The total number of tourists travelling to Canada increased for the sixth straight month in December 2002,…
The total number of tourists travelling to Canada increased for the sixth straight month in December 2002, according to the Canadian Tourism Commission, fuelled primarily by positive numbers from the USA, Asia and primary markets in Europe. Results published by Statistics Canada indicate that the total seasonally unadjusted international overnight travel to Canada increased by 4.7 per cent in December 2002, compared with December 2001. The year 2002 ended on a positive note with total numbers up 1.8 per cent over the same period in 2001.
The total number of US tourists going to Canada was up 3.8 per cent in December 2002. In addition, the positive trend in the numbers of US tourists entering Canada by private car continued in December 2002, and was up 7.3 per cent for the year. In December 2002, overseas overnight travel to Canada was up 7.8 per cent. For the year, however, the number of overseas overnight travellers was down by 5.3 per cent. The countries registering the most important positive growth for Canada during the month of December 2002 were Italy (37.5 per cent), Mexico (28.3 per cent), Australia (22.5 per cent), Japan (16.6 per cent), the Netherlands (7.4 per cent), France (4.6 per cent) and the UK (2.0 per cent).
The number of Canadian tourists travelling to the USA or overseas was up 15.1 per cent at 1.2 million in December 2002, and down 3.8 per cent to 17.7 million for the year compared to the same period in 2001.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
