CROSS-BORDER SHOPPING - A NORTH-AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE

This paper examines the place of cross-border shopping in the context of tourism between Canada and the United States and the implications that this has for the role of shopping as a generator of tourism. A review of the relationship between shopping and tourism is followed by an examination of the sudden increase in cross-border shopping in North America of the 1980s, and the public and private sector responses. This surge of Canadian cross-border shoppers resulted in a significant increase in the travel deficit for Canada and attracted political, legislative, economic, and social reaction. Models are proposed as aids to understanding the role of cross-border shopping in tourism.