows across a land border. To assist visitors to Ontario with provision of information on the holiday destination, the forerunners of modern-day tourist or visitor information centres were built at different entry points across the border in Ontario. The performance of these visitor reception centres were summarized in annual reports to the Minister for Travel and Publicity, which also promoted tourist campsites in the annual guides. By the late 1940s the Ontario government Department of Travel and Publicity created a classification scheme for tourist camps. This combined with a rapid growth in demand in the postwar period for motels in the USA and Canada, stimulated by the growth in car-related domestic tourism. In the USA alone, the car led to a massive growth in visits to state parks with over 200 million visits in 1956, a 200 per cent increase on 1946 with three states receiving over five million visits each. What this case study shows is a massive expansion of domestic tourism activity in the 1920s through to the 1950s, assisted by the rise in car ownership, growing disposable income in North America and greater geographical distances being travelled by domestic tourist by road. This was stark contrast to domestic tourism in the UK where food rationing was still in place as part of the post-war austerity measures and the reconstruction of the economy. To cater for and attract these visitors, government agencies were established to initially market the destination. This was followed by a growing involvement in information provision and regulation of the quality of tourist facilities (e.g. campsites) to ensure consumer experiences of the destination were met.
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CHAPTER TWO Tourism: Its origins, growth and future
Indeed, Lickorish and Kershaw (1958) noted that the 1930s were important because countries began to recognize the economic importance of tourism. This was accompanied by the League of Nations encouraging the simplification of frontier formalities, removing visa fees and provision of customs passes for tourists’ cars and international driving licences. It also led to many destinations increasing the role of government to nurture this growing tourism economy (see Box 2.3 for a case study on Canada).
BOX 2.3: CASE STUDY: THE EMERGENCE OF DOMESTIC TOURISM PROMOTION IN THE INTER-WAR AND POST-WAR PERIOD – ONTARIO, CANADA With the changes in leisure and tourism habits and behaviour after the First World War, many destinations began to rediscover the potential of their local assets and regions for holidaymaking after the austerity and focus on the war effort up to 1918. Whilst many destinations can trace the origins of promoting their area to potential visitors to the nineteenth century and earlier, the 1920s saw concerted efforts by local and regional government agencies which were formed to promote destinations. In Ontario, Canada the Tourist and Publicity Bureau was formed in 1924 to promote the attractions and outdoors, to encourage tourism as an economic activity. This culminated in the production of an annual guide to the province. Interestingly, as early as the 1920s the tourist bureau was seeking to overcome issues of seasonal visitation by encouraging travel in the summer and winter period. This active promotion was mirrored in many other countries, notably in the UK where the railway companies worked in collaboration with destinations to promote such annual guidebooks and the famous railway posters of the 1920s and 1930s. In Ontario, the 1926 Guide – Your Vacation in Ontario – Canada’s Premier Province – extolled the virtues of the region which could be viewed and enjoyed by rail and car. In fact probably the most striking guide – the 1932 Beautiful Ontario Canada’s Premier Province – had artwork produced by artists which illustrates the degree of investment being made in the printed media to influence tourist travel habits. This reflects the fact that in the 1930s, of the American visitors crossing the border for vacations, 75 per cent chose Ontario. This was further developed by the Tourist and
06_Y602_Ch02.indd 60
1/21/2009 6:06:21 PM
Copyrighted material - Taylor & Francis www.routledge.com/cw/page Tourism in the Edwardian and inter-war years
61
Publicity Bureau in the 1940s and 1950s by specifically appealing to those Americans seeking an outdoor holiday, particularly families who might enjoy a lake setting or for those visitors wishing to hunt and fish. To promote these elements of the Ontario tourism product, the Tourist and Publicity Bureau created brochures such as The Fisherman’s Ontario as well as actively using a public relations campaign by sending such publications to travel journalists in newspapers and magazines in the USA. This also combined with post-war campaigns such as Ontario – Canada’s Vacation Province ‘for your victory vacation’ in 1947 to different markets to capitalize upon the renewed interest in holidaymaking after the Second World War. To assist American visitors, arriving predominantly by car, maps with the location of accommodation were produced and distributed to visitors. In 1955, Americans spent US$300 million on travel to Canada which rose to US$316 million in 1956. Conversely, Canadian travel spending in the USA was US$390 million in 1956, double the 1950 amount (Lickorish and Kershaw 1958) illustrating additional motives for promotion to address the next outflow of tourist revenues by Canadians holidaying in the USA. This cross-border traffic is still one of the world’s largest tourist flows across a land border. To assist visitors to Ontario with provision of information on the holiday destination, the forerunners of modern-day tourist or visitor information centres were built at different entry points across the border in Ontario. The performance of these visitor reception centres were summarized in annual reports to the Minister for Travel and Publicity, which also promoted tourist campsites in the annual guides. By the late 1940s the Ontario government Department of Travel and Publicity created a classification scheme for tourist camps. This combined with a rapid growth in demand in the postwar period for motels in the USA and Canada, stimulated by the growth in car-related domestic tourism. In the USA alone, the car led to a massive growth in visits to state parks with over 200 million visits in 1956, a 200 per cent increase on 1946 with three states receiving over five million visits each. What this case study shows is a massive expansion of domestic tourism activity in the 1920s through to the 1950s, assisted by the rise in car ownership, growing disposable income in North America and greater geographical distances being travelled by domestic tourist by road. This was stark contrast to domestic tourism in the UK where food rationing was still in place as part of the post-war austerity measures and the reconstruction of the economy. To cater for and attract these visitors, government agencies were established to initially market the destination. This was followed by a growing involvement in information provision and regulation of the quality of tourist facilities (e.g. campsites) to ensure consumer experiences of the destination were met.
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