Canadians do love to travel and they spend while they are at it. The preliminary annual report on the characteristics of international travelers, released Tuesday by Statistics Canada, indicates that Canadians took an estimated 22.7 million overnight trips in 2006 and spent a record $20.1 billion in the process.
About 6.7 million trips, just under one-third of the total, were to destinations other than the United States, up 8.2 per cent from 2005. Mexico was the favorite non-U.S. destination for Canadian travelers last year even though a Canadian couple was killed there in early 2006. However crimes against Canadians and allegations of crimes against Canadians is on the rise in Mexico, so its unlikely to be the popular destination this year.
France, Cuba and the Dominican Republic were the third, fourth and fifth top destinations for Canadian tourists. China was another popular country that Canadians visited in 2006, probably due to the increase in the number of flights between the two countries.
Canadians recorded the highest level of overnight travel to the United States since 1993. Top US states visited by Canadians include New York, Florida, Washington, Michigan, California, Nevada, Maine, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Minnesota.
The country has also done well for itself, travel to Canada rose for the third straight year in 2006 after three consecutive annual declines. United Kingdom held on to its status as the most important non-U.S. market for Canada. However, the number of tourists from the US and the UK to Canada have declined.
Source: Times Colonist
