Data supports anecdotal reports that ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½'s tourism sector is strongly on the rebound from dire times during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The good news for the sector is that the rise in visitors that many businesses are seeing are not just domestic travellers.
Statistics ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ shows that the number of foreign visitors to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ in February who arrived via ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ ports was up 147.5 per cent, compared with the same month in 2022 – to 364,096 from 147,090.
Americans were largely responsible for the uptick, as 287,221 Americans visited ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ through ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ in February, up 145.9 per cent from 116,809 in the same month one year ago.
The jump in international visitors from outside the U.S. to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ through ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ was even higher: 153.9 per cent, to 76,875 from 30,281 in February 2021.
The rise in non-U.S. international visitors is particularly important because Destination BC data shows that non-U.S. international visitors spend more per person on trips to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ than do Americans or domestic tourists.
Mainland Chinese visitors were the highest-spending international visitors pre-pandemic, laying out an estimated $2,021 per person per trip, according to the province’s tourism marketer. Aussies were second at about $1,814, said Destination BC spokeswoman .
The biggest cause for the recent spike in visitors is likely that the on unvaccinated people entering the country, and its requirement that visitors use its ArriveCan app.
Passengers on planes and trains as of that date were also no longer required to wear masks. The federal government on that date also stopped requiring cruise passengers to provide pre-boarding tests to prove that they were negative for COVID-19.
Australasians and Asians lead the jump in visits to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½
Destination BC does not yet have a full breakdown of visitor entries to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ via ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ by country on its website, and Statistics ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½'s most recent data groups entrants by larger continental areas.
The region that saw the largest year-over-year jump in providing visitors to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ was Australasia, which was the source for 12,659 people – up 269.3 per cent from 3,428 people in February 2022.
The biggest source of non-U.S. international travellers to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ was Asia, with that region also having a soaring increase in trips. There were 30,045 Asians who entered ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ via ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ in February, up 241.3 per cent from the 8,802 Asians who did this in February 2022, according to Statistics ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½.
That compares with 17,772 Europeans entering ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ via ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ in February, up 59.3 per cent from the 11,158 visitors in February 2022.
Comparatively few Africans visited ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ via ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ in February – 487, up about 103 per cent from 240 Africans making those trips in February 2022.
There were 13,589 non-U.S. North Americans who entered ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ via ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ in February, up 135.6 per cent from February 2022.
Another 2,069 people from Central America, South America and the Caribbean entered ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ via ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ in February, up 1.41.4 per cent from 857 people in the same month a year ago.
Destination BC has created an infographic that shows that the number of international visitors to ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ via ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ in February was .
BIV earlier this week reported that of what it was in the same week in 2019.
