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Overall, travel both to and from Canada declined in November compared with October.
Visitors made 2.2 million trips to Canada in November, down 0.9% from the previous month. Travel from the United States declined 0.7% from October.
Same-day car travel by American residents to Canada decreased 2.6% in November to 749,000 trips.
However, overnight travel from the United States to Canada increased 0.7% compared with October. Overnight trips by car (+0.4%) and by plane (+0.7%) both increased.
Overseas travel to Canada decreased 2.1% in November compared with October. Travel from 7 of the top 12 overseas markets to Canada also decreased in November, with Japan posting the largest decline (-19.6%). Travel from Japan has declined steadily in the last few years.
In November 2008, there were 18,000 trips from Japan making it Canada's sixth most important overseas market. In November 2005, Japan was the nation's second most important overseas market with 39,000 trips to Canada.
On an outbound basis, Canadian residents took 4.1 million trips outside the country, down 1.1% from October.
Of these, 3.4 million were trips to the United States, down 1.9% from October. Same-day car travel to the United States decreased 4.4% to 1.8 million trips. By contrast, overnight travel by Canadian residents to the United States rose 1.2%. Overnight plane (+1.9%) and car (+0.9%) travel both increased from October to November.
Canadians took 701,000 trips to overseas countries in November, up 2.6% from October. This was also a 37.6% increase from November 2005 when Canadian residents took 509,000 trips to overseas countries.
Available on CANSIM: tables 427-0001 to 427-0006.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 5005.
The November 2008 issue of International Travel, Advance Information, Vol. 24, no. 11 (66-001-PWE, free), is now available from the Publications module of our website.
For more information, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-800-307-3382; 613-951-9169; fax: 613-951-2909; tourism@statcan.gc.ca). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Frances Kremarik (613-951-4240; frances.kremarik@statcan.gc.ca), Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics.
Table 1
| November 2007r | May 2008r | October 2008r | November 2008p | October to November 2008 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | |||||
| thousands | % change1 | ||||
| Canadian trips abroad2 | 4,767 | 4,453 | 4,111 | 4,065 | -1.1 |
| To the United States | 4,109 | 3,791 | 3,428 | 3,364 | -1.9 |
| To other countries | 658 | 663 | 683 | 701 | 2.6 |
| Same-day car trips to the United States | 2,284 | 2,117 | 1,855 | 1,773 | -4.4 |
| Total trips, one or more nights | 2,431 | 2,278 | 2,206 | 2,242 | 1.6 |
| United States3 | 1,773 | 1,615 | 1,524 | 1,542 | 1.2 |
| Car | 1,150 | 977 | 917 | 925 | 0.9 |
| Plane | 508 | 533 | 506 | 515 | 1.9 |
| Other modes of transportation | 114 | 106 | 101 | 102 | 0.7 |
| Other countries4 | 658 | 663 | 683 | 701 | 2.6 |
| Travel to Canada2 | 2,428 | 2,309 | 2,270 | 2,250 | -0.9 |
| From the United States | 2,031 | 1,897 | 1,885 | 1,872 | -0.7 |
| From other countries | 397 | 412 | 386 | 378 | -2.1 |
| Same-day car trips from the United States | 821 | 766 | 769 | 749 | -2.6 |
| Total trips, one or more nights | 1,501 | 1,447 | 1,403 | 1,404 | 0.1 |
| United States3 | 1,115 | 1,046 | 1,029 | 1,036 | 0.7 |
| Car | 671 | 614 | 622 | 624 | 0.4 |
| Plane | 307 | 306 | 291 | 293 | 0.7 |
| Other modes of transportation | 137 | 127 | 116 | 119 | 2.3 |
| Other countries4 | 386 | 401 | 374 | 368 | -1.6 |
| Travel to Canada: Top overseas markets, by country of origin5 | |||||
| United Kingdom | 76 | 73 | 67 | 70 | 4.6 |
| France | 34 | 36 | 35 | 34 | -3.2 |
| Germany | 26 | 28 | 29 | 28 | -3.2 |
| Mexico | 23 | 23 | 22 | 22 | -3.0 |
| Australia | 20 | 21 | 22 | 22 | -0.9 |
| Japan | 27 | 24 | 22 | 18 | -19.6 |
| South Korea | 18 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 0.4 |
| China | 13 | 15 | 12 | 13 | 4.1 |
| Hong Kong | 10 | 11 | 12 | 11 | -4.5 |
| Netherlands | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | -5.8 |
| India | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 2.8 |
| Switzerland | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 9.1 |
