BACKGROUND - British Columbia: Including the Alaska Highway - page 731

Forestry is important to the local economy.
Tourism
Tourism has rapidly ascended in economic importance; it's now the second-largest industry
and the province's largest employer (more than 200,000 are directly employed in the in-
dustry). Vancouver and Victoria are the province's two major destinations, with Whistler
one of North America's most visited ski resorts.
The tourism segment continues to grow, as more and more people become aware of
outstanding scenery; numerous national, provincial, historic, and regional parks; and the
bountiful outdoor recreation activities available year-round. Tourism BC promotes British
Columbia to the world; latest figures record 26 million annual “visitor nights” (the number
of visitors multiplied by the number of nights they stayed within British Columbia). Official
visitor numbers are broken down to show that four million visitors were Canadians from