1. Markets & Segments
  2. Markets
  3. Canada

Canada

Canada

Visitor characteristics

  • Canadian visitors tend to be older than the average visitor to the UK: 34% of Canadian visitors were aged 55+ in 2018, compared to the all market average of 20%
  • Almost half of the Canadian visitors come from Ontario
  • 6 out of 10 Canadian holiday visitors are making a repeat visit

  • Visits to friends and/or relatives lead in terms of volume of visits from the Canadian market

Popular activities

Dining in a restaurant

Visited a Pub

Went Shopping

Global context

Measure2018
International tourism expenditure (US$bn)33.3
Global rank for international tourism expenditure8
Number of outbound visits (m)39.2
Most visited destinationUSA
Most visited destination in Western EuropeFrance

Key demographic and economic data

Measure2018
Population (m)37.0
GDP per capita PPP (US$)47,155
Annual average GDP growth over past decade (%)1.7
Annual average GDP growth in 2018 (%)0.5

Resources

Canada Market and Trade Profile (PDF, 1.2MB)

visitbritain_marketprofile_canada_final.pdf

Canada Market Snapshot (PDF 754KB)

canada_market_snapshot_2018_data.pdf

Canada Aviation Profile (PDF, 2.2MB)

canada_aviation_profile_12082019.pdf

More resources

Download our infographic for a brief overview of the visitor profile from Canadian visitors to the UK (PDF, 0.8MB, Published July 2017)

canada_fact_sheet_double_sided_vb_june-2017_31102017.pdf

Find out where visitors from Canada to the UK reside in their own country (Excel, 212KB, Published August 2007, 2010 and 2015)

annual_states_of_residence_2018_for_web.xlsx

Read the report on North American LGBTQ travel to Britain (PDF, 2.7MB, Published March 2019)

lgbtq_travel_to_britain.pdf

Exchange rate

1 GBP = 1.73 CAD

As of 12 December 2019

Retrieved from the Bank of England

Inbound visits to Britain from Canada

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Number of visits

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What Canadians think about Britain

  • Canadians ranked Britain 2nd overall among 50 nations

  • Canadians rate Britain highly for culture overall, as well as historic buildings and vibrant city life but less for natural beauty

  • Cultural attractions motivated many Canadian visitors to choose Great Britain for their holiday destination

  • A trip to Britain would be expected to be ‘educational’, ‘fascinating’ and/or ‘exciting’ by many Canadians

Caring for visitors

  • Britain is a home away from home for many Canadian visitors, sharing a common language, culture, tradition and heritage
  • Canada is a culturally diverse country, over 20% of the total Canadian population is foreign-born
  • Canadians do not like to be referred to as American or even North American
  • As many Canadians arrive in Britain on overnight flights, the possibility of early check-in at their accommodation is appreciated

The leisure & travel trade

  • Toronto is a key location for doing business with the travel trade
  • Brochure production time is mainly September/October
  • Independent, customisable packages were cited as the highest growth area among tour operators
  • The market is experiencing growth in the Home Based Travel advisor community; often affiliated to a travel agent consortia

Access to Britain from Canada

Measure2018
Weekly aircraft departures148
Weekly seat capacity42,115
Airports with direct routes in Canada9
Airports with direct routes in Britain6
  • Most Canadian visitors travel to the UK by air (93%), another 4% arrive through the Channel Tunnel
  • Airline seat capacity to the UK is highly seasonal with roughly twice as many seats in the height of summer as in mid-winter
  • London Heathrow and London Gatwick had 90% of market share in terms of seat capacity from Canada to the UK, in 2018

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