Highlights

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International travel in 2010

1. International tourist arrivals worldwide rose 6.6% to 940.0 million in 2010. As a result, international tourism receipts increased 4.7% to US$919.0 billion. Canada ranks 15^th for international tourist arrivals and 14^th for international tourism receipts.
2. United States residents made about 11.7 million overnight trips to Canada in 2010, up 0.7% from 2009. This was the first annual increase in overnight travel by United States residents in six years.
3. United States residents made 7.4 million same-day car trips to Canada in 2010, down 5.1% from 2009 and the lowest number since record keeping started in 1972. Same-day car travel from the United States to Canada has declined every year since 1999 when travel peaked at 27.3 million.
4. Overnight travel by residents of countries other than the United States increased 5.1% to 4.1 million trips. This was the sixth increase in seven years.
5. Canadian residents made 20.0 million overnight trips to the United States in 2010, up 11.1% from 2009. This was the highest year on record for overnight travel to the United States.
6. Canadians made 24.5 million same-day car trips to the United States in 2010, a jump of 17.3% from the previous year and the highest figure since 2000.
7. Travel to overseas countries reached a high of 8.7 million overnight trips, up 5.9% from 2009. Since the last decline in 2002, overnight travel overseas has increased 86.2%.
8. Canadians made 1.4 million overnight visits to Mexico, more than to any other country. Canadians made 12.0% more overnight visits to the country compared to 2009.
9. Canada's international travel deficit increased $2.1 billion to $14.3 billion in 2010, the sixth consecutive annual increase.
10. Canadians spent $30.5 billion outside the country in 2010, a 10.0% increase from 2009 and a new record high. At the same time, foreign spending in Canada was at $16.2 billion, up 4.2% from the previous year.