Visitor Travel Survey, first quarter 2020
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Released: 2020-11-17
Highlights
In an effort to contain the COVID-19 pandemic in March, many countries locked down their economies, restricted travel and closed borders. As a result, international arrivals to Canada during the first quarter were down by almost one-fifth (-18.2%) compared with the same period a year earlier.
This drop in foreign visitors to Canada translated into an estimated reduction of $792 million in traveller spending over the same period.
The first quarter marks the beginning of the financial fallout from the collapse in travel in 2020. More recent estimates of international arrivals to Canada are available in the "Travel between Canada and other countries" release and the "Leading indicators of international arrivals to Canada by air" and "Leading indicators of cross-border traveller volume" releases.
International travel declines as COVID-19 pandemic began
By the end of March, worldwide restrictions on travel to contain the spread of COVID-19 were imposed, including border closures and the suspension of international flights.
On March 18, the Canadian border was closed to citizens of overseas countries and, as of March 21, the border between the United States and Canada was closed to non-essential travel.
These travel restrictions, along with declining global demand, pushed travel to Canada down in the first quarter.
Travel from the United States declines
The number of US travellers to Canada fell by approximately 670,000 trips year over year to 3.1 million in the first quarter.
Business-related travel fell by just over one-quarter (-26.0%) year over year to 667,500 trips, while travel for visiting friends or relatives declined 16.9% to 646,900. Trips to Canada from the United States for pleasure and leisure decreased 15.0% to 1.1 million.
Every province recorded fewer visits by US residents. The largest year-over-year percentage declines were in British Columbia (-22.1% to 794,300 visits), Quebec (-21.6% to 416,800 million visits) and Ontario (-14.2% to 1.6 million visits), which collectively accounted for 89.0% of all visits from the United States.
US residents spent an estimated $1.1 billion in the first quarter, down from $1.4 billion a year earlier. Average travel spending was about $364 per trip to Canada.
Accommodation (40.8%) and food and beverages (30.4%) were the largest spending categories, followed by spending on transportation within Canada (13.6%) and recreation and entertainment (9.5%).
Arrivals from Asia and the Pacific fall sharply
With many countries restricting travel and the Canadian border closed to citizens of overseas countries as of March 18, arrivals from overseas countries (i.e., other than the United States) to Canada declined by one-fifth (-19.8%) year over year to 829,500 in the first quarter.
Arrivals from Asia and the Pacific—the first region to suffer from the impacts of COVID-19—declined by one-quarter (-25.0% to 334,000 trips) year over year in the first quarter, followed by arrivals from Central and South America (-24.1% to 49,800 trips) and Europe (-16.2% to 322,600 trips).
Following the Canadian Government's January 29 advisory to avoid non-essential travel to China, Air Canada suspended flights between Canada and Beijing and Shanghai, effective January 30. As a result, the number of travellers from China declined by over one-third (-37.5%) year over year to 85,600 in the first quarter.
Significant year-over-year declines were also reported from Japan (-34.4% to 29,000 trips) and India (-20.5% to 36,000 trips).
Chart 1
Average travel spending in Canada by overseas travellers, by selected major source country, first quarter 2020
Effective March 17, Air Canada reduced its international flights to Europe by restricting service to London, Paris and Frankfurt. Consequently, trips by residents of the United Kingdom fell by 16.8% year over year to 84,000 in the first quarter. Travel from France (-10.8% to 82,700 trips) and Germany (-18.9% to 33,500 trips) also declined compared with the same period a year earlier.
Ontario recorded the largest absolute decline in visitors from overseas countries (-19.1% to 375,500 visits), followed by British Columbia (-21.7% to 264,800 visits).
During the first quarter, most overseas residents travelled to Canada to visit friends or relatives (-17.5% to 325,100 trips) or for a holiday, leisure or recreation (-19.8% to 222,200 trips).
Visitors from India and China stayed the longest, averaging 30 nights per trip in Canada, followed by visitors from South Korea (17 nights), France (16 nights) and Mexico (16 nights).
Map 1
Tourism regions
Overseas travellers spent an estimated $1.1 billion in Canada in the first quarter—down 31.3% from the same quarter a year earlier. This drop was led by a decrease in spending by Chinese travellers (-44.3%) year over year to $172.5 million.
Travel spending by visitors from the United Kingdom declined 17.5% year over year to $128.2 million, while spending by Australian visitors fell 22.6% to $114.3 million.
The average amount spent by overseas residents in Canada was $1,318 per trip, down from $1,600 in the previous year.
