Reshaping tourism: Canada celebrates travel and connectivity week at Expo 2020 Dubai

In line with Travel and Connectivity Week at Expo 2020 Dubai, the Canada Pavilion on Monday unveils its outdoor exhibition featuring Canada’s vast network of heritage places and natural parks.

In partnership with Parks Canada, the exhibit highlights the nation’s breathtaking landscapes and wide-open spaces, and vibrant cities with diverse and inclusive experiences.

Parks Canada manages 174 national historic sites, 47 national parks, 5 national marine conservation areas and 1 national urban park. Visitors to the exhibition are able to get a glimpse of some of Canada’s 450 000 km2 of possibilities for adventure, right from the heart of Expo 2020 Dubai.

Travel and Connectivity Week focuses on reshaping tourism in balance with the natural world, on redesigning mobility for more connected societies, and on how to create a digital world that is safe, inclusive and accessible. Canada remains one of the top destinations to immigrate study and travel.

“The last 2 years have brought unprecedented changes to our way of living and highlighted the importance of spending time outdoors on our wellbeing. Connecting with nature has proven its benefits on our physical and mental health. This exhibit is a showcase of Canada’s abundant natural beauty, secluded lakes and forests, mountains and glaciers from coast to coast to coast,” Marie-Geneviève Mounier, Commissioner General - Expo 2020 Dubai.

Canada is one of the most multicultural countries in the world, with clean and friendly cities, world-class universities, as well as business and job opportunities for many who choose to visit, study and immigrate. This Instagram account showcases stunning Canadian photography of some of the world’s most breathtaking natural landscapes for all to explore and connect with when travel isn’t always an option. Canada’s pavilion has also been transformed into an award-winning interactive virtual showcase on the website enabling visitors to access the pavilion experience from anywhere in the world.

“Canada’s Expo 2020 theme, The Future in Mind, serves as a platform to promote opportunities for trade, investment, education, tourism and immigration, from across Canada’s provinces, territories and cities, and throughout all sectors of society. Canada’s participation highlights Canadian leadership in key sectors, including artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, education, digitization, telemedicine, clean technology, agriculture, health sciences, aerospace and more. Canada’s approach to Expo 2020 Dubai is inspired by our core values of diversity, inclusion, human rights and gender equality as the foundation to building a prosperous and inclusive nation capable and intent on offering solutions to global challenges.”

“We define, shape and advance Canada’s interests and values in a complex global environment. We manage diplomatic relations, promote international trade and provide consular support. We lead international development, humanitarian, and peace and security assistance efforts. We also contribute to national security and the development of international law.”

“On behalf of the people of Canada, we protect and present nationally significant examples of Canada’s natural and cultural heritage, and foster public understanding, appreciation and enjoyment in ways that ensure the ecological and commemorative integrity of these places for present and future generations.”

“At Destination Canada we believe in the power of tourism. Our aspiration is to enhance the quality of life of Canadians and enrich the lives of visitors. Our mission is to influence supply and build demand for the benefit of locals, communities and visitors through leading research, building alignment with public and private sectors, and marketing Canada nationally and abroad. In collaboration with our partners, we promote Canada as a premier four-season leisure and business tourism destination around the country and world.”

IRCC is advancing global migration policies in a way that supports Canada’s immigration and humanitarian objectives. Along with its partners, IRCC develops and implement policies, programmes and services that facilitate the arrival of people and their integration into Canada in a way that maximizes their contribution to the country while protecting the health, safety and security of Canadians; maintain Canada’s humanitarian tradition by protecting refugees and people in need of protection; enhance the values and promote the rights and responsibilities of Canadian citizenship; and reach out to all Canadians and foster increased intercultural understanding and an integrated society with equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, ethnicity and religion.

At Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, we help Canadian small and medium-sized businesses grow, innovate and expand through trade and innovation and promote increased tourism in Canada. We also work to position Canada as a global centre for innovation where investments support clean and inclusive growth, the middle class prospers through more job opportunities and companies become global leaders.

Expo 2020 Dubai’s upcoming Travel and Connectivity Week from Jan.9-16 will convene leading industry figures, innovators and policymakers around digitalisation and connectivity as a universal human right and force for good in a changed world.

Highlights include the Travel and Connectivity Week Business Forum, which kicks off  on Tuesday, at Dubai Exhibition Centre, Expo 2020. Speakers at the hybrid event will include Tewolde Gebremariam, Group CEO, Ethiopian Airlines and Andres Sutt, Estonia Minister for Entrepreneurship and Information Technology.

Hamad Buamim, President and CEO, Dubai Chamber of Commerce; Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), and Mohannad Samara, Director, Business Development & Strategic Projects, Etisalat are also slated to appear.

The sixth of 10 Theme Weeks under Expo 2020’s Programme for People and Planet, Travel and Connectivity Week comes almost two years after the COVID-19 pandemic began to upend global travel, transforming our approach to connectivity in the 21st century.

Underpinned by the belief that connectivity not only brings us all closer together but is the bedrock of healthy and empowered societies, the Week is co-curated with Expo 2020 Premier Partners Emirates and Etisalat, its programming targeting key issues for global policy-makers, business and agents of change alike.

The Nexus, home to the Programme for People and Planet, of which the 10 Theme Weeks are a key pillar, will see numerous events throughout the week – from a three-hour tech innovation session titled ‘Age of Disruption’ today (Tuesday) to ‘Cultures in Conversation: A Cloud is Nobody’s’ (Friday, Jan.15).