Canada welcomed its second-highest number of visitors in 2016 and its highest amount than any year since 2002, according to new data released by Destination Canada.
The 19,979,334 international visitors in 2016 were 10% more than in 2015 with increases across the board in Canada’s top tourism markets.
The number of overseas visitors increased 16% to 6,079,520 while the number of U.S. visitors increased by 10% to 13,899,814.
Outside of the U.S., the next largest source of visitors to Canada was the U.K., where 833,329 people came to Canada, or 17% more than in 2015.
The next highest sources of visitors to Canada were:
•China with 610,139 people (24% more than 2015);
•France with 545,786 people (9% more than 2015);
•Germany with 369,216 people (12% more than 2015);
•Australia with 333,437 people (16% more than 2015);
•Japan with 303,726 people (10% more than 2015); and
•South Korea with 244,442 people (30% more than 2015).
Almost half of all visitors to Canada, or 9,825,000 people, arrived via the country’s land crossings with about 9,400,000 of those being Americans.
About 566,000 Americans arrived in Canada on boats while the remaining 4,500,000 arrived on airplanes.
