Local Tourism Statistics: What the 2024 Travel Data Reveals
Local tourism is easiest to understand when you look at travel patterns over time, not just one headline number. The 2024 quarterly data shows clear seasonal swings, a strong domestic base, and a travel mix that shifts sharply between leisure, visiting friends or relatives, and business purposes (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024; second quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024; fourth quarter of 2024).
Table of Contents
- At a glance
- Quarterly trends in local tourism
- Domestic vs. outbound travel
- Purpose of travel
- What the quarter-to-quarter changes suggest
- How to read these local tourism statistics
At a Glance
Big number: Canadian residents took 104,959,000 trips in Canada and abroad in the third quarter of 2024, the highest quarterly total in the dataset (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, third quarter of 2024).
Fast fact: The lowest quarterly total was 66,275,000 trips in the first quarter of 2024 (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024).
Seasonal pattern: Domestic holiday, leisure or recreation trips rose from 18,536,000 in the first quarter to 44,371,000 in the third quarter, then eased to 21,499,000 in the fourth quarter (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024; fourth quarter of 2024).
Travel mix: Across all four quarters, domestic trips made up the majority of travel activity, while trips abroad stayed close to the 9 million to 10.6 million range each quarter (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024; second quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024; fourth quarter of 2024).
Key takeaway: the strongest local tourism periods in 2024 were driven more by domestic leisure and visiting-friends-or-relatives travel than by business demand (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, all 2024 quarters).
Quarterly Trends in Local Tourism
The clearest story in the data is seasonality. Every quarter had a different shape, but the broad rhythm stayed the same: a quieter first quarter, a stronger second quarter, a major summer peak in the third quarter, and a still-active but cooler fourth quarter (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024; second quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024; fourth quarter of 2024).
| Quarter | Trips in Canada and abroad | Trips in Canada | Trips abroad |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2024 | 66,275,000 | 56,755,000 | 9,520,000 |
| Q2 2024 | 79,242,000 | 69,951,000 | 9,291,000 |
| Q3 2024 | 104,959,000 | 94,346,000 | 10,613,000 |
| Q4 2024 | 80,347,000 | 71,038,000 | 9,309,000 |
That table shows three important points.
- Total travel activity climbed by 38,684,000 trips from the first quarter to the third quarter (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024).
- Domestic travel did most of the heavy lifting, rising from 56,755,000 to 94,346,000 trips across the same span (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024).
- Trips abroad were far steadier than trips in Canada, moving within a narrower band from 9,291,000 to 10,613,000 (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, second quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024).
Why the seasonal spike matters
For local tourism, a summer surge is more than a busy period. It often affects lodging, attractions, transport, restaurants, and short-trip destinations at the same time, because the same broad demand wave flows through several parts of the travel economy. The third quarter total of 104,959,000 trips is therefore not just a peak, but a signal that the whole travel system is operating at its highest intensity (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, third quarter of 2024).
Domestic vs. Outbound Travel
The strongest local tourism stories in the data come from travel within Canada. Domestic travel remained much larger than outbound travel in every quarter, which means local destinations had the largest direct share of travel activity throughout 2024 (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024; second quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024; fourth quarter of 2024).
Domestic totals by quarter:
- Q1 2024: 56,755,000 trips in Canada (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024)
- Q2 2024: 69,951,000 trips in Canada (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, second quarter of 2024)
- Q3 2024: 94,346,000 trips in Canada (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, third quarter of 2024)
- Q4 2024: 71,038,000 trips in Canada (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, fourth quarter of 2024)
Outbound totals by quarter:
- Q1 2024: 9,520,000 trips abroad (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024)
- Q2 2024: 9,291,000 trips abroad (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, second quarter of 2024)
- Q3 2024: 10,613,000 trips abroad (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, third quarter of 2024)
- Q4 2024: 9,309,000 trips abroad (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, fourth quarter of 2024)
The gap is large enough to shape how local tourism planning should be read. In Q3, domestic trips reached 94,346,000, while outbound trips were 10,613,000. That means domestic travel volume was nearly nine times the outbound total in the peak quarter (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, third quarter of 2024).
Local tourism meaning inside those numbers
When people ask what local tourism statistics really capture, the answer is usually a mix of short leisure breaks, family visits, and practical trips that stay inside the country. The dataset supports that picture. The domestic side is consistently dominant, and the quarter-by-quarter movement suggests that local destinations are highly sensitive to seasonality, school breaks, weather, and holiday timing (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, all 2024 quarters).
Purpose of Travel
Purpose is where the data becomes especially useful for understanding local tourism demand. The largest travel blocks are not business trips; they are leisure and visiting friends or relatives trips. That matters because those categories usually map more directly to hotels, attractions, restaurants, and regional sightseeing than to office-related movement (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, all 2024 quarters).
