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International Travel Survey (ITS)

Lotfi Chahdi

Tourism Statistics Program

Statistics Canada

June 2008

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International Travel Survey: 2 components

Frontier counts– Monthly production cycle

Questionnaire surveys– Quarterly production cycle

Mail-Back QuestionnairesAir-Exit Survey of Overseas Visitors

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Capture area

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

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Verification Procedures

Reports Analysis Edits Imputation and Estimation Revisions

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Data Correction and acceptance

Correction Cycle

Peel Production

Acceptance

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Changes currently underway

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

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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

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Data quality

Frontier counts

– Estimates are very reliable (C.V. lower than 5%)

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ITS Publications and outputs

Released in the Daily Canadian statistics CANSIM Annual publication No 66-201 Monthly publication No 66-001P Microdata files Special requests

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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– fax (613) 951-2909

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Questions

Thank you