CANADA. 2002 ended on a positive note with the last three months recording growth over the previous year in inbound visitor numbers, said the Canada Tourism Commission. In December the number of overnight visitors from the US rose, as did those from Europe and Asia, in particular from Japan.
However for the year overall, a number of Canada’s major tourist markets did not return to past levels. Total “seasonally unadjusted” overnight international tourist travel to Canada for 2002 rose just +1.8% over the same period in 2001 and +4.7% for December. Meanwhile, the number of Canadian tourists to the US and other overseas markets rose +15.1% in December but was down -3.8% for the year.
In December 2002, increases in overseas travel to Canada were seen from all continents with greatest growth coming from China (+18.3%), Spain (+18.1%) and Thailand (+15.4%). Importantly for border shop retailers, the positive trend in the numbers of US tourists entering Canada by automobile continued in December and was up +7.3% for the year. Asian overnight travel to Canada in 2002 ended on a positive note, with a slight increase (+1.3%) over 2001. Increases were recorded for Japan (+4.3%), South Korea (+6.0%), China (+18.3%) and India (+1.44%), Philippines (+9.0%) and Thailand (+15.4%). Decreases in 2002 over 2001 were recorded for: Hong Kong (-5.9%), Taiwan (-10.1%), Israel (-5.6%), Singapore (-9.7%), Malaysia (-10.5%) and Indonesia (-2.1%).
