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Overall, travel both to and from Canada declined in January compared with December.
Canadian residents took 3.8 million trips abroad in January, down 2.4% from December. Of these trips, 690,000 were made to overseas countries, a 6.6% decline. It was the first decrease in Canadian travel overseas since August 2008.
At the same time, the number of Canadian trips to the United States decreased 1.4%. Canadians took 1.7 million same-day car trips to the United States, down 0.8%, while the overall number of overnight trips fell 1.9% to 1.4 million. Overnight car travel to the United States was up, but overnight plane travel declined.
In terms of inbound travel, residents from the United States and overseas countries took 2.2 million trips to Canada, down 2.5% from December. A 3.3% decline in travel from the United States offset a 1.7% increase in travel from overseas nations.
United States residents took just over 1 million overnight trips to Canada in January. Overnight travel from the United States was down in all transportation modes — by car, by plane and by other modes. In addition, United States residents took 707,000 same-day car trips to Canada in January, down 0.3% from December.
Travel to Canada from 7 of its top 12 overseas markets increased in January. China posted the largest gain (+20.4%), while Japan showed the largest decline (-14.5%).
Note: Seasonally adjusted data have been revised back to January 2004. Revisions have been made to some non-seasonally adjusted series for each month of the second quarter and third quarter of 2008.
Available on CANSIM: tables 427-0001 to 427-0006.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 5005.
The January 2009 issue of International Travel, Advance Information, Vol. 25, no. 1 (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
| January 2008r | July 2008r | December 2008r | January 2009p | December 2008 to January 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | |||||
| thousands | % change1 | ||||
| Canadian trips abroad2 | 4,479 | 4,323 | 3,909 | 3,815 | -2.4 |
| To the United States | 3,824 | 3,639 | 3,170 | 3,125 | -1.4 |
| To other countries | 655 | 684 | 738 | 690 | -6.6 |
| Same-day car trips to the United States | 2,139 | 2,039 | 1,668 | 1,655 | -0.8 |
| Total trips, one or more nights | 2,287 | 2,229 | 2,196 | 2,120 | -3.5 |
| United States3 | 1,631 | 1,545 | 1,457 | 1,430 | -1.9 |
| Car | 988 | 915 | 841 | 845 | 0.6 |
| Plane | 536 | 531 | 517 | 496 | -4.0 |
| Other modes of transportation | 107 | 99 | 100 | 88 | -11.6 |
| Other countries4 | 655 | 684 | 738 | 690 | -6.6 |
| Travel to Canada2 | 2,371 | 2,239 | 2,250 | 2,195 | -2.5 |
| From the United States | 1,971 | 1,838 | 1,867 | 1,806 | -3.3 |
| From other countries | 400 | 401 | 383 | 389 | 1.7 |
| Same-day car trips from the United States | 799 | 761 | 709 | 707 | -0.3 |
| Total trips, one or more nights | 1,474 | 1,386 | 1,445 | 1,385 | -4.1 |
| United States3 | 1,084 | 995 | 1,072 | 1,006 | -6.1 |
| Car | 644 | 581 | 646 | 605 | -6.3 |
| Plane | 304 | 288 | 308 | 285 | -7.7 |
| Other modes of transportation | 136 | 125 | 118 | 117 | -0.5 |
| Other countries4 | 390 | 391 | 374 | 379 | 1.4 |
| Travel to Canada: Top overseas markets, by country of origin5 | |||||
| United Kingdom | 76 | 73 | 69 | 69 | -0.5 |
| France | 34 | 38 | 33 | 33 | -1.6 |
| Germany | 26 | 27 | 28 | 30 | 6.2 |
| Mexico | 24 | 22 | 21 | 23 | 10.5 |
| Japan | 26 | 25 | 23 | 20 | -14.5 |
| Australia | 21 | 21 | 20 | 20 | -1.5 |
| China | 14 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 20.4 |
| South Korea | 18 | 17 | 13 | 14 | 5.6 |
| India | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 7.7 |
| Netherlands | 10 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 1.3 |
| Hong Kong | 12 | 11 | 11 | 9 | -11.3 |
| Italy | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 3.8 |
