International Travel 2007

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Highlights

International travel in 2007

1. International tourist arrivals worldwide climbed to 903 million in 2007, about 6.6% higher than 2006. The World Tourism Organization expects international tourists arrivals to reach 1 billion in 2010.
2. United States residents made about 13.4 million overnight trips to Canada, down 3.5% from 2006 and the lowest level since 1996. This was the third consecutive annual decrease in overnight travel from the United States.
3. Same-day car travel from the United States fell to 11.2 million trips, down 18.8% from 2006 and the lowest level since record keeping started in 1972. This was the eighth consecutive decline in same-day car travel from the United States.
4. Overnight travel from overseas countries reached a high of 4.4 million trips, up 2.9% from 2006. This was the fourth consecutive annual increase and in that span, has increased 37.9%.
5. Canadians made 17.8 million overnight trips to the United States, up 11.0% from 2006 and the most in 15 years. Only 1991 and 1992 saw Canadians make more overnight trips south of the border.
6. Same-day car travel to the United States increased 3.3% to 24.2 million trips, the most since 2000. The bulk of the increase came in the latter half of 2007, as the loonie inched towards parity with the US greenback.
7. Travel to overseas countries reached a high of 7.4 million trips, up 9.9% from 2006. Travel to non-US destinations has increased every year since 2002 and has fallen only six times in 36 years.
8. Canadians made over 1.0 million overnight visits in Mexico. This marked the first time that overnight visits to a country other than the United States reached the 1.0-million mark.
9. The international travel deficit jumped $3.2 billion to $10.0 billion, the highest ever. This was the result of substantial gains in travel spending abroad, which climbed 13.9% to $26.7 billion. Foreign travel spending in Canada edged up 0.1% to $16.6 billion.