Americans are feeling more confident about travel, and two in five are likely to take a trip to Canada this year.
New research from Destination Canada paints a pretty good picture for summer tourism north of the border, but there are still concerns about COVID-19 and fuel costs.
Compared to December of last year, American’s confidence to travel has increased significantly, with 56% saying that they are confident that they can travel safely in the current environment. In December that figure was just 38%.
Thirty eight per cent of Americans indicate that they are likely to travel to Canada sometime between April to December 2022, with 21% likely to travel during the summer months of July to August and 14% during the fall months of September to November.
Asked where they’ll be heading in Canada, 28% answered Ontario, while 21% said British Columbia and 21% Quebec. Ten per cent of respondents said they’ll travel to Alberta, and 11% said Nova Scotia, as well as PEI. Nine per cent said they’ll travel to Newfoundland and eight per cent said New Brunswick. Six per cent answered Yukon, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories and Manitoba, while four per cent said they’d head to Nunavut.
Wine tasting in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. JIM BYERS PHOTO
Six out of ten Americans agree that Canada is safe to visit, but 37% agree that there are COVID-19 health concerns that would prevent them from travelling to Canada
A little less than one-half of Americans (43%) agree that transport costs (e.g. flight or fuel costs) are a consideration that would prevent them from traveling to Canada.
More than one-half (56%) of Americans agree that Canada is easy to travel to, but 44% agree that there are COVID-19 border restrictions or hassles that would prevent them from travelling to Canada. That might be concerning, but the study took place March 15-23, prior to Canada lifting its requirement for pre-arrival COVID testing.
