Are you ready, sitting down? Inbound numbers for September 2008 are out. Mexico and Spain inbound to Canada continue to Grow!

Statistics Canada just published the International Travel: Advance Information Bulletin for September 2008. Not surprisingly there was a notable slowdown in travel to Canada. The current global economic environment is hitting travel hard all over the world. US visits were dramatically down in September, down 18.5% compared to September '07. The troubling financial situation in the UK was reflected with a decline of 9.8% in UK visitors compared to last year. Pleaseantly surprising France and Germany were up with 14.7% and 6.2% respectively. Quebec's 400th Anniversary celebrations are credited for the stellar performance of the French market this year.

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When it comes to Hispanic inbound markets the two big stars saw continued growth. Mexico was up 8.8% in september and still showing double digit growth for the year to date (11%). Incredibly, Spain, where there is no official Canadian Tourism marketing whatsoever, and at a time when Spain is also experiencing economic difficulties, sent us 13.9% more tourists this past September than in the same month last year. For the period Jan to Sept 2008, Spanish inbound is up a remarkable 15.2%. Olé!

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Saludos,

Jaime Horwitz MBA
www.canadamigos.com