U.S. Travel to Canada Declines By 76% Since 2001
According to data from Statistics Canada, the number of U.S. vehicles entering Canada for one-day travel fell in June to the lowest level since 1972, when Canada started recording monthly vehicle travel from the U.S. Only 367,452 automobiles from the U.S. entered Canada in June, down by 76% from the recent peak of 1,536,800 cars during the summer before the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.New passport rules are keeping Americans at home, with June numbers showing that travel to Canada from the United States fell to its lowest level since Statistics Canada started tracking cross-border trips in 1972.
The number of same-day car trips from the United States was down 26% in June from May, while the overall number of U.S. tourists plummeted to about half of what it was five years ago.
The dramatic drop in travel across the Canada-U.S. border shows that the fears of many in the tourism industry in both countries are coming to pass. After the tougher passport rules were announced in 2005 as part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, many industry groups warned that the regulations would further discourage Americans already reluctant to travel due to the high dollar and gas prices.
MP: Notice in the chart below that the 40% decline of the U.S. dollar relative to the Canadian dollar between 2002-2007 helps explain the decline in travel to Canada between 2002-2007.
HT: Megan McArdleOriginally posted at Carpe Diem.
7 Comments:
Good finding on the currency slide. It was the first thing I was thinking when I saw the graph.
The passport thing is keeping us home
In September of 2008 my wife and I visited Niagra Falls staying on the US side. We went to Canada for two day trips and both times we spend and hour or more in line entering Canada. It is a deterrent.
Apparently there is e-zpass type system one can install but day trippers are unlikely to do that even if they know of it.
Mark: "U.S. Travel to Canda Declines By 76% Since 2001"
Should be "Canada", you were typing too fast - it happens to me all the time.
Thanks Rand, it's fixed now.
The new travel document requirements are a big deterrent to crossing the border. It is a shame
One of the big problems is there are 3 states (I think) with driver's licenses that can be used instead of a passport or passport card - State Issued Enhanced Driver’s License.
The other states don't have strict enough checks on if the person is a citizen or not, and the licenses themselves don't meet the specifications. The Enhanced licenses also have to be requested in lieu of a regular license.
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