1. 1 International Travel Survey (ITS) Lotfi Chahdi Tourism Statistics Program Statistics Canada June 2008

2. 2 International Travel Survey: 2 components Frontier counts – Monthly production cycle Questionnaire surveys – Quarterly production cycle Mail-Back Questionnaires Air-Exit Survey of Overseas Visitors

3. 3 Objectives Collect data for the international travel account (receipts, payments and balance) Collect data on international travellers and their trips Meet the requirements of the Canadian System of National Accounts

4. 4 Users Statistics Canada (International travel account, Tourism satellite account, National tourism indicators) Canada Border Services Agency ( CBSA) Canadian Tourism Commission Provincial and municipal tourism departments and agencies Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) United States Department of Commerce Tourism industry Researchers and associations International organizations (WTO, OECD, PATA)

5. 5 The frontier counts Main forms used by CBSA E-62 Entry Tally PALS (Primary Automated Lookout System) E-63 Commercial and private craft/passenger and crew arrivals CANPASS telephone reporting system E-311 Custom Declaration Card

6. 6 Vehicle traffic counts Census counts 128 land border crossings Number of autos, trucks, and other (motorcycles, bicycles, snowmobiles) are included Number of buses and trains are not counted

7. 7 E62 Forms E62, E62T (commercial Trucks), E62B (Bus) – US vehicles entering Canada – Canadian vehicles returning to Canada Automobiles recorded by length of stay No length of stay for the trucks and motorcycles

8. 8 E62 Forms (Contd.) Number of US travellers and Canadian travellers returning from US only by automobile, bus, train and foot Number of overseas travellers and Canadian travellers returning from overseas via the US by land Length of stay for US travellers and Canadian travellers returning from US only Length of stay for overseas travellers Crews for commercial trucks and trains

9. 9 PALS (Primary Automated Lookout System) Electronic data – By Type of vehicle “A” automobile “M” motorcycle and “O” Other – Number of travellers within the vehicle by country of residency and length of stay

10. 10 Capture area Operations and Integration Division (OID) – Registration system – Editing – Capture – Quality Control

11. 11 Verification Procedures Reports Analysis Edits Imputation and Estimation Revisions

12. 12 Data Correction and acceptance Correction Cycle Peel Production Acceptance

13. 13 Changes currently underway Introduction of a new computer system, Integrated Primary Inspection Lane (IPIL) to replace PALS at large land ports

14. 14 Estimates produced – Number of vehicles travelling between Canada and the US – Number of trips by Canadians returning from the US or overseas countries by port of entry, mode of transport and length of stay – Number of trips by non residents to Canada by country of residence, port of entry, mode of transport and length of stay The statistics are produced monthly and released 45 days after the end of the reference month

15. 15 Data quality Frontier counts – Estimates are very reliable (C.V. lower than 5%)

16. 16 ITS Publications and outputs Released in the Daily Canadian statistics CANSIM Annual publication N o 66-201 Monthly publication N o 66-001P Microdata files Special requests

17. 17 How to obtain more information Statistics Canada website: www.statcan.ca Client services – phone (613) 951-9169 – phone 1 800 307-3382 – tourism@statcan.ca tourism@statcan.ca – fax (613) 951-2909

18. 18 Questions Thank you