(Photo courtesy Ottawa Tourism)

The Canadian Tourism Commission wants to know why fewer U.S. tourists, especially those who live close to the border, are coming to Canada.

It has established a task force on the U.S. market to determine why the near-border or short-haul segment continues to under perform compared to the good growth shown in other areas of the US and other international markets.

The American leisure travel market represents the "bread and butter" of foreign-based revenues for Canada's tourism industry, but it has failed to rebound to consistent pre-9/11 levels. . The greatest impact has been felt in visits from the U.S. short-haul market. Exchange rates, gas prices, border and security issues, the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts have all been cited but none has been conclusively identified as the root cause of the decline.

"We are going after this issue deliberately, and with speed," says CTC president and CEO Michele McKenzie.

The task force will attempt to determine the underlying cause of the weakness in the U.S. market by analyzing the attitudes, motivations and behaviour of American travelers. It will also determine what tactics to employ to overcome the weakness.

The CTC expects to have preliminary results available in late October.