OTTAWA

Powered by a strong dollar, Canadians travelled outside the country more in the first quarter.

Travel from overseas countries to Canada also increased, but travel from the United States declined.

Canadian residents took about 4.5 million overnight trips to the United States, up 21.5 per cent over the same period last year.

The average value of the Canadian dollar during the first quarter was 99.6 cents US, up 16.7 per cent from the same period in 2007, when the dollar was valued at 85.4 cents US.

Canadian spending in the United States rose 23.3 per cent to about $3.8 billion.

Canadian residents made nearly 2.8 million overnight trips to overseas countries during the first three months of 2008, up 12 per cent from the same quarter last year.

The three most-visited countries by Canadians outside of the United States were Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

During their travels, Canadians spent $3.5 billion, a 13.1 per cent increase.