Domestic travel purpose by quarter
| Quarter | Business | Holiday, leisure or recreation | Visiting friends or relatives | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2024 | 4,938,000 | 18,536,000 | 24,147,000 | 9,134,000 |
| Q2 2024 | 5,493,000 | 26,464,000 | 28,424,000 | 9,569,000 |
| Q3 2024 | 6,142,000 | 44,371,000 | 33,033,000 | 10,801,000 |
| Q4 2024 | 6,444,000 | 21,499,000 | 32,470,000 | 10,626,000 |
The strongest domestic category in the full year was holiday, leisure or recreation in the third quarter, at 44,371,000 trips (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, third quarter of 2024). The next largest domestic category in that quarter was visiting friends or relatives at 33,033,000 trips (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, third quarter of 2024).
Those two categories alone sum to 77,404,000 trips in Q3, which shows how central personal travel is to local tourism activity during the busiest period (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, third quarter of 2024).
What the category split suggests
A few clear patterns stand out:
- Business travel is the smallest of the four domestic purpose categories in every quarter, ranging from 4,938,000 to 6,444,000 trips (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024; fourth quarter of 2024).
- Visiting friends or relatives is consistently large, with quarterly totals between 24,147,000 and 33,033,000 trips (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024).
- Holiday, leisure or recreation shows the biggest swing, more than doubling from 18,536,000 in Q1 to 44,371,000 in Q3 (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024).
- The “other” category stays relatively stable, with values from 9,134,000 to 10,801,000 (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024).
Stat highlight: domestic holiday, leisure or recreation trips were 25,835,000 higher in Q3 than in Q1 (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024).
What the Quarter-to-Quarter Changes Suggest
The quarter-to-quarter movement helps explain how local tourism demand behaves. The biggest increase happened from the first quarter to the second quarter, and the biggest jump happened again from the second quarter to the third quarter (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024; second quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024).
From Q1 to Q2:
- Total trips rose from 66,275,000 to 79,242,000 (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024; second quarter of 2024).
- Domestic trips rose from 56,755,000 to 69,951,000 (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024; second quarter of 2024).
- Holiday, leisure or recreation trips rose from 18,536,000 to 26,464,000 (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024; second quarter of 2024).
From Q2 to Q3:
- Total trips rose from 79,242,000 to 104,959,000 (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, second quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024).
- Domestic trips rose from 69,951,000 to 94,346,000 (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, second quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024).
- Visiting friends or relatives rose from 28,424,000 to 33,033,000 (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, second quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024).
From Q3 to Q4:
- Total trips fell from 104,959,000 to 80,347,000 (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, third quarter of 2024; fourth quarter of 2024).
- Domestic holiday, leisure or recreation dropped from 44,371,000 to 21,499,000 (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, third quarter of 2024; fourth quarter of 2024).
- Trips abroad fell from 10,613,000 to 9,309,000 (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, third quarter of 2024; fourth quarter of 2024).
The important thing here is not just direction, but magnitude. The third quarter is not a small step up from the second quarter; it is a major expansion in domestic travel volume. That makes the summer period the critical benchmark for anyone interpreting local tourism statistics, because it sets the upper end of normal demand for the year (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, second quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024).
How to Read These Local Tourism Statistics
If you are using this dataset for planning, reporting, or content strategy, a few practical interpretations stand out.
- Expect seasonality to dominate the narrative. The biggest differences in the year come from quarter-to-quarter changes, not from a steady upward line (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, all 2024 quarters).
- Anchor local tourism analysis in domestic travel. The domestic totals are much larger than outbound travel in every quarter, so local destinations should be analyzed as a primary market, not a side note (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, all 2024 quarters).
- Treat leisure and visiting-friends-or-relatives travel as core demand drivers. Those are the largest and most responsive categories in the dataset (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, all 2024 quarters).
- Use Q3 as the capacity stress test. With 94,346,000 domestic trips and 104,959,000 total trips, Q3 is the clearest estimate of peak load on local tourism infrastructure and services (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, third quarter of 2024).
- Use Q1 as the low-season baseline. The first quarter’s 66,275,000 total trips and 18,536,000 domestic leisure trips provide a useful lower bound for demand comparisons (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024).
Fast facts to quote
- 104,959,000 total trips in Q3 2024 was the yearly high in the dataset (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, third quarter of 2024).
- 56,755,000 trips in Canada in Q1 2024 was the lowest domestic total in the dataset (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024).
- 44,371,000 domestic holiday, leisure or recreation trips in Q3 2024 was the highest single purpose figure shown (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, third quarter of 2024).
- 6,444,000 domestic business trips in Q4 2024 was the highest quarterly business total in the dataset (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, fourth quarter of 2024).
- 9,520,000 trips abroad in Q1 2024 and 10,613,000 in Q3 2024 show that outbound travel moved far less than domestic travel over the year (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, first quarter of 2024; third quarter of 2024).
Local Tourism Statistics in Context
Viewed together, the numbers show a local tourism market that is broad, seasonal, and strongly domestic. The bulk of travel activity stays within the country, the peak season arrives in the third quarter, and the most important demand categories are the personal ones that move through towns, regions, and destination areas rather than through formal business channels (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, all 2024 quarters).
For anyone trying to understand local tourism statistics quickly, the simplest summary is this: demand rises sharply in summer, stays meaningful in the shoulder quarters, and remains anchored by domestic leisure and family-oriented travel throughout the year (Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose, all 2024 quarters).