Canada is significantly behind the U.S. in terms of a travel recovery, says a new study by Mastercard Economics Institute.
"While some - including the U.S., Australia and France - are exceeding pre-pandemic domestic flight bookings, others - such as Canada, Thailand and New Zealand - are at a fraction of where they were before the pandemic began," the study says.
As of May 21, domestic flight bookings in Canada were only 28% of what they were in 2019, prior to the pandemic. Business travel in Canada is at just 14% of pre-pandemic levels.
On the other hand, the U.S. has seen a massive rebound. In May of this year domestic flights in the U.S. were at a hiogher level than before the pandemic. International bookings were down just 22%, and corporate travel was down less than 50%.
"Moving east, France and Italy are also seeing a similar pattern, with domestic bookings above pre-pandemic levels while international bookings are far lower," the Mastercard study said.
Among other findings:
- 20% of countries around the world have returned to at least 90% of pre-pandemic levels for domestic flight activity.
- Global business travel lags global leisure travel by only about four months in the locations where travel has been recovering. That is remarkable.
- According to a recent limited survey of US business travelers, 45% expect their company's travel to resume to 2019 levels by the second half of this year
- In May 2021, global international leisure flight bookings grew 4.5 times faster, than prior months; the number of bookings was nearly double that of January.
"But we also believe the recovery of travel worldwide is imbalanced, drawn out and non-linear," the Mastercard report stated. "New virus strains create added uncertainty as airlines face significant short-term and long-term logistical challenges. There is a continuously evolving set of rules for domestic and international travel. Even when travel corridors reopen, supply constraints in the airline industry could also slow the pace of recovery."
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