Americans staying away in record numbers

News Release

With cross-border travel at its lowest level in nearly four decades, Canada’s tourism industry is being devastated by Conservative government inaction, Liberal MPs said today.
“Everyone - businesses, provincial ministers, economists - warned the Harper government that new passport regulations under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative would hurt Canada’s $75-billion tourism industry, and Mr. Harper ignored them all,” said Liberal International Trade Critic Scott Brison.
Statistics Canada reports that in the month of June, travel to Canada from the United States fell to its lowest level since the agency started tracking cross-border trips in 1972. The number of same-day car trips from the United States was down 26 per cent in June from May, while the overall number of U.S. tourists fell to about half of what it was five years ago.
Liberal Public Safety Critic Mark Holland said the Harper government sat back and watched while other levels of government and tourism groups tried unsuccessfully to lobby the U.S. government to scrap the stringent passport rules.
“The thickening of our border was entirely preventable,” Mr. Holland said. “Instead of educating Washington on the safety of our border, the Harper government has stood passively by while the US government unilaterally implemented security policies that have choked-off cross border trade and travel.”
Only 30 percent of Americans have a valid passport, which means entire communities that rely on day or weekend trips from American visitors will be devastated. About 70 percent of Canada’s tourism industry depends on U.S. travel.
“This government has failed to keep border traffic flowing with our largest and most important trading partner,” concluded Mr. Brison. “The results are clear - Canada’s tourism deficit is already at a record $13 billion, and our trade deficit in May widened dramatically to $1.4 billion - the worst ever.”