Fewer Canadians visit the U.S. for third year in a row, while other international tra

[Tennis]

A wide variety of new international flights are encouraging more international tourists to visit Canada and more Canadians to travel abroad, with one notable exception: the United States.

The number of Canadians travelling to the U.S. fell for the third consecutive year in 2016, down 7.7 per cent, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

This appears to be the result of the weaker Canadian dollar, which is currently trading around US$0.76. Since 2013, when the loonie was last at par, the number of Canadians travelling to the U.S. by car has fallen by 31.3 per cent to 31.8 million in 2016. However, the U.S. is still the top international destinations for Canadians, accounting for three-quarters of trips abroad.

The trend is the opposite for American visitors to Canada, which rose 8.3 per cent in 2016 and 8.4 per cent in 2015. This bucked the trend of the preceding 15 years, which saw small increases or declines, Stats Can said.

Besides the U.S., the flow of travellers both entering and leaving Canada was up across the board. One of the most notable increases was in visitors from Mexico, which rose 23.2 per cent to 252,000 trips in 2016.

The most dramatic increase came in December, when travel by residents of Mexico jumped 36.5 per cent from the month before after Canada lifted its visa requirements for Mexican visitors on Dec. 1. That same day, Aeromexico increased its capacity to Canada by 47 per cent and said it plans to add more flights to Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal this summer.

WestJet Airlines Ltd. chief executive Gregg Saretsky said earlier this month that political uncertainty in the U.S. could boost the number of Mexican and other international visitors to Canada.

“Certainly, anecdotally, we’ve seen airports announce that the number of Mexican visitors to Canada is up,” Saretsky told analysts on WestJet’s fourth-quarter earnings call. “As border issues and political issues continue to intensify, I think there is perhaps an opportunity for Canada to benefit from increasing foreign tourist arrivals.”

Both WestJet and Air Canada have been adding significant international capacity to their route networks. In 2016, Air Canada grew its capacity by 14.7 per cent and said more than 90 per cent of that growth was in international markets. WestJet, meanwhile, launched its first transatlantic flights using its newly acquired Boeing 767 aircraft.


Overall, the number of visitors to Canada from abroad increased 9.4 per cent last year to 30.1 million, the highest number and the largest increase since the 2008-09 recession. Overseas visitors rose 13.6 per cent, the seventh consecutive annual increase and the strongest annual gain since 2004, when global travel was recovering from the SARS outbreak.

The biggest gains came from Taiwan, up 34.8 per cent, South Korean, up 24.4 per cent, Mexico, up 23.2 per cent, China, up 22.2 per cent, and the U.K., up 16 per cent.

The number of Canadians travelling overseas, meanwhile, rose 3.7 per cent.

http://business.financialpost.com/ne...l-travel-soars

Ouch. This is not good for the U.S. economy. When I visit cities near the border it's really clear that they depend heavily on Canadian tourists.

[Tijuana]

http://business.financialpost.com/ne...l-travel-soars

Ouch. This is not good for the U.S. economy. When I visit cities near the border it's really clear that they depend heavily on Canadian tourists.

This is great. Stay up there and leave us alone. Stop sponging off our economy, while you are at it.

[Molis]

Be careful with those visitors from Mexico. They will stay.

Also our economy is doing fine and can probably survive without a few thousand visitors from Canada, but thanks for asking.

[fengosa]

This is great. Stay up there and leave us alone. Stop sponging off our economy, while you are at it.

Tourism is generally healthy for the economy. I'm seriously debating whether or not to go to Vegas this year in response to the election results.

[PickleballAce]

Good. Fine country, but they tend to be rude, haughty guests. Sorey.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

Oh well. As long as they are happy more power to them.

[Daws001]

Makes sense. Not only does Canadian $$ not currently go as far in the U.S. but the two countries are practically siblings. I've been to Canada a bunch of times, love it, but it doesn't really feel like you've left the U.S. If you're looking for a fresh cultural experience then Mexico, overseas, etc. is where to plan your big trips.

Canada will be popular for Americans because the legal drinking age is lower (hey oh!) and our dollar gets us more for quick trips/vacations.

[Tijuana]

Tourism is generally healthy for the economy. I'm seriously debating whether or not to go to Vegas this year in response to the election results.

Stay up there, if you don't like how we manage our nation. Mind your own business, or don't expect to be welcome. We don't come up there and disparage your president, and there is a lot of materiel there, trust me.

[Sky High]

oh well? you're hardly the largest source for tourism for us.

[Thimagryn]

We don't come up there and disparage your president, and there is a lot of materiel there, trust me.

Nah, you guys already do that from your lofty armchairs. Surprised you all can even get out of em.

[Tijuana]

Nah, you guys already do that from your lofty armchairs. Surprised you all can even get out of em.

It's not easy being fat.

[the game]

Good. You guys stay on your side of the border.

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

Most Canadians I've met in my city have been very rude and obnoxious, less of them the better.

[Allybeboba]

The way I read this article is that Americans have extra money to spend traveling for vacation.

[Wallmaker Yahzarah]

This is all the canadians that legitimally travel and dont just walk across the border due to no actual, "physical" border in most of the neighboring areas.

[fengosa]

The way I read this article is that Americans have extra money to spend traveling for vacation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias

[Tennis]

oh well? you're hardly the largest source for tourism for us.

Really? Some states benefit greatly from Cdn tourism

[the game]

Really? Some states benefit greatly from Cdn tourism

Gonna need a source on this. Also a source that says we'd be in trouble without Canadian tourism. Your opinion doesn't count as fact.

[Independent voter]

800,000 people born in Canada currently reside and work in the US, most with STEM degrees.

[Clone]

This is great. Stay up there and leave us alone. Stop sponging off our economy, while you are at it.

So you are telling me that border cities depend heavily on Canadian tourists, your first response is that Canadians are sponging off our economy.