Industry Facts

• Aboriginal tourism in B.C. is projected to grow to over $50 million by 2012, up from approximately $35 million today.
• There are estimated to be upwards of 200 Aboriginal tourism businesses in B.C. – more than half of these offer cultural tourism experiences.
• Adventure Tourism (31%), Tourism Services (22%) and Accommodation (21%) collectively comprise almost three quarters (74%) of existing Aboriginal tourism businesses in B.C.
• B.C. Aboriginal entrepreneurs and communities are proposing at least 65 new tourism products with many existing products planning to expand by adding more cultural experiences
• Tour operators are seeing growing consumer demand for authentic cultural experiences, with 89% indicating in a recent Aboriginal Tourism Association of BC (AtBC) survey that they would consider offering or expanding Aboriginal experiences as part of their packages.
• Over a third (36%) of travellers surveyed in a study commissioned by AtBC for the Blueprint Strategy indicated that they had visited Aboriginal sites/attractions and events on previous trips to B.C. On average, they had included such experiences on four trips in the past three years.
• Two-thirds (63%) of Aboriginal cultural tourists indicated that they planned to return to B.C. for Aboriginal tourism within in the next three years.

Travellers taking part in Aboriginal tourism in B.C. tend to be:

• Well-educated, upper middle-income wage earners, female baby boomers.
• Visiting from primarily North American and European destinations.
• Including Aboriginal tourism in their B.C. travels for the first time (65%).
• Taking part in Aboriginal tourism in places beyond B.C. (64%).
• Spending more money per trip than other tourists.

Compared to other B.C. travellers these Aboriginal tourists are more apt to:

• Spend more trip days in B.C. (average of 13 days).
• Include Aboriginal experiences on more of those trip days (average of 3 days).
• Visit more than one Aboriginal location on B.C. trip (average of 2.2 sites).
• Visit Aboriginal interpretive centres (24%), attractions (22%), museums (21%).
• Travel in larger parties (average of 3.6 persons).