Tourism in Canada

Canada has a large domestic and foreign tourism industry. The second largest country in the world, Canada's incredible geographical variety is a significant tourist attractor. Much of the country's tourism is centred on Canada's five largest metropolitan areas, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, and Ottawa, well known for their culture, diversity, as well as the many national parks and historic sites.

In 2012, over 16 million tourists arrived in Canada, bringing US$17.4 billion in international tourism receipts to the economy.[1] Domestic and international tourism combined directly contributes 1% of Canada's total GDP and supports 309,000 jobs in the country.[2]

Most visitors arriving to Canada in 2015 came from the following countries of residence :

There are 17 World Heritage sites in Canada, including one of the oldest, Nahanni National Park, Northwest Territories, and one of the newest, the Red Bay Basque Whaling Station, Newfoundland and Labrador. Of these 17 sites, 8 of them are Cultural Heritages and 9 are Natural Heritages.

British Columbia is Canada's westernmost province and touches the Pacific Ocean. The winters in the coastal areas are relatively warm in comparison to the rest of Canada. British Columbia is divided into 6 regions:

British Columbia (BC) is Canada's most mountainous province and has some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the world. Alpine skiing is a major draw for the province. The province has about 33 large ski resorts spread out from Vancouver Island to the Alberta border. Whistler, British Columbia, nestled in the rugged Coast Mountains, is consistently ranked as the #1 ski resort destination in North America [3] and co-hosted the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

...
Wikipedia