The number of Canadians heading south of the border plunged year-over-year to March, likely reflecting the drop in the purchasing power of the Canadian dollar.
According to Statistics Canada, Canadians took 3.9 million trips to the United States in March – down 8.7% compared with the same period last year. Same-day car trips fell 17.8% over the same period to 2.1 million.
Over the same period, the Canadian dollar relative to the American currency dropped 12.5%, from 90.39 cents U.S. on March 31, 2014 to 79.09 on the same date this year.
Going the other direction, Canada saw a 6.8% increase in American visitors, with 1.8 million trips.
Canadians turned overseas for alternate destinations for their travels. Overall trips to countries besides the U.S. jumped 10.7% year-over-year.
The number of Asian tourists to Canada grew over the past year. The number of visitors from China was 44,000 – up 22.2% compared with 36,000 in March 2014. South Korean visitors grew 7.1% to 15,000 and the number of tourists from Hong Kong increased 9.1% to 12,000.
The number of visitors from France fell approximately 14.6% from 41,000 to 35,000. Tourists from other European countries increased, most notably those from the United Kingdom (up 6.9% to 62,000).
