October Border Crossing Results Released

Canada Border Services Agency and Statistics Canada have completed their analysis of the October 2009 crossing data at the Pigeon River Border Crossing and the results show a downward trend for the month but some optimism for the year overall.

After a very strong September, Only 3997 U.S. residents crossed into the Thunder Bay district, versus 4898 the previous October, a drop of approximately 18%. The drop was identified across all travel categories, with 1363 day trippers (down 12%), 338 single overnight (down 20%) and 2296 2 plus night stays (down 16%). While disappointing, these numbers reflect the general trends across Canada. Possible contributors to this trend are the high Canadian dollar during October, continued uncertainty around the U.S. economy, and a likely trend that, given the cold summer and fall, travel patterns may have shifted towards warmer locales earlier than normal.

However, year to date traffic to the end of October, at 88 677 U.S residents, is only down 0.9% for the year over 2008. the summer's performance can be attributed to a strong circle touring season with increases in key experience demographics such as motorcycle touring. For 2010, Tourism Thunder Bay is expanding its presence in the U.S. AAA web and print media to keep building on this success.