Canadian Travel Numbers

[donquixote]

In a recent report of where canadians travel (based on 2006) Mexico had the most visits by canadians at 842,000. Then cuba at 604,000, dr at 509,000 and then everyone else way down from there.

I was a bit surprised but then these numbers are for 2006. I think maybe the numbers for mexico will go down with all the bad publicity. I am not surprised at the cuba numbers as Cuba does massive advertising in canada compared to almost none for the dr.

My main concern is that because my family has a rental investment operation in the dr, visit numbers are important and i am worried that at some point in the near future, the us will remove their law against americans travelling to cuba freely, and then a lot of the americans who may go to the dr will try cuba. On a side note, i was told there are aprox 400 americans each week that go to cuba but to toronto first. From there they go to cuba and the cubans do not stamp their passport,, so when they return to the us, it shows they were just in canada...

I just wish the dr. tourist people would start promoting the dr in canada and then maybe we would get more visitors.

[Me_again]

[Addressing the Canadian thing only . . .]

I believe a lot depends on where in Canada one lives and in what's available for a reasonable price.

For example if living in BC, travel to the relatively close Mexico (and Hawaii) becomes more reasonably priced than from Atlantic Canada. Here in the Maritimes, the DR and Cuba (four to five hours away) seem to run neck and neck as destinations . . . very few of us here want to spend a half day getting to Toronto or Montreal just to go somewhere that will then cost us more than getting to Puerto Plata, Punta Cana, Cayo Guillermo or Holguin which are quite warm enough in February.

. . . but this is also a function of what's readily available in flights and packages, and that much more so than on any advertising by the respective governments.

Let's face it most travellers are going to do the AI (or some other form of package) for their vacations, so it's what the tour companies offer that drives the destination choice rather than advertising from government tourism agencies directed at the poor snow-bound masses huddling in our igloos.

[As for tourism generally . . .] I'm sure it's a pretty fragile way to make a living and I suppose one has to expect boom and bust --- adapt or die. There's all of Europe after all and the Pound Sterling and the Euro work as well as US and CDN dollars when you're paying your bills in RDP.

wbr