Canadians planning to travel this summer staying close to home, according to Scotiabank study
About two out of every five Canadians (43 per cent) plan to take a summer vacation, and staying closer to home appears to be on the travel itinerary, according to the results of a recent Scotiabank study on travel intentions.
The survey highlights that Canada, rather than the United States or overseas, is the preferred travel destination of choice. While Ontario (12 per cent), British Columbia (nine per cent) and Quebec (eight per cent) are the top travel locales, the survey indicates that a significant number of Canadian travelers intend to vacation in their home province.
This is good news for the Canadian tourism and travel industry, said Aron Gampel, Deputy Chief Economist of Scotiabank. The industry is now recovering from a multi-year slump caused by a variety of health-related ailments, rising gasoline costs, and even the NHL lock-out.
'The survey results appear consistent with emerging trends in the Canadian economy,' said Gampel. 'Steady job gains are providing Canadians with increased spending power. In addition, the cross-country boom in the sales of homes and vacation properties, as well as new construction and renovation activity, are probably keeping vacationers closer to home.'
While the amount that travelers plan to spend this summer varies according to travel destination, gender, the expected vacation duration and the number of traveling companions, the poll suggests that Canadians expect to spend an average of $2500 on their summer vacation, with transportation and accommodation costs accounting for the biggest share of expenditures.
According to the poll, while on vacation, 33 per cent of Canadians are planning to do some site seeing, 23 per cent will be catching up with relatives and 21 per cent will be spending time in the great outdoors including camping. Other activities include visiting friends (12 per cent), shopping (six per cent) and going on a cruise (five per cent).
'The travel and tourism industry is an important part of the domestic economic landscape, employing over half a million Canadians in a wide range of services, from transportation, accommodation, and food and beverage services, to arts and entertainment,' said Gampel. 'Canadians alone spent almost $38 billion on domestic tourism-related activities last year.'
Percentage of travelers intending to travel within their own province or region
The results from this survey are based on telephone interviews conducted among a nationwide sample of 1,509 adults, 18 years of age or older, from May 17-25, 2005. The results were weighted according to age, gender and region to ensure a sample representative of the entire Canadian adult population. For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling is +-2.52 percentage points. This research was conducted by Wave Research.
This is good news for the Canadian tourism and travel industry, said Aron Gampel, Deputy Chief Economist of Scotiabank. The industry is now recovering from a multi-year slump caused by a variety of health-related ailments, rising gasoline costs, and even the NHL lock-out.
'The survey results appear consistent with emerging trends in the Canadian economy,' said Gampel. 'Steady job gains are providing Canadians with increased spending power. In addition, the cross-country boom in the sales of homes and vacation properties, as well as new construction and renovation activity, are probably keeping vacationers closer to home.'
While the amount that travelers plan to spend this summer varies according to travel destination, gender, the expected vacation duration and the number of traveling companions, the poll suggests that Canadians expect to spend an average of $2500 on their summer vacation, with transportation and accommodation costs accounting for the biggest share of expenditures.
According to the poll, while on vacation, 33 per cent of Canadians are planning to do some site seeing, 23 per cent will be catching up with relatives and 21 per cent will be spending time in the great outdoors including camping. Other activities include visiting friends (12 per cent), shopping (six per cent) and going on a cruise (five per cent).
'The travel and tourism industry is an important part of the domestic economic landscape, employing over half a million Canadians in a wide range of services, from transportation, accommodation, and food and beverage services, to arts and entertainment,' said Gampel. 'Canadians alone spent almost $38 billion on domestic tourism-related activities last year.'
Percentage of travelers intending to travel within their own province or region
The results from this survey are based on telephone interviews conducted among a nationwide sample of 1,509 adults, 18 years of age or older, from May 17-25, 2005. The results were weighted according to age, gender and region to ensure a sample representative of the entire Canadian adult population. For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling is +-2.52 percentage points. This research was conducted by Wave Research.
