Canadian tourists postponing US visits because of weak dollar

Canadians who traditionally migrate south to the fine weather in Florida and other US destinations at this holiday time are staying at home this year because of the weak ‘loonie’ (Canadian dollar).

Canadians staying at home more this year because of their weaker currency against the US dollar which is at a 10-year low Image by tuchodi / CC BY 2.0

More people from Canada than any other country visit the United States every year and while other international tourism figures are slightly up in 2015, the numbers from north of the border are forecast to decrease by 8%.

Florida reports that Canadian numbers are down this year when overall the state expects to surpass the 100 million tourist visitors mark Image by Lall / CC BY 2.0

The Huffington Post says that over 21 million Canadians will have holidayed in the US – making up 30% of that country’s international visitors. However, many are holding off on their annual pilgrimages until their dollar “straightens itself out” as one would-be visitor, Joe Leydier declared. He was referring to the fact the the ‘loonie’ has slid 25% against its US counterpart – the lowest in a decade.

More than 4.2 million Canadians vacation annually to the state of Florida alone, but the visits have reduced in the first three quarters of this year when it looks like tourism in the state will surpass the 100 million visitors’ mark. New York is the most popular destination for Canadians to visit when they journey south, pipping Florida which caters for the more wealthy visitors from their northern neighbours. The largest sources of international tourists to the US behind the Canadians are Mexicans with almost 18 million visitors per annum, British with 4.4 million, Japanese on 3.5 million and then Brazilians with 2.3 million visitors.