It’s hard to imagine Americans flocking to Canada to take advantage of the lower loonie during the coldest months of the year, but diehard skiers and those who appreciate poutine and constant apologies will be here helping to stimulate our economy.

Tourism in Canada is one of the industries that benefits when the Canadian dollar falls, and one economist says it could add as much as 0.5 percentage points to gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2015, alongside an improving U.S. economy.

“The recent decline in the value of the Canadian dollar will provide a much-needed boost to domestic tourism,” Capital Economics economist David Madani said in a note.

“For several years, domestic tourism operators have had to contend with low turnouts of foreign visitors to Canada, while also adapting to record high numbers of Canadian households spending more time and money abroad. These trends have negatively impacted the economy.”

Madani says spending in Canada by non-residents has been weak, at 1.2 per cent of GDP, while Canadians have been spending 2.2 per cent abroad.

“While there are several factors explaining these trends, the most important has been the high value of the Canadian dollar,” Madani says, citing a negative correlation between the exchange rate and number of trips by foreigners to Canada, and a vice versa.

“The recent drop in the Canadian dollar suggests that domestic tourism activity will increase notably next year,” he says, citing Statistics Canada data dating back to 1995.

The Canadian dollar is now trading at about 88 cents (U.S.) and has been below 95 cents most of the year. It hasn’t been consistently above par since 2012.

The steady economic recovery in the U.S. is also giving Americans more spending power. Some are choosing to stretch those extra dollars here in Canada.

Stephen Pearce, vice president of leisure travel and digital marketing at Tourism Vancouver says there has been a two-to-four per cent increase in Americans coming to the city this year compared to 2013. About 60 per cent are coming for leisure.

“The exchange rate is a factor, but it’s not the only factor,” he says. “I think it has more to do with the with economy and consumer confidence, [which is] influencing visits.”

Weather and events are driving some shorter, more impulsive visits from places such as Washington state, while visitors from California are coming for longer periods of time to visit family, friends and local attractions.

“People find it a pleasant surprise when the dollar is working harder for them. But often times they’re not as aware of the exchange rate,” Pearce says.

The lower loonie is also keeping more Canadians at home, reconnecting with their own country. For example, Pearce says Vancouver has seen almost a six-per-cent increase in visits from Ontario this year.

“I don’t think the exchange rate is the only factor, but it becomes a consideration when we’re looking abroad for travel and our dollar isn’t purchasing as much as it used to in the U.S.,” he says.

Americans account for about 80 per cent of non-resident travel to Canada, according to Madani’s recent report.

“If the U.S. economy continues to improve as we expect, then that should generate a marked increase in foreigners visiting Canada,” he says.

The latest Statistics Canada numbers show travel to Canada by U.S. residents increased in September compared with the previous month, driven mostly by overnight trips.

Americans took 1.7 million trips to Canada in September, when the loonie was trading below 90 cents. That was up 2.6 per cent from August.

Canadians travelled less to the U.S. in September, making 4.4 million cross-border trips, a 0.5 per cent drop from August. Stats Can said there were fewer overnight trips.