WE'RE ALL GOING ON A SUMMER HOLIDAY: SCOTIABANK

In its second annual study of Canadian travel intentions, Scotiabank reports that half of Canadians are planning summer vacations and they expect to spend $2,500 on average during those getaways.

For Canada's tourism industry, the news gets even better as half of those travellers say they're going to be taking their trips in Canada. Adrienne Warren, senior economist, Scotiabank, observes that: "Staying closer to home should be good news for Canada's travel & tourism industry which has had to deal with the dampening impact of a strong Canadian dollar on foreign travelers, rising gasoline costs and border issues with our American neighbours." Warren says that job gains in Canada have bolstered household income and are helping support travel spending. Just five months into 2006, the economy has added 220,000 new jobs, which almost matches the average annual gain over the past three years. As for spending, the Scotiabank study discovered an increase in the area of entertainment and sightseeing ($460), up $112 from 2005. As well, there was also a modest increase in spending on transportation ($810), up $74 and meals and beverages ($453), up $41 over last year.

On the other hand, the study found that on average, travellers are planning to spend $185 less on accommodations ($529) this year. The study was conducted on behalf of Scotiabank by Decima Research and was a national omnibus telephone poll (teleVox) that took place between April 26 and May 17, 2006. Overall results are based on a randomly selected sample of 3,026 English and French-speaking Canadian adults aged 18 years and older. A random probability sample of this size delivers results with a statistical margin of error of ±1.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. Travel results are based on a randomly selected sample of 1,484 English and French-speaking Canadian adults aged 18 years and older who intend to take a leisure trip between late April and the end of August 2006. A random probability sample of this size delivers results with a statistical margin of error of ±2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The margin of error will be larger within subgroupings of the survey sample. Data have been weighted to reflect a representation of the gender, age and regional distribution in Canada. Go to www.scotiabank.com for more.


Author: Canadian Travel Press
Organization: Canadian Travel Press/Baxter Publishing
Contact: ctp@baxter.net