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68 car rental
Despite this progress and commitment, Canada's
tourism industry faces numerous challenges.
Three of the most significant are changing market
demographics, the impact of new technologies and
increased international competition. All Canada's
main markets �domestic Canadians, Americans,
Europeans and Japanese) have ageing populations.
Matching the different product interests of this
growing senior citizen segment will require changes
in many existing products and services, in addition
to developing new ones. Similarly, the organisation
of the supply side of tourism, particularly the
product distribution processes, is changing with the
introduction of new information and telecommunication
technologies. Examples include the establishment
of destination management systems
by some provinces, plus the increasing use of new
technologies such as the Internet to distribute
products directly to tourists without intermediaries.
Moreover, international competition continues to
intensify. In response, Canada has introduced a
number of new trade facilitation initiatives.
Significant interventions include the creation of
the Canadian Tourism Commission, the historic
`open-skies' agreement between Canada and the
USA, the `two-way travel' agreement signed
between Canada and Japan to triple volume
between the two countries by the year 2005, and
new arrangements to facilitate the movement of
tourists on the ground as well as at major air
terminals.
Canada's tourism industry faces the twenty-first
century with a new positive attitude of confidence
and determination arising out of the emergence of a
strong sense of common national vision, industry
partnership and national leadership support. Recently,
all major Canadian competitive indicators
are turning positive. Canada is now well positioned
to develop its tourism industry further and capitalise
on its growth potential as a destination with open
spaces, beautiful scenery, a relatively clean environment,
excellent infrastructure, high standards of
health and safety, sophisticated cities, friendly
small communities and a diverse culture.
Further reading
Aditus �1996) The Aditus White Paper:Facts, Issues and
Trends in Travel and Tourism, Toronto: Southam.
Buchanan, J. �1994) The Buchanan Report on Tourism,
Ottawa: Government of Canada.
Canadian Tourism Commission �1996) 1995/96
Annual Report:A Solid Base For Partnerships, Ottawa:
Canadian Tourism Commission.
ÐÐ �1997) Challenges for Canada's Tourism Industry,
Ottawa: Canadian Tourism Commission.
Federal±Provincial±Territorial Conference of Ministers
of Tourism �1985) Statement of Principles on
Federal, Provincial Territorial Roles and Responsibilities
in Respect of Tourism, Ottawa: Minister of Regional
Industrial Expansion, Canada.
Lapierre, J. and Hayes, D. �1994) `The tourism
satellite account': national income and expenditure
accounts, quarterly estimates, second quarter
�Catalogue No. 13±001), Ottawa: Statistics
Canada.
Tourism Canada �1990) `Federal tourism policy',
Annex, Tourism on the Threshold �Catalogue
No. C86±38/1990), Ottawa: Minister of Supply
and Services, Canada.
World Tourism Organization �1996) Yearbook of
Tourism Statistics, Madrid: World Tourism Organization.
car rental
SCOTT M. MEIS, CANADA
FRANCOIS BEDARD, CANADA
Car rental or hire services provide the tourist with
the flexibility of having a substitute private car at,
or en route to, their destination. Such services
are particularly popular with business tourists �see
business travel). Car rental is largely provided
either by major international companies or smaller,
more locally based, independent firms. The former
is dominated by Hertz, Avis, Budget and
Europcar/Budget, and the United States is the
most important market. Franchising has helped
this rental business to expand. Some of the large
companies are owned by car manufacturers, which
use the rental outlets as a means of introducing and
gaining acceptance of their new models. They have
fairly similar prices but offer a wide variety of cars
and hiring locations. This convenience appeals to
the business tourists. The smaller firms have a
more limited choice of cars and pick-up and set-