{"id":846920,"date":"2026-08-05T11:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T11:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/846920\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T11:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T11:42:10","slug":"canada-tourism-saw-massive-spike-in-early-2026-statcan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/846920\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada tourism saw massive spike in early 2026: StatCan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tourism operators say it\u2019s a record-breaking summer as Canadian and international visitors take vacations across the country. Paul Hollingsworth reports. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">HALIFAX \u2013 On a hot August day with the Halifax summer season in full swing, the city\u2019s busy waterfront offered a snapshot of the province\u2019s tourism vibe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cAt this moment, our business is 29 per cent ahead of passenger counts based on this time last year,\u201d said Ambassatours Gray Line CEO Sean Buckland, who added this could grow into a record year for tourism business \u2013 not just locally, but also nationally.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.statcan.gc.ca\/en\/subjects-start\/travel_and_tourism\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">According to Statistics Canada<\/a>, 2026 first-quarter tourism spending in Canada saw a 5.6 per cent increase year over year, with financial totals reaching $29.5 billion. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cWe are having increased Americans take advantage of the Canadian dollar and we are seeing increased Canadians stay home,\u201d said Buckland. \u201cAnd we are seeing international visitors come and stay longer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/456NMONADZHKFGE6XJB5KB3URY.jpeg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"\/>Canada tourism boom 2026 The Halifax waterfront is busy with tourists on Aug. 4, 2026. (CTV News) <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Donna Riani and her husband are visiting Canada from Boston for the first time. Given the recent tariff tensions between the two countries, Riani said she is here to see the sites and show support to her northern neighbours.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cWell, obviously, the USA is not a friendly neighbour anymore,\u201d Riani said. \u201cBeing here is something I wanted to do, and it is nice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">As Americans visit Canada, Canadians continue to travel within their home country. Statistics Canada also reported domestic spending reached $23.5 billion during the first three months of 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">David Martel of Quebec City was tempted to travel to the United States, but ultimately decided to stay in Canada this summer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cI figured for now I\u2019m going to support the local markets,\u201d Martel said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/EYBWQ4JYCNDJVE5WCXDJ2APM44.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"588\"\/>Canada tourism Cruise ship passengers tour Peggy&#8217;s Cove on the south shore of Nova Scotia. THE CANADIAN PRESS\/Andrew Vaughan <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Canadians refusing to travel south of the border has taken a bite out of the American tourism industry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">To attract more travellers, Porter Airlines is offering 20 per cent off flights from Canadian cities to New York from August until December, while New York is tossing in cheaper hotels and deals on Broadway shows.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cCanada remains our No. 2 tourism market,\u201d said New York City Tourism + Conventions CEO Julie Coker. \u201cSo, we are offering 30 per cent off of 85-plus tourism attractions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">That sounded like a good deal, but Martel said, \u201cthanks, but no thanks\u201d. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cMaybe in a couple of years,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">For now, he will spend his vacation money in his home country, at a time with the tourism industry has surged from coast to coast to coast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">With files from CP24<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tourism operators say it\u2019s a record-breaking summer as Canadian and international visitors take vacations across the country. Paul&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":846921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[712,45,49,48,46],"class_list":["post-846920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-apple-news","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=846920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/846920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/846921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=846920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=846920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=846920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}