The National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) has published new data showing how millions of Canadian and Mexican residents travelled to the United States by land during 2025. The report covers 14.4 million overnight visitors from Mexico and 7.4 million overnight visitors from Canada, highlighting their preferred destinations, spending patterns, trip purposes and travel behaviour.
The figures show that California remained the most visited US state among Mexican land travellers with 6.3 million visitors, while New York ranked first among Canadian land visitors with 2.1 million arrivals. Vacation travel accounted for nearly three quarters of trips from both countries.
According to the NTTO, Mexican visitors continued to play a major role in cross border tourism. California attracted the largest share of Mexican land visitors, followed by Texas with 5.6 million and Arizona with 1.5 million. Other popular destinations included Florida, which welcomed 613,000 visitors, and Nevada, which received 590,000.
Most Mexican travellers originated from states near the US border. Visitors from areas along the Texas and New Mexico border represented 27.6 percent of all Mexican land visitors, while travellers from Baja California accounted for 11.0 percent and those from Sonora made up 8.2 percent. The remaining 45.3 percent came from other parts of Mexico.
Family travel remained a defining feature of Mexican visits. More than 71 percent travelled with family or relatives, while 56.8 percent travelled with a spouse or partner. Friends were part of the travel party for 14.9 percent of visitors, reflecting the importance of group and family travel across the border.
Mexican visitors stayed an average of 5.7 nights in the United States and typically visited 1.6 states during each trip. Their average household income was reported at $48,659, while the average travel party spent $2,634 during their visit.
Vacation or holiday travel represented 73.6 percent of Mexican trips. Visiting friends and relatives accounted for 19.2 percent, while business travel made up 6.2 percent. Sightseeing ranked as the most popular leisure activity, enjoyed by 59.3 percent of visitors. Shopping, visits to national parks and monuments, amusement parks and concerts also featured among the leading activities.
Canadian travellers showed different destination preferences, with New York attracting the largest number of visitors at 2.1 million. Washington welcomed 887,000 visitors, narrowly ahead of Florida with 883,000. Michigan and California completed the top five destinations.
Ontario generated nearly half of all Canadian land visitors, accounting for 48.4 percent of arrivals. Quebec contributed 21.1 percent, while British Columbia represented 13.9 percent. These three provinces continued to dominate Canadian cross border travel to the United States.
Canadian visitors generally travelled for longer than their Mexican counterparts. They stayed an average of 6.9 nights and visited 1.9 US states during each trip. Their average household income reached $88,994, while average spending per travel party totalled $2,497.
Holiday travel also dominated the Canadian market, accounting for 73.9 percent of trips. Visiting friends and relatives represented 21.5 percent, while business travel accounted for 3.6 percent. Sightseeing remained the leading leisure activity, followed by shopping, fine dining, visits to national parks and attendance at concerts, plays and musicals.
The NTTO data provides a detailed snapshot of cross border tourism to the United States during 2025. The report highlights the continued importance of Canadian and Mexican visitors to the US travel economy, particularly in states that rely heavily on land arrivals for tourism, retail spending and local businesses.
