Rise in international tourists cited by embattled N.B. minister was seen in all provinces
New Brunswick's tourism minister Tammy Scott-Wallace has been citing growth in visitors from Britain, France and Germany in 2023 as evidence that departmental activities, like a trip she and others took to London and Paris last year, pay dividends for taxpayers.
But figures suggest European visits to New Brunswick in 2023 grew at a slower pace than in the rest of Canada and increases that did occur were exaggerated by COVID-related travel restrictions that suppressed visits in 2022.
"Results have actually increased," Scott-Wallace said about international tourism during an hour-long grilling on Monday about why the minister, her deputy and two others went to London and Paris on a taxpayer-funded trip last September.
The minister said visiting London and Paris was part of a number of initiatives that have been successfully attracting more visitors to the province.
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"In the United Kingdom, for example, over 2022, visitation to New Brunswick is up 23 per cent," she told Liberal tourism critic Isabelle Theriault.
"From France visitation is up 12 per cent and from Germany 32 per cent over 2022, so I think we can see very clearly that the work is being done by people working within the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture."
However, data compiled by Statistics Canada shows that international visits to all provinces increased in 2023.
Because COVID travel restrictions facing international travellers suppressed visits to Canada midway through 2022 those numbers were easily beaten in 2023 in every jurisdiction.
Tourism Minister Tammy Scott-Wallace spent two days this week answering questions about a trip to the U.K. and France that she, deputy tourism minister Yennah Hurley, left, and two other officials took last September. (Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick )
In late April 2022, Canada lifted a number of COVID travel rules that had been restricting visits by international travellers.
Requirements that fully vaccinated travellers provide a quarantine plan upon entry were ended, and unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children aged five to 11 who were accompanied by a fully vaccinated parent or guardian no longer had to undergo a COVID-19 test for entry to Canada.
A requirement that fully vaccinated travellers mask in public spaces for 14 days following arrival was also dropped as was the need for visitors to maintain a list of close contacts and locations visited.
The changes had a major impact on numbers.
In March 2023, visits to Canada from the United Kingdom, France and Germany were 65 per cent higher than in March 2022, the last complete month restrictions were fully in place.
New Brunswick tourism officials spent four of their eight days in Europe at the $800-a-night Trafalgar Hotel in London. A rooftop bar includes a view of the London Eye. New Brunswick taxpayers were billed for a ticket to ride the Eye among other excursions. (Trafalgar St. James Hotel)
Overall in 2023, Canada recorded 786,845 arrivals from France, Germany and Britain between January and December, a 23.6 percent increase over 2022.
In the Legislature on Tuesday, Scott-Wallace quoted numbers showing a combined 21.1 per cent increase in visits to New Brunswick from those three same countries, slightly below the national gain.
On Wednesday, Scott-Wallace faced a second straight day of questions about the European trip and its value to taxpayers during consideration of her budget estimates.
Green Party Leader David Coon took his turn digging into the details of the excursion and asking about planned future trips.
The minister acknowledged there has been a 10 per cent, $56,000, increase in the section of her departmental budget that finances travel for the coming year but said there are no specific plans to go anywhere internationally.
"There's no travel planned as of yet overseas," Scott-Wallace said.
"It's very rare that I'm travelling overseas as tourism minister. However, I believe there is an expectation from New Brunswickers that their minister of tourism does travel outside of the province to bring new business to the province."
Scott-Wallace ran up more than $10,000 in expenses during the eight-day visit, although she said her trip lasted only seven days because of flooding in her riding that required an early return.
The department's deputy minister, Yennah Hurley, billed more than $12,000.
