Visitor Travel Survey, first quarter 2024
Released: 2024-08-28
Highlights
In the first quarter, Canada welcomed 4.3 million visitors from the United States and overseas, representing 90.4% of the number of trips taken in the same quarter of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. From January to March 2024, more than three-quarters (77.9%) of these visitors were from the United States.
In the first quarter, spending in Canada by non-resident visitors totalled $3.3 billion, almost on par with the $3.4 billion in expenditures in the same quarter of 2019. On average, these visitors spent $767 per trip in the first quarter of 2024.
Trips to Canada by US residents
From January to March, US residents made 3.4 million trips to Canada, accounting for 89.8% of the level observed in the first quarter of 2019 (3.8 million). In the first quarter of 2024, nearly one-quarter (23.1%) of trips by US residents (780,000 trips) to Canada were made using a mode of transport other than commercial air.
In the first quarter, holidays, leisure or recreation was the most common reason for US residents to visit Canada (47.7%, or 1.6 million trips). This was followed by visiting friends or relatives (18.6%, or 628,000 trips) and business trips (14.5%, or 490,000 trips).
In the first quarter, US residents travelling in Canada spent $1.7 billion, up 16.2% from the same quarter in 2019. During the first quarter of 2024, US residents spent $499 per trip on average.
Compared with the first quarter of 2019, spending on recreation and entertainment saw the largest increase in the first quarter, rising 68.2% to $253.3 million. Clothing and gifts spending increased 49.0% to $110.1 million in the first quarter of 2024 and food and beverages spending advanced 31.1% to $471.3 million. Accommodation, which generated $593.3 million in spending, was up 5.2% from the same period in 2019, representing the biggest expenditure category for US visitors in Canada.
Trips to Canada by overseas residents
Visitors from overseas (countries other than the United States) made 958,000 trips to Canada in the first quarter of 2024. This number represents 92.6% of the level observed in the same quarter in 2019 (1.0 million). In the first quarter of 2024, nearly 9 trips out of 10 by overseas residents (87.0%, or 833,000) arrived in Canada by commercial air.
In the first quarter, the most common reason for visiting Canada, cited by these visitors from overseas, was visiting friends or relatives for 44.3% (424,000 trips), followed by holidays and recreation for 30.9% (296,000 trips) and business trips for 13.7% (131,000 trips).
Spending by overseas visitors in Canada totalled $1.7 billion in the first quarter, a drop of 14.0% compared with the same quarter in 2019. From January to March 2024, these visitors spent an average of $1,710 per trip.
Spending on accommodations declined the most compared with the first quarter of 2019. Spending in this category fell 17.9% to $558.8 million in the first quarter of 2024. Meanwhile, spending on clothing and gifts decreased 17.0% to $273.4 million, and recreation and entertainment spending fell 13.0% to $154.7 million.
2023 in review
In 2023, visitors from the United States and overseas countries made 27.2 million trips to Canada, with 21.2 million trips made by US residents and 6.0 million made by overseas visitors. This is an increase of 52.0% of all trips in 2022 (17.9 million trips) and a decrease of 16.0% of such trips taken in 2019 (32.4 million).
In 2023, non-resident visitors in Canada spent $25.5 billion. This spending surpassed the 2022 level by 82.1% ($14.0 billion) and was less than the 2019 level by 21.5% ($23.4 billion).
Chart 1
Total travel expenditures by international visitors, by province and territory, first quarter 2024
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Note to readers
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, collection activity relating to the Visitor Travel Survey (VTS) was suspended in March 2020 and estimates from the second quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2023 were produced using a model based on 2019 VTS estimates adjusted with Frontier Counts results.
VTS collection activities partially resumed in 2023. For the air commercial component, the Air Exit Survey (AES) resumed at five major airports. For the non-air commercial portion, estimates were calculated using a combination of AES data collected and historical non-air commercial data, as well as Frontier Counts.
Users are strongly advised to read the description of data sources, methods and limitations provided in the Visitor Travel Survey webpage.
It is recommended that users interpret estimates for these quarters with the aforementioned considerations in mind. Comparisons of historical VTS results with current VTS results should be made with caution, due to the use of different methods to produce estimates for US and overseas residents visiting Canada.
All data in this release are expressed in current dollars unless otherwise noted.
New tables are now available: 24-10-0064, 24-10-0065 and 24-10-0066. These tables provide data by mode of entry to Canada, for commercial air and mode other than commercial air, and for total visitors to Canada. The following table is archived: 24-10-0047-01: Spending by foreign residents travelling in Canada by country of residence, tourism region and spending category.
Starting with the release of the first quarter for 2024, country codes have been aligned with the Variant of the Standard Classification of Countries and Areas of Interest 2022 for Travel Statistics.
Recent data on international travel to Canada are available in the monthly "Travel between Canada and other countries" release.
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; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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