“The efforts of Canada’s tourism industry in our overseas markets really paid off in May this year, with overnight arrivals outperforming those from non-CTC markets,” said Greg Klassen, CTC president and CEO (interim). “The Mexico, Japan, India and South Korean markets all produced double-digit gains, which provides real encouragement as we enter the busy summer tourist season.”
Some key findings:
- The visitor total from Japan was up 15 per cent due to new flights between Tokyo’s Haneda airport and Vancouver.
- Overnight arrivals increased from both India (12 per cent) and South Korea (11 per cent).
- Americans took more than one-million overnight trips to Canada, a four-per-cent gain. Arrivals by air increased by 11 per cent.
- The Mexico market grew 23 per cent due to the improved visa facilitation process.
- Visitor numbers to Canada climbed from Italy (15 per cent), Hong Kong (13 per cent), Spain (12 per cent), Taiwan (nine per cent), the Netherlands (eight per cent) and Switzerland (three per cent).
