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Travel to Canada by United States residents increased in September compared with August, while travel by Canadian residents to the United States declined.
Overall, the number of trips to Canada from abroad increased 1.6% to 2.0 million. At the same time, the number of trips by Canadian residents abroad decreased 1.7% to just less than 4.0 million.
Travel by United States residents to Canada increased 2.1% in September to nearly 1.7 million trips. Same-day car travel to Canada increased 2.4% as US residents took 631,000 same-day car trips.
Overnight travel to Canada by US residents also rose in all modes of transport with a 1.4% increase in car trips and a 1.5% increase in plane trips.
Travel by residents of overseas countries was down 1.3% in September compared with August, as travellers from non-US destinations made 327,000 trips to Canada. In September, 8 of the top 12 overseas markets declined, with Switzerland (-5.1%) posting the largest drop. Travel from Italy recorded the largest increase with 6.2% more trips to Canada.
The 1.7% decrease in travel abroad by Canadian residents was primarily the result of 2.1% fewer trips to the United States in September. Canadians made just over 1.7 million same-day car trips to the United States, down 2.3% from August.
Overnight travel to the United States by Canadian residents also declined, as Canadian residents took 1.5 million overnight trips to the United States in September. Overnight plane travel recorded the largest decrease from August with a 4.6% decline.
Canadian residents took 690,000 trips to overseas countries in September, up 0.4% from August.
Note: Seasonally adjusted data have been revised back to January 2007. Revisions have also been made to some non-seasonally adjusted series since July 2007.
Available on CANSIM: tables 427-0001 to 427-0006.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 5005.
The September 2009 issue of International Travel, Advance Information, Vol. 25, no. 9 (66-001-P, free), is now available from the Publications module of our website.
For general 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), Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics Division.
Table 1
| September 2008r | March 2009r | August 2009r | September 2009p | August to September 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | |||||
| thousands | % change1 | ||||
| Canadian trips abroad2 | 4,246 | 3,935 | 4,037 | 3,968 | -1.7 |
| To the United States | 3,573 | 3,243 | 3,350 | 3,279 | -2.1 |
| To other countries | 674 | 691 | 687 | 690 | 0.4 |
| Same-day car trips to the United States | 1,983 | 1,712 | 1,763 | 1,722 | -2.3 |
| Total trips, one or more nights | 2,210 | 2,177 | 2,240 | 2,211 | -1.3 |
| United States3 | 1,536 | 1,486 | 1,553 | 1,521 | -2.1 |
| Car | 932 | 896 | 916 | 907 | -1.0 |
| Plane | 505 | 501 | 543 | 519 | -4.6 |
| Other modes of transportation | 100 | 88 | 94 | 96 | 2.1 |
| Other countries4 | 674 | 691 | 687 | 690 | 0.4 |
| Travel to Canada2 | 2,269 | 2,177 | 1,975 | 2,006 | 1.6 |
| From the United States | 1,871 | 1,822 | 1,644 | 1,679 | 2.1 |
| From other countries | 399 | 355 | 332 | 327 | -1.3 |
| Same-day car trips from the United States | 759 | 731 | 617 | 631 | 2.4 |
| Total trips, one or more nights | 1,422 | 1,354 | 1,278 | 1,293 | 1.2 |
| United States3 | 1,034 | 1,007 | 954 | 974 | 2.1 |
| Car | 609 | 621 | 566 | 574 | 1.4 |
| Plane | 283 | 270 | 269 | 273 | 1.5 |
| Other modes of transportation | 143 | 116 | 119 | 127 | 7.0 |
| Other countries4 | 388 | 347 | 323 | 319 | -1.3 |
| Travel to Canada: Top overseas markets, by country of origin5 | |||||
| United Kingdom | 71 | 63 | 52 | 52 | -0.9 |
| France | 37 | 34 | 35 | 34 | -2.4 |
| Germany | 29 | 26 | 27 | 26 | -4.5 |
| Japan | 23 | 19 | 17 | 18 | 5.2 |
| Australia | 22 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 0.2 |
| China | 13 | 15 | 14 | 14 | -4.2 |
| South Korea | 16 | 13 | 11 | 11 | -0.3 |
| Mexico | 24 | 20 | 10 | 10 | -0.6 |
| Netherlands | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | -1.6 |
| India | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 1.8 |
| Italy | 9 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 6.2 |
| Switzerland | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | -5.1 |
