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A summer of record oil prices, a strong Canadian dollar and a slowing world economy are creating a “perfect storm” that's putting a dent in Canada's tourism market this summer, industry officials say.

Canada's three major tourist destinations — Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver — all reported noticeable declines in visitors in July, and experts say it's because of a myriad of factors.

Montreal officials expect roughly 7.8 million tourists this summer, bringing in nearly $2.7-billion, but that's down compared to other years, said John Dunn, executive vice-president of Tourisme Montreal.

“We're suffering the perfect storm right now,” said Mr. Dunn. “We've got high gas prices, high dollar, American passport regulations and a slowing economy. So there's nothing worse for the tourism economy than all those things put together.”

Although visits from Europe and South America are on the rise, those tourists have been unable to fill the void left by the Americans choosing to stay home because of a sluggish economy and high gas prices, he added.

Vancouver, which usually attracts around 8.7 million tourists a year and $3.7-billion in visitor spending, has seen six per cent fewer Americans this year compared to last.

Stretched over the course of the year, that number is significant, said Walt Judas of Tourism Vancouver.

“We're talking between 150,000 to 200,000 overnight visitors from the U.S., which is a substantial number,” he said.

Tourism in Canada is an integral part of economy, accounting for $28.6-billion of the country's gross domestic product in 2007, said Greg Klassen, vice-president of marketing for the Canadian Tourism Commission.

“(Tourism) is as big a contribution to the GDP of Canada as forestry, fishing and agriculture combined,” said Mr. Klassen.

“It's a massive impact but it's spread out across the country.”

The effect of high gas prices on tourism this summer won't be known for some time, but there's no doubt there will be an impact on both air and car travel, he added.

“I think by the end of the summer we'll look backwards and be able to isolate the fuel costs,” Mr. Klassen said.

Toronto, which attracted 10.6 million visitors and more than $4-billion in tourist spending in 2007, saw encouraging early summer figures in 2008, but has since tailed off, said Andrew Weir of Tourism Toronto.

“We're cautiously optimistic for the remainder of the summer, but we know it's been a difficult period for some tourism businesses,” he said.

The latest Statistics Canada numbers on travellers are from May 2008 and show that in the first five months of the year, nearly one million fewer visitors entered the country compared to 2007, a decline of more than 10 per cent.

In May alone, nearly 200,000 fewer tourists entered the country compared to the same month in 2007, a drop of seven per cent.

By contrast, more Canadians are choosing a vacation abroad.

Between January and May, nearly 2.5 million more Canadians left the country than did during the same period in 2007, a jump of almost 13 per cent.

A strong dollar means more Canadians leaving, and not enough tourists — mainly Americans — are arriving, said Mr. Klassen.

“Our travel deficit is ballooning,” he said. “It's a huge concern.”

Meanwhile, parts of the Maritimes have fared marginally better than the rest of the country, with Nova Scotia seeing a slight increase in tourists for the year up to May 2008, but those numbers include visitors for the World Hockey Championships held in Halifax.

Another concern is the unpredictable weather central Canada has experienced this summer, Mr. Klassen said. Toronto has seen its wettest summer on record and Quebec City's 400th anniversary has been a largely soggy affair.

Even sports haven't been immune, as the 2008 RBC Canadian Open in Oakville, Ont., had its first round delayed by heavy rain on Thursday and also saw a nearly three-hour delay on Saturday.

Although international airline travellers book well in advance, it's the short-term travellers who might be affected by rainy weather, said Mr. Klassen.

“If someone's planning a weekend trip from Montreal to Quebec City or Detroit to Toronto, weather outlooks can have an impact,” he said.