According to the inaugural Allianz Global Assistance 2016 Canadian Winter Vacation Confidence survey, 58% 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% of Canadians who are confident they will be taking a vacation this winter, the average anticipated spend per household will remain fairly flat (58%) or higher than the previous year’s winter vacation (16%).
“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% 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%) 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% of Canadians haven’t had a vacation for more than two years. Clearly many Canadians all across the country are in need of a welldeserved break.”
Looking ahead, the picture brightens as a larger majority of Canadians (68%) do expect to take a vacation within the next 12 months. However, the survey does note a persistent lack of confidence: of the 70% of Canadians who identified that an annual vacation is important to them, only 83% are confident they will be travelling in the next 12 months – creating a Vacation Confidence Deficit of 17%.
