Tuesday, October 5, 2004

Tourists spending more

TOURISM spending increased for the fourth straight quarter between April and June, thanks to international visitors who are staying longer and spending more.

Tourists spent nearly $12.4 billion in the country during the second quarter, up 1.4% from the previous three months. Spending was 7.6% higher compared with the second quarter last year when the SARS outbreak occurred.

Foreign visitors were responsible for 31 cents of every dollar spent on tourism in Canada between April and June, just over $3.8 billion. This was a 3.0% gain from the first quarter.

Although the number of international visitors declined during the second quarter, more of them stayed overnight, contributing to the gain in spending.

During the past year, there has been a shift towards overnight visits to Canada, as opposed to same-day. The rate of growth in overnight visitors from the second quarter of 2003 was three times the rate of growth in the total number of visitors.

Air transportation

Spending by domestic tourists was also up for the fourth consecutive quarter, mainly because of strong outlays on air transportation. Excluding air transportation, however, domestic spending registered a slight decline.

Both domestic and international tourists took to the air, resulting in a 3.2% jump in spending on air transportation. In contrast, spending on motor vehicle fuel fell 1.9%.

Tourists also spent more on accommodation. As a result, spending on rooms was 9.6% higher than it was a year ago.

For more information, contact the information officer (613-951-3640), Income and Expenditure Accounts Division.

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© 2004, Statistics Canada.