The number of Americans travelling to Canada and staying overnight hit its lowest point on record for a July-to-September period, according to figures released Wednesday.

Statistics Canada says visitors from the United States made 5.2 million overnight trips during the third quarter of 2008, a drop of 6.9 per cent compared with the same period one year earlier.

The number of overnight trips was "the lowest third-quarter level since records were first kept in 1972," Canada's statistical agency says in a press release.

Statistics Canada did not give any reasons for the drop, but the third quarter coincided with the beginning of the global financial crisis, a likely factor in why Americans began economizing on foreign travel.

More problematic for Canada's tourism and accommodation providers, the July-to-September quarter is historically the time when the most Americans visit this country.

Car traffic makes up 60 per cent of the travel to Canada from the United States. The number of those trips fell by a hefty 8.8 per cent in the third quarter.

The number of trips taken by Americans for fun or to visit Canadian relatives fell in the three-month period by 7.6 per cent and 8.4 per cent respectively.

Predictably, the gross amount U.S. citizens spent in this country fell, to $2.8 billion, a drop of 8.4 per cent for the quarter.

The state-by-state reductions were large for key states such as New York, down 8.4 per cent, Washington, off by 16.8 per cent and California, reduced by 12.9 per cent.

Surprisingly, given the extent of the commercial meltdown in the United States, American business travel to this country actually rose, albeit marginally, by 0.5 per cent in the July-to-September period last year.

Meanwhile, the number of Canadians staying overnight in the United States rose by 4.6 per cent, to 5.9 million trips in the third quarter.

Canadians sleeping overnight in other foreign destinations rose by an even greater amount, 5.6 per cent.

No currency help

These figures also contradicted the theory that a slumping exchange rate encourages foreigners to visit Canada.

The value of the Canadian dollar slipped five cents, or five per cent, against American currency from the beginning of July to the end of September.

That decline made it cheaper for U.S. citizens to come to Canada and more expensive for Canuck travel south of the border.

Instead, in the third quarter, fewer Americans stayed overnight in Canada while more people from this country visited U.S. destinations.