US-Canada tourism partners examine border issues

A new study shows stricter travel document requirements adopted in 2009 haven't clogged traffic along one of the busiest stretches of the U.S.-Canada border, as many had feared.

But the study focusing on the western New York-southern Ontario corridor did find that Americans are making fewer day trips to Canada.

The study's authors say the perception that crossing the border is difficult and a lack of knowledge about things to do on the other side are combining to keep them home. Canadians continue to shop and gamble in the U.S.

The study was commissioned by a consortium led by the Binational Economic & Tourism Alliance. Preliminary findings were released Friday in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Alliance director Arlene White says Canadian tourism officials need to market the country better to Americans.