Many Canadians "not confident" they will travel this winter: survey

According to the inaugural Allianz Global Assistance 2016 Canadian Winter Vacation Confidence survey, 58 per cent of Canadians are not confident they will be taking a winter vacation this year.

The survey, conducted by Ipsos, also revealed that among the 42 per cent of Canadians who are confident they will be taking a vacation this winter, the average anticipated spend per household will remain fairly flat (58 per cent) or higher than the previous year’s winter vacation (16 per cent).

“It is an unfortunate reality that more than half of Canadians have a low level of confidence that they will be taking vacation this winter,” said Dan Keon, director, marketing and communications, Allianz Global Assistance. “One concern for Canadians considering travel in winter could be the costs of cancellation, especially when you look at the average cost Canadians say they will spend on a winter vacation: $2,593.20 per household."

“This is a significant budget for families which can be easily threatened by unexpected circumstances such as inclement weather,” continued Keon. “In those cases, unprotected cancellations could place the entire vacation budget at risk. Travel insurance can typically recover up to 100 per cent of eligible prepaid travel-related expenses lost due to covered reasons for cancellations, such as an unforeseen illness or government advisory restricting travel to your planned destination.”

A popular travel choice for many Canadians is to travel south to the United States. However the survey, conducted in early November, revealed that the current value of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar could prevent Canadians (56 per cent) from travelling to the United States. With that in mind, the survey even showed that in the most extreme cases, a portion of Canadians have actually already changed their travel plans to bypass the United States in the short term. “While the U.S. remains the top outbound destination for Canadians, the current value of the Canadian dollar against the U.S. dollar is clearly coming into play for potential vacationers,” added Keon.

“As Canadians, we highly value and look forward to our vacation plans as an opportunity to spend time with loved ones and unwind from our day-to-day stresses,” continued Keon. “The survey allowed us to quantify the existing ‘Vacation Confidence Deficit,’ but also showed that 36 per cent of Canadians haven’t had a vacation for more than two years. Clearly many Canadians all across the country are in need of a well-deserved break.”

Looking ahead, the picture brightens as a larger majority of Canadians (68 per cent) do expect to take a vacation within the next 12 months. However, the survey does note a persistent lack of confidence: of the 70 per cent of Canadians who identified that an annual vacation is important to them, only 83 per cent are confident they will be travelling in the next 12 months – creating a 'Vacation Confidence Deficit' of 17 per cent.