Statistics Canada reports plummet in travel to and from Canada
Canada’s tourism sector is taking a hit in the wake of world-wide economic uncertainties and political tensions, according to new data released by Statistics Canada.
Visits to Canada from overseas took a nose dive in March compared to the same month last year with a 17.4 per cent drop, a trend that has continued for six straight months, according to the data.
And fewer U.S. residents are crossing the border into Canada, with trips down 6.6 per cent in March on a year-over-year basis.
“What we’ve seen in the first four months of the year is a general softness in the travel market,” said Andrew Weir, president and CEO of Destination Toronto, adding that people are putting travel plans on hold due to “a flurry of uncertainty that consumers have had to deal with.”
However, Weir said he has seen interim data from StatCan for April that is promising, with a “considerable turnaround in the overseas market,” including a 25 per cent increase in travel to Canada from the U.K. compared to April of last year, and an eight per cent increase in trips here from Germany during the same time period.
“These are significant turnarounds and not surprising,” said Weir, because “people that have contemplated travel to the U.S. are now rethinking that and looking for alternative destinations,” he said, including Canada.
Weir also said hotel bookings for the summer months in Toronto are pacing ahead of what they were last year.
Meanwhile, the StatCan data appears to show that Canadians are continuing to boycott the U.S. in favour of overseas destinations.
Trips by Canadian residents driving back from south of the border declined a whopping 31 per cent in March, year over year, with the majority of those returns same-day trips.
During the same time period, Canadian overseas travel increased 8.1 per cent, but the increase wasn’t enough to reverse a downward trend that shows fewer and fewer Canadians are travelling outside the country so far this year compared to last.
Overall, travel by Canadians going abroad, whether overseas or to the U.S., decreased by nearly 15 percent in March year over year.
The StatCan data didn’t address domestic travel, but Weir said that according to statistics he has seen, fewer Canadians are travelling within Canada in the first four months of this year compared to last.
Despite the gloomy numbers, Weir says he believes that tourism — which is considered an export sector because it generates income from outside visitors who spend money on domestic resources and services — has “the potential to be very strong for Canada in the months and years ahead.”
While some export sectors “like manufacturing and others will undoubtedly be challenged by tariffs and other circumstances,” said Weir, “tourism has an opportunity to be one of strong performers and one of the drivers of increased export revenue for our country.”
With forecasts showing a downswing in travel to the U.S. for the next few months, “this is a moment to take advantage of that competitive positioning that we have,” said Weir.
This article was first reported by The Star
