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Thursday, May 18, 2006

Travel between Canada and other countries

March 2006 Previous release

Same-day car travel from the United States increased only slightly in March after falling to its lowest monthly level on record the month before.

Over 1.2 million Americans took same-day car trips to Canada in March, up a marginal 0.4% from February. (Unless otherwise specified, monthly data are seasonally adjusted.)

Despite steady declines in recent years, the number of same-day car trips from the United States has remained somewhat stable in the last six months, hovering around the 1.2 million mark.

Overnight car travel from the United States also increased in March, up 2.8% to 706,000 trips. As a result, total overnight travel by Americans to Canada rose 1.6% to just over 1.1 million trips.

Overall, 2.5 million Americans visited Canada in March, a 0.9% increase from February.

Meanwhile, Canadian travel to the United States hit 3.3 million trips in March, up 5.3% from the previous month. This was the second highest level since August 2001.

Both same-day travel and overnight travel recorded gains. Almost 2.0 million Canadians took same-day car trips to the United States in March, up 6.4% from February.

Overnight travel to the United States climbed to its second highest level in a decade, reaching 1.3 million trips. The 3.9% jump was fuelled by gains in all modes of transportation.

In terms of overseas travel, an estimated 395,000 foreign visitors came to Canada in March, up 6.9% from the previous month. This was the highest level since October 2004.

The biggest gains occurred in travel from the Netherlands (+37.5%), Germany (+11.8%) and the United Kingdom (+10.0%). Only 2 of Canada's top 12 overseas markets recorded declines — South Korea and Hong Kong.

In the opposite direction, Canadian travel to overseas countries continued its upward trend in March, increasing for the fourth consecutive month. A record 548,000 Canadian residents visited overseas countries, slightly more than in February.

The Canadian dollar slipped to 86.4 cents US on average in March, down 0.7% from February. The loonie also fell against other major international currencies such as the Japanese yen, the British pound sterling and the euro.

Available on CANSIM: tables 427-0001 to 427-0006.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 5005.

The March 2006 issue of International Travel, Advance Information, Vol. 22, no. 3 (66-001-PIE, free) is now available. To obtain a copy, go to the Our products and services page online.

For general information, contact Client Services (1-800-307-3382; 613-951-9169; fax: 613-951-2909; cult.tourstats@statcan.gc.ca). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Éric Desjardins (613-951-1781; eric.desjardins@statcan.gc.ca), Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics.

Travel between Canada and other countries
  February 2006r March 2006p February to March 2006 March 2006 March 2005 to March 2006
  Seasonally adjusted Unadjusted
  '000 % change '000 % change
Canadian trips abroad1 3,715 3,883 4.5 4,273 4.2
To the United States 3,167 3,335 5.3 3,483 3.2
To other countries 547 548 0.1 790 9.0
Same-day car trips to the United States 1,848 1,965 6.4 1,921 5.1
Total trips, one or more nights 1,813 1,862 2.7 2,286 3.4
United States2 1,265 1,314 3.9 1,496 0.7
Car 729 761 4.4 800 -3.1
Plane 444 458 3.2 637 8.6
Other modes of transportation 93 95 3.1 60 -19.9
Other countries3 547 548 0.1 790 9.0
Travel to Canada1 2,814 2,861 1.7 2,077 -9.7
From the United States 2,444 2,466 0.9 1,841 -10.3
From other countries 370 395 6.9 235 -3.9
Same-day car trips from the United States 1,202 1,207 0.4 1,058 -11.7
Total trips, one or more nights 1,480 1,524 2.9 953 -7.4
United States2 1,119 1,137 1.6 722 -8.5
Car 687 706 2.8 429 -10.1
Plane 307 306 -0.3 247 -4.4
Other modes of transportation 125 125 0.2 46 -15.0
Other countries3 361 386 6.9 231 -3.5
Most important overseas markets4          
United Kingdom 69 76 10.0 50 -13.4
Japan 37 39 3.4 28 0.1
France 29 31 6.9 17 3.8
Germany 27 31 11.8 13 -5.7
Mexico 18 19 4.9 11 -31.3
South Korea 17 17 -1.7 11 2.1
Australia 15 17 9.6 8 -2.0
Netherlands 9 13 37.5 6 28.4
China 11 11 7.6 7 26.2
Hong Kong 10 9 -2.1 6 -27.4
Taiwan 8 9 5.2 6 -1.8
Switzerland 8 8 7.2 4 -10.2
rrevised
ppreliminary
1.Totals exceed the sum of "same-day car trips" and "total trips, one or more nights" because they include all of the same-day trips.
2.Estimates for the United States include counts of cars and buses, and estimated numbers for planes, trains, boats and other methods.
3.Figures for other countries exclude same-day entries by land only, via the United States .
4.Includes same-day and one or more night trips.


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