Canada Sees Continued Strong International Numbers

The Canadian Tourism Commission is reporting that the wave of international travellers visiting Canada is showing no signs of weakening with the latest numbers showing just under 740,000 global visitors in January, a 5% year-on-year increase.

More interesting stats from the CTC’s latest Tourism Snapshot include:

• Overnight arrivals from the US market, which comprises 70% of Canada’s visitor total, rose 6% in January;
• A 10% depreciation of the loonie relative to the US dollar helped drive strong overnight increases in air arrivals (7%) and auto trips (6%);
• The France market was Canada’s standard bearer in Europe in January, posting a solid 10% rise in travellers crossing the Atlantic to Canada;
• Summer vacation time plus Canadian ski season added up to a 7% surge in Aussie visitors to Canada in January;
• Helped by the CAN+ visa program, Indian travellers have an increasing appetite for Canadian experiences, reflected in a 17% boost in visitor numbers;
• With the Chinese New Year taking place in February, many Chinese travellers delayed their travel plans compared with last year, resulting in a 10% drop in visitors to Canada in January. Next month should see strong growth to offset this temporary dip.
• The Mexico market registered its ninth consecutive month of double-digit growth, posting a 12% rise in travellers to Canada in January;
• Increased seat capacity between Seoul and Vancouver helped the visitor total climb 6% year-on-year from South Korea in January;
• Australia, Brazil and India were the three CTC markets to have a record-breaking January in terms of visitor numbers;
• CTC’s secondary markets had mixed fortunes in January: Italy (+19%), Switzerland (+9%) and the Netherlands (+3%) yielded more visitors to Canada, but the delayed Chinese new year caused declines from Hong Kong (-30%) and Taiwan (-15%). Spain’s total (-0.7%) stayed relatively stable.