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International travel in 2009

  1. International tourist arrivals worldwide dropped 4.2% to 880.0 million in 2009. As a result, international tourism receipts dropped 5.7% to US$852.0 billion, representing the first year of decline since 2003.
  2. United States residents made about 11.7 million overnight trips to Canada in 2009, down 6.7% from 2008 and the lowest level since 1985. This was the fifth consecutive annual decrease in overnight travel by United States residents and the sixth in seven years.
  3. United States residents made 7.8 million same-day car trips to Canada in 2009, down 13.9% from 2008 and the lowest number since record keeping started in 1972. Back then, Americans made 21.0 million same-day car trips to Canada.
  4. Overnight travel by residents of overseas countries other than the United States decreased for the first time in six years in 2009. Travellers from overseas countries made about 3.9 million overnight trips to Canada, down 12.8% from the previous year. This was the lowest level since 2004.
  5. Canadian travel to the United States reached 18.0 million overnight trips in 2009, down 5.0% from 2008. This was the first decline in overnight travel to the United States since 2003.
  6. Canadians made 20.9 million same-day car trips to the United States in 2009, a 13.3% decrease from the previous year and the lowest figure since 2003.
  7. Travel to overseas countries reached a high of 8.2 million overnight trips, up 1.3% from 2008. The last decline was in 2002 (-3.1%) and since then, overnight travel overseas has increased 75.8%.
  8. Canadians made 1.2 million overnight visits to Mexico, more than to any other country. Canadians made 7.5% more overnight visits to the country compared to 2008.
  9. Canada's international travel deficit was up $87.7 million to $12.2 billion in 2009, the fifth consecutive increase. Canadians spent $27.7 billion outside the country in 2009, down 3.3% from the record high of $28.6 billion set in 2008. At the same time, foreign spending in Canada was at $15.5 billion, down 6.2% from the previous year.