Figures released Thursday Canadians by Statistics Canada reveal a sharp drop by Canadians to visit their American neighbours. They also say foreign appetite for travel in Canada has hit its highest May on record.
The agency reports Canadians made 3.2 million trips to the United States in May, down almost 8% from April's level and nearly 6% lower than the same month a year ago.
Car trips to the U.S. were sharply lower, down to 2.5 million during the month, which is the lowest figure seen for that month since 2003.
Some of the blame for that can be traced to the value of the Canadian dollar, which was hovering around 73 cents for much of the month. In May 2003, the loonie was at a similar level of 72 cents U.S., the data agency noted. It has since jumped to more than 79 cents.
Canadians may have by and large stayed home in May, but the same can't be said of foreigners with regard to Canada. Overseas visitors — that is, not from the U.S. — made 544,000 trips to Canada in May, up almost 10% from last year's level.
Canada welcomed 190,000 travelers from Asia in May, up 14% since last year and the highest May figure on record. Travel from Mexico increased by 75% from last year's level, with 32,532 visitors during the month.
Travel from Europe, however declined by 10.9%, particularly from the U.K. (down 10.8% and Germany (down 14%)
