Virtuoso has released the results of their 2024 Virtuoso Brand & Travel Tracker study as the conference wraps up in Las Vegas Friday.
The study found, unsurprisingly, that a vast majority of Canadians (72 percent) continue to take leisure trips primarily to relax and disconnect, a trend unchanged since 2023 and we prefer staycations over cruises. The top Fall 2024 destinations for Canadians are the USA, Italy, France, Canada and Japan.
Canadian luxury leisure travellers have shared their travel plans for the upcoming fall and festive season, with Beach getaways and city adventures topping their list, followed by Exploring a city (49 percent), Foodie/culinary adventure (21 percent). Staycation (20 percent), Cruise (18 percent) and Museum/historic tour (18 percent).
Canadians prioritise fulfilling their mental and emotional needs through travel, focusing on joy and happiness (70 percent), mental reset (58 percent) and curiosity and exploration (52 percent). However, secondary motivations vary based on travel companions. For example, couples often opt for romantic getaways, families with adult children favour nature and eco-tourism, and trips with extended family or friends tend to be celebratory or adventurous.
Virtuoso’s Canadian travellers prioritize travel more than the average traveller by staying longer and spending more:
- Travellers who use Virtuoso advisors plan to spend twice as much as travellers who use non-Virtuoso advisors and three times more than do-it-yourself planners.
- Virtuoso-advised travellers are expected to spend an average of 14 nights at hotels in 2024 vs. 12 nights in 2023. That is 50 percent longer than non-Virtuoso advised travellers and a 16 percent increase year-over-year.
- Virtuoso travellers spend an average of 21 nights on cruises, which is three times more than the number of cruise nights spent by non-Virtuoso travellers.
The study is a proprietary survey of high-value travellers across 17 countries conducted in collaboration with YouGov.
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