cher.okee
18.07.06, 16:37
"Given the crime, beggars, mess and dirt in what was one of the prime
destinations, Toronto, it's not surprising that tourism is down. Also if I was
an American I would think twice about coming to a country that has such an air
of unjustified superiority over the US"
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Canada falls off top 10 travel list
ROMA LUCIW
Globe and Mail Update
For the first time in 12 years, Canada has fallen off the top 10 list for
international travel, bumped by Hong Kong.
Canada ranked 11th in international tourist arrivals in 2004, after placing as
high as fifth during the World Exposition in Vancouver, Statistics Canada said
Monday, using its most recent annual data. That was down from 10th place in 2003.
The Statscan report shows that global tourism suffered in 2003 as the SARS
outbreak, the war in Iraq and softer economic growth kept people close to
home. In 2004, it rebounded 10.7 per cent, which was a record high 763 million
travellers, Statscan said, citing numbers collected by the World Tourism
Organization. That 2004 recovery was the highest of its kind and the only
increase to reach double-digits since the current data collection method was
started in 1980.
Hong Kong moved up four places to place seventh among the most popular
destinations for tourists in 2004, displacing Canada. It was the first time
since 1992 that Canada has been elbowed out of the top ten list.
France, Spain and the United States were the most visited countries that year,
followed by China, Italy, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Germany and Austria.
The biggest travel drop-off to Canada in 2004 was among Americans, who made
fewer cross-border day trips.
Same-day trips to Canada from the U.S. tumbled 8.2 per cent to 19.5 million in
2004 and have slumped annually since 1999.
"Fears of longer wait times at the border and the uncertainty regarding border
security and its policies since 9/11, a less favourable exchange rate and
higher gasoline prices may have contributed to the drop in same-day travel
from the United States," the report said.
That said, the report show overnight travel, or longer trips, by Americans
rose in 2004 from the previous year.
Overall, the number of foreigners visiting Canada reached 38.8 million in
2004, slightly less than in 2003. Excluding American tourists, more than 4.2
million overseas tourists boarded planes to Canada in 2004, up 24.3 per cent
from 2003.
In 2002, before the SARS outbreak, the number of global visitors to Canada was
5 per cent.
Meanwhile, Canadians were hit with the travel bug in 2004, as the number of
trips abroad rose for the first time in four years.
Canadians made 5.7 million overnight trips to overseas countries in 2004, up
13.1 per cent from the record high set in 2003. Bermuda and the Caribbean
experienced the largest jump in Canadian tourists, up 15.4 per cent, followed
by Europe, up 9.1 per cent.
The United Kingdom displaced Mexico as the most visited overnight overseas
destination for Canadians, with more than 754,000 tourists visiting that
country in 2004. Ireland moved into the top 15 for the first time since 2001
while Australia fell out of the top 15 for the first time since 2000.
However, the U.S. remains by far the most popular destination for Canadian
travellers.
Canadian residents made 41.8 million trips in 2004, and 86 per cent or 36
million of those were to our southern neighbour. Same-day trips and overnight
trips to the U.S. rose in 2004 from the previous year.
New York was the most visited U.S. state in 2004, as almost 2.3 million
Canadians made the trip. New Yorkers visited Canada in larger numbers than
residents of any other state in 2004, with almost 1.9 million tourists from
New York crossing the border.
The record travel by Canadians sent this country's international travel
deficit to its highest level in 11 years, the report said.
The deficit – defined as the difference between spending by Canadian residents
abroad and spending by foreigners in Canada – reached $4.1-billion in 2004, up
$101 million from the previous year, Statscan said.
