A look at where North Americans are thinking of traveling, the latest stats on foreign visits to Canada, miscellaneous news and a European theme park with something called “Spitting Toilet Man.” Today’s blog post has a little of everything.
WHERE NORTH AMERICANS WANT TO TRAVEL
Skyscanner has a new study out that shows North American travelers are seeking new destinations and also looking at old faves.
Their date for June to August of this year shows a +3% increase in people looking at South America, a +2% increase for North Asia and a +1% increase for Southeast Asia. The shift in destination mix to South America is likely due to its increasing popularity among US and Canadian travellers, as well as the availability of more affordable flights, Skyscanner said.
TOP 10 SEARCH DESTINATIONS
Here are the top 10 search destinations. Note that “everywhere” comes out on top, as 51% of Skyscanner site visitors don’t have a destination or dates in mind and are looking to be inspired.
- Everywhere
- Tokyo
- Rome
- San Carlos Bariloche, Argentina (I had never heard of it before today, but it looks like a lovely Alpine-style spot in Patagonia)
- Orlando
- Madrid
- Manila
- Paris
- Bangkok
- Athens
The interior of St. Peter’s Basilica in The Vatican. JIM BYERS PHOTO
TOP 10 TRENDING DESTINATIONS
- San Carlos Bariloche
- Tokyo
- Madrid
- Orlando
- Medellin, Colombia
- Santo Domingo, DR
- Ushuaia, Argentina
- Porto Seguro, Brazil
- Santiago, Chile
- Tunis, Tunisia
FOREIGN VISITORS BYPASSING CANADA?
Foreign visitors aren’t exactly flocking to Canada right now.
A new report from Statistics Canada finds that, for January, 2024, the number of non-resident visitors to Canada accounted for just 75.9% of the number observed in January 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Considering many destinations are very close to, or even above, pre-COVID levels, it’s not a good sign for Canadian tourism.
StatsCan says US residents took 910,600 trips to Canada in January, up 5.1% from the 866,700 trips taken during the same month in 2023 and reaching 75.8% of the pre-pandemic level observed in January 2020 (1.2 million).
For the first month of this year, 278,700 overseas residents arrived in Canada, an increase of 15.6% from the 241,100 overseas arrivals observed in January 2023 and reaching 76.2% of such arrivals recorded in January 2020 (365,600), before the pandemic. Most (86.7%) of the overseas residents arriving in January 2024 flew into Canada (241,600 arrivals).
Residents of the top three overseas markets for January—Mexico (39,600), the United Kingdom (25,300), and France (22,500)—combined to represent 31.4% of all overseas arrivals in Canada in the month. Mexico ranked as the top overseas market for the third consecutive month.
That could change given that Canada has brought in new rules that will require many Mexican nationals to have a visa to enter the country.
A busy day at Toronto Pearson Airport. JIM BYERS PHOTO
CANADIANS TRAVELLING MORE OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY
Canadian residents returned from 4.0 million trips abroad in January, increasing 12.3% from January 2023 (3.6 million) and reaching 91.2% of such trips taken during the same month in 2020 (4.4 million).A
In January 2024, Canadian residents returned by air from 2.2 million trips abroad, which represented more than half (55.0%) of the total trips taken by Canadian residents. The number of air arrivals was 13.4% higher than it was the same month one year earlier and reached 96.6% of such arrivals recorded in January 2020.
Automobile trips to the United States (1.8 million) in January 2024 represented 44.1% of the total trips made by Canadian residents, and almost two-thirds (65.4%) of those were same-day returns. The number of Canadian residents returning by automobile from a visit to the United States increased by 10.8% year over year and represented 86.1% of such trips taken in January 2020.
SPITTING TOILET MAN: WEIRD EUROPEAN THEME PARKS
A “flying cowshed,” a roller coaster ride through a potato chip factory, and a mannequin who sits on a toilet and spits at people.
I found a very strange story about European theme parks on The Sun newspaper site in the UK that made me feel I had walked into a Monty Python sketch. The roller coaster potato chip factory isn’t crazy weird, but the man who sits on a toilet and spits at passersby is probably the wackiest idea.
TRAVEL HACKS + NEWS FROM HAWAII, AUSTRALIA, ROMANIA AND TORONTO
Not sure if it was an early April Fools’ Day joke or what, but I did a double take when I saw the State of Hawaii Facebook post about a new, four-hour submarine shuttle that would take passengers from Oahu to Maui. I honestly thought it might be real (hey, it’s a crazy world these days), but then spotted the name of the alleged CEO of SubSea Transit Inc, a
“Dr. Marina Deepwater.” … Here’s an interesting travel hack: leave a shoe in your hotel room safe along with your passport so you don’t forget to empty the contents of the safe. You might forget your passport in ordinary circumstances, but if you go to pack your bag and are missing a shoe you’ll likely remember where the other one is … Thinking of visiting Australia? Here’s a nice story in Travel + Leisure that outlines the best times of the year to go … Not to alarm anyone, but here’s another interesting T + L item about the most dangerous countries in Europe for foreign drivers. I don’t know that I would have guessed that Romania would be worst … My friend Heather Greenwood Davis, who wrote for me a great deal when I was travel editor at the Toronto Star, has a lovely piece about Toronto in the latest Conde Nast Traveler magazine. I wish I’d written it, but I didn’t grow up here so I guess the “rediscovering Toronto” angle wouldn’t have worked for me. That aside, it’s a fine piece that I highly recommend you read … In support of the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority’s commitment to destination management and visitor education, the Oʻahu Visitors Bureau has announced the release of a Request for Proposal inviting qualified firms to submit proposals for the revitalization of the iconic Waikīkī Historic Trail … Interesting to see that the CEO of Boeing has resigned. Given the constant bad headlines of late, it’s not surprising …
