OTTAWA - Statistics Canada says travel to and from Canada remained weak in June, continuing a trend that has beleaguered the country's travel industries for months.
Trips to Canada in June -- which marks the beginning of the busy summer vacation season -- were down 12.7 per cent from a year earlier in June 2007.
Foreigners made to 2.3 million trips to Canada in June.
Compared with May 2008, the number of trips to Canada was down 1.3 per cent. Trips to Canada from the United States were down 1.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, Canadian travel abroad to all countries slipped 0.8 per cent from May, which had experienced a burst of outward bound travel to the United States.
Canadian residents took 4.4 million trips outside the country in June. Their travel to the U.S. was off 0.9 per cent, to 3.8 million trips.
Last month, Statistics Canada reported that Canadian residents took 4.5 million trips outside the country this past May, up 12.6 per cent from May 2007.
The lower cross-border travel activity comes amid increased economic uncertainty around the world, major layoff and shutdown announcements in Canada's auto sector, and higher prices for gasoline and jet fuel.
