Good News For Advisors: Study Says Canadian Travel Appetite Growing

With restrictions easing, travel plans are on the rise in Canada.

A study by Finder's Travel Index finds that 22% of Canadian adults are planning to take at least one trip in the next three months, up from 17% a month ago. Surveys in February and March showed just 13% of Canadians planned a trip in the following 90 days..

Canadians are most interested in travelling domestically, with 15% of Canadians planning to travel around Canada over the months of July, August, and September.

That's the highest percentage of Canadians interested in domestic travel since Finder first surveyed people in February and higher than the overall percentage of people interested in short term travel (both domestic and international) just three months ago.

International travel plans are also on the rise, with nine per cent of Canadians planning to travel out of the country over the coming three months, up from six per cent in the May survey.

Interest in travel is now higher in Canada than countries like Australia (18%) and Singapore (20%), but still lower than countries like Ireland 35%, the US (30%), and the UK (26%).

The Canadian Border Services Agency said traffic spiked 25% in the wake of new quarantine rules that took effect on July 5.

Finder's PR manager, Nicole McKnight, says Canadians attitudes around travel have shifted dramatically.

"Just a few short months ago Canadians were pessimistic about the pandemic, with vaccine supply issues and the third wave at its worst but now Canada has one of the highest global vaccination rates (for first jabs) and the global travel index illustrates Canadians are looking to make travel plans as soon as this summer as restrictions ease. However, even with promising vaccination rates, there is still a higher percentage of the population planning to travel in countries like the UK and the US where restrictions were loosened sooner, allowing travel between countries sooner as well."

"As things currently stand, the government has just eased restrictions around travel, eliminating the need for fully vaccinated Canadians to quarantine when arriving back in Canada and revealing some details about vaccine passport," she said. "This week's travel news from the government (the quarantine rule changes) gives the first glimmer of hope for globe-trotting Canadians in more than a year."

"Finder.com is seeing traffic increases of 61% to our core travel pages this past month, which shows Canadians are not just researching their next vacation but moving to the booking stage. An interesting trend we are noticing on the site is that Canadians seem to be showing strong interest in music festivals ... and also travelling to countries like Spain and the U.K."

Topics From This Article to Explore