Visitors from Australia and China spent the most per trip in Canada in the first quarter. Visitors from Australia spent $2,374 per trip in Canada during a 13-night average stay, while visitors from China spent $2,016 during their average stay of 30 nights.
Spending also varied by trip purpose. For example, travellers from China who came primarily to visit friends and relatives or for other personal reasons spent 22.7% of their total spending on accommodation, while visitors from Australia—who are more likely to visit for pleasure and leisure—spent 40.5% of their total spending on accommodation.
Spending was down across all categories in the first quarter, with accommodation down 27.8% to $404.9 million, food and beverages down 32.2% to $283.7 million, and clothes and gifts falling 39.6% to $190.5 million. These three expense items accounted for almost 8 of every 10 dollars spent in Canada by overseas residents.
Chart 2
Total travel expenditures of foreign travellers in the highest-earning tourism regions (millions of dollars), first quarter 2020
Foreign spending declines in most regions
Foreign travellers spent $2.2 billion in Canada in the first quarter—down $791.6 million from the same quarter a year earlier.
Every tourism region reported less tourism revenue from foreign tourism spending in Canada compared with the same quarter a year earlier, except Québec (+7.5% to $89.9 million) and Kootenay Rockies (+16.3% to $74.0 million). Spending by US visitors ($110 million) bolstered the overall gain in tourism revenue in the two regions.
The Vancouver, coast and mountains region—the province's top-earning region ($525.3 million)—reported an estimated $261.2 million reduction in tourism revenue during the first quarter, down by one-third (-33.2%) year over year. This drop was led by lower spending by overseas travellers (-34.4% to $302.3 million), with spending by Chinese visitors down by more than half (-50.4% to $70.4 million). Spending by US visitors declined 31.5% to $223.0 million.
Foreign travellers' spending in the Greater Toronto Area totalled $375.4 million—down 30.4% from the first quarter of 2019. Spending by US travellers, down 22.4% to $191.9 million, accounted for over half (51.1%) of this total. Year over year, spending by Chinese travellers declined 43.3% (to $34.3 million), while spending by visitors from the United Kingdom dropped 51.7% (to $10.3 million).
Foreign spending in the Montréal area declined 27.8% to $230.1 million in the first quarter. Compared with the same quarter in 2019, US visitor spending was down 30.8% to $113.5 million, and overseas spending was down 24.7% to $116.7 million.
Note to readers
The Visitor Travel Survey (VTS) collects information on international travel to Canada by US and overseas residents.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, collection of the VTS was suspended in March and, as a result, historical and other imputation methods were used to account for March. This use of imputation may affect the overall quality of the estimates and caution is advised when using the data for the first quarter of 2020.
VTS estimates are based on a sample and subject to variability. For example, estimates for smaller geographic areas and detailed categories have more variability. In such cases, users are advised to examine the coefficient of variation indicated by the letter quality indicators attached to each estimate.
For more information on the methods used, including data imputation, see Definitions, data sources and methods.
The VTS was developed to fully replace the inbound visitor component of the International Travel Survey (ITS) and consists of two components: electronic questionnaires and the Air Exit Survey. Data from the VTS are historically comparable with data from the ITS.
The VTS uses Statistics Canada's Frontier Counts (see Travel between Canada and other countries) as benchmarks for the numbers of travellers to Canada. These counts are produced using administrative data from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on all international travellers who have been cleared for entry or re-entry into Canada.
Starting with the release of 2018 data, VTS data include subprovincial estimates of tourism spending by international visitors to Canada. These estimates are produced using small area estimation (SAE) modelling to combine data collected from the VTS with aggregated payment processor data provided to Statistics Canada by Destination Canada. Payment processor data include information on spending category, tourism region and country of origin for credit cards used by international visitors to Canada. Methodological information is available in the document Small Area Estimation for Visitor Travel Survey.
The sum of the spending data derived from the SAE model will not equal the sum produced by the VTS alone. When spending data are analyzed, it is recommended that the estimates derived from the SAE model be used.
Overseas countries refer to countries other than the United States.
A trip to Canada is made by a resident of a country other than Canada who is cleared through a CBSA point of entry on a visit for a period of less than 12 months. A Canadian citizen residing outside Canada for more than 12 months who comes to Canada is included as a traveller from a country other than Canada.
A trip to Canada for a person residing in a country other than Canada starts when they are cleared through a CBSA point of entry to enter Canada and ends when they exit Canada.
Trips and visits: A trip can consist of one or more visits. A traveller from a country other than Canada may stay in several locations during a trip to Canada. Each stay at a Canadian location (e.g., a province) within a given trip represents a visit.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
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