Canadian travel plans to hold steady despite higher energy costs: survey – National

The Canadians are expected to hold their own JOURNEY Plans this year, despite higher transportation costs and economic uncertainty, suggest a new survey, with most sticking to domestic travel because of a cost-cutting drive that could still inject billions of dollars into the economy.

The survey informed the Business Development Bank of Canada’s annual tourism outlook, released Wednesday, which found nine in 10 Canadians are planning a trip in 2026.

Of those travelers, 92 percent said they expected at least one trip within Canada, compared to 70 percent who plan to travel internationally. Only 30 percent said they had a trip to the US for work, however, due to many travelers continuing to boycott the country.

The shift to domestic travel has economic benefits, the BDC argues: the agency estimates that if every Canadian traveler this year spent just one night staying abroad in one day of travel to Canada, it could generate up to $4.6 billion in additional GDP.

“If there are more people traveling to Canada, the industry will grow and the number of jobs will grow,” Pierre Cléroux, the BDC’s chief economist, said in an interview.

“This will have a huge impact on the Canadian economy.”

The survey found that families expect to spend an average of about $7,000 on their travel plans this year, with at least a third expected to be spent within Canada.

While tensions in the US and affordability were motivating factors for just over a quarter of travelers who chose to stay in Canada, a majority – 45 per cent – ​​said they were inspired to explore “the different regions of Canada”, suggesting they are choosing Canadian destinations on their own merits.

Forty percent said they were motivated to travel within Canada to visit friends and family, followed by 39 percent who said they want to support Canadian businesses and the local economy.

While 58 percent of respondents said they consider travel a “central” or “important” part of their lives, 81 percent said they were making affordability compromises with their travel plans this year, such as choosing cheaper accommodations and off-peak travel dates.

The report notes that Canadians on average spent $43 less per night when traveling domestically than when traveling abroad last year.

The survey polled 1,000 Canadian adults online between February 25 and March 3, meaning responses were collected before and after the US and Israel went to war with Iran, which sent energy prices soaring.

Despite this, the BDC remains confident that its forecast for a strong tourist season will hold due to many factors.

They include a relatively stable Canadian dollar, which will nevertheless remain weak and below US$0.75, which will attract foreign visitors and cause Canadians to choose to keep their travel spending at home.

Wednesday’s report also notes that Canadian travel accommodations have eased their prices over the past year, helping to offset higher energy prices and making domestic travel more attractive.

“There’s no doubt that everyone is paying more for gas, but we have to keep in mind that it’s only five percent of the average Canadian budget,” Cléroux said.

“Yes, it’s annoying when we go to put some gas in the car, but it doesn’t really change the budget for many Canadians.”

Optimism for this year’s travel season comes next a record year for the domestic tourism industry in 2025 That was driven in part by an increase in spending by Canadian travelers, which Statistics Canada said would grow 2.5 per cent by 2024.

That helped offset a 0.7 per cent decline in international tourism spending last year, although the agency said a surge in foreign visitors last quarter helped tourism GDP outpace Canada’s overall GDP.

At the same time, Canadian travel to the U.S. is down 25 percent from the end of 2024 after U.S. President Donald Trump launched his trade war and threatened Canada’s sovereignty, though Return trips increased slightly last month.

Cléroux said this momentum is expected to continue this year.

“We still believe that 2026 will be a positive year,” he said. “We’re not anticipating a recession, so Canadians still have the means to travel, (and) we don’t believe the start of this year will have a big impact on the decisions Canadians are making in terms of travel.”

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