B.C. businesses near the U.S. border say they are feeling the effect of increased security procedures at crossings like this. (CBC)

B.C. businesses dependent on U.S. tourists are feeling the pinch from a sharply lower number of northbound travellers crossing the border this summer.

Americans usually constitute 20 per cent of customers this time of year at the Cosmos Restaurant in the border town of White Rock south of Vancouver, according to owner George Zambos.

"We were down in July," Zambos told CBC News on Thursday. "We haven't seen American money ... or [licence] plates out there," he said, looking to the restaurant's parking area.

Statistics Canada reported Wednesday that same-day car travel to Canada by U.S. residents decreased 26.2 per cent in June, compared with May, while overnight visits to Canada declined 9.3 per cent.

Changes in passport rules and the drop in the value of the U.S. dollar have had a discouraging effect on tourists from the south, said Anna Scott, a desk clerk at the Ocean Promenade Hotel in White Rock.

"It's the small things that affect people's ability to travel," said Scott.

Regulations came into effect June 1 that required American residents to have a passport, border card or similar ID to return home after leaving the U.S.

One federal official said Thursday the new passport rules are only partly to blame.

"The global economic crisis has resulted in decreased tourism around the world, suggesting a six per cent decline in tourism worldwide," said Peter Van Loan, Minister of Public Safety.

Van Loan was at the Douglas border crossing in Surrey, B.C., to open an expanded port-of-entry facility there.