Even with a recent surge in visitors from India and China, Canada is struggling to retain its share of the lucrative international tourism market. Canada is not being able to attract many high-value tourists due to the economic and environmental turmoil accros the globe.

Foreign tourists spend far more in Canada - about $1,400 a trip - than Canadians spend travelling in their own country.

Tourism has become big business, accounting for nearly $80 billion in revenues last year. In particular, "International travel to Canada is high-value and drives increased competitive investment and product development," says the Vancouver-based Canadian Tourism Commission in an April report.

However, the much sought-after international visitors contributed just 19 per cent of tourist receipts last year - a big decline from 2000, when a 35 per cent share of tourism revenues came from foreigners.

The news has not gone down too well with Canada. As the tourism commission says that it's foreign tourists offer "the maximum potential for return on investment, which is largely generated from long-haul, high-yield travellers who stay in Canada longer and spend more while visiting."

Australians are the biggest spenders, at $2,170 a trip, followed by the Chinese at $1,944.

Additionally, the tourism commission notes that Canada now faces "ferocious" competition from countries with larger marketing budgets.

It points to an April launch of a new public-private global marketing agency in the U.S., known as Brand USA, which intends to spend about $200 million luring tourists.

The travel deficit problem, of course, results from the fact Canadians traditionally spend far more travelling elsewhere than international visitors spend here.

Last year, Canada's international travel deficit reached nearly $16 billion, with Canadians spending twice as much abroad as foreign tourists spent here. And Statistics Canada data suggest the trend line has been going in the wrong direction. Between 2010 and 2011, Canada's travel deficit grew by $1.6 billion. It grew by an even greater percentage between 2009 and 2010. Mostly, Canada's unequal travel relationship with the U.S. has been to blame.

On a brighter note, according to a 2012 Tourism Snapshot report by the tourism commission, Canada lately is having considerable success attracting tourists from the emerging markets of India, China and Brazil, where first-quarter growth reflected increases of 24.5 per cent, 25.8 per cent and 9.3 per cent respectively.

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