OTTAWA — Canadians took 5.4 million trips abroad in August, down 0.1% from July but the types of trips most likely to be sold by travel agents were up.
Travel to the United States fell 0.2% in August to 4.6 million trips, while trips to destinations other than the United States increased 0.7% to 804,000, their highest level since September 2012.
Same-day car trips by Canadians to the United States decreased 1.6% to 2.7 million.
Travel of one or more nights to the United States rose 1.6% to 1.9 million trips. Travel by car increased 1.8% to 1.1 million trips, while travel by plane was up 0.3% to 670,000 trips, the highest level since record keeping began in 1972.
Travel to Canada rose 1.1% in August to 2.1 million trips, led by an increase in trips from overseas countries.
Travel to Canada by overseas travellers was up 5.1% to 406,000 in August compared with July. Asian travellers to Canada reached 131,000, the highest level since October 2004. The United Kingdom, France and China remained the top three overseas markets to Canada.
Just over 1.7 million visitors came to Canada from the United States in August, up 0.2% from July.
Same-day car trips from the United States to Canada rose 0.2% to 603,000.
Travel of one or more nights from the United States increased 0.2% to 1.0 million trips. Travel by plane was up 1.0% to 326,000 trips, while travel by car was down 0.6% to 568,000 trips.