Canada has an image problem south of the border. It's not that Americans have a bad impression of their northern neighbour — it's that they have no impression at all.It's little wonder, then, that U.S. visits to Canada are sitting at a record low. Same-day car visits have almost halved over the past six years, while overall visits have plunged 30 per cent. Reasons for the drop are well documented — rising gasoline prices, a strong Canadian dollar and fears of increased security at the border.
The underlying factor though, say tourism experts on both sides of the border, is that Canada has simply fallen off the radar of most Americans. As other countries such as Australia are busy waging marketing blitzes, there's simply no buzz about Canada south of the border.