Another record year for tourism

More than 10 million people paid overnight visits to Vancouver in 2016, as the city’s tourism industry enjoyed its third straight record-breaking year.

According to statistics released by Tourism Vancouver, Vancouver attracted 10,045,068 out-oftowners last year compared to 9,368,521 in 2015 and 8,935,437 in 2014.

Fellow Canadians made up the bulk of the influx with 5.9 million visitors. Not surprisingly, the province supplying the most overnight tourists to Vancouver was British Columbia with nearly 2.9 million visitors, followed by Ontario (1.18 million) and Alberta (876,696).

The United States, Vancouver’s largest international travel market, brought 2.3 million overnight visitors to the city last year — a 9.8 per cent increase over 2015. More than 600,000 of those U.S. tourists came from California, the most of any state, followed by Pacific Northwest neighbours Washington (577,995) and Oregon (143,557).

Tourism Vancouver credits its sales and marketing effort in 11 key countries, the inaugural World Rugby Sevens match at B.C. Place Stadium in March, and strong convention, cruise and festival seasons.

Tourism Vancouver says external factors, such as a Canadian exchange rate favourable to international travellers and the announcement that Canada would lift visa requirements for Mexico in late 2016, also played a significant role in increasing visits.