Survey summary and key findings

The primary purpose of this research conducted by PMG Intelligence was to understand perceptions of travel

during the course of the pandemic and to learn what Canadian travellers are looking for in order to start travelling

again. A total of over 2,750 Canadians were surveyed over two waves (November 2020 and March 2021). We encourage

you to use these survey results to help you connect with your customers as they plan their future travel purchases.

• 1-in-2 consumers want to start travelling today pending proper precautions are in place (and allowed).
• Those most anxious to get back to travel are younger, male, and generally spend more in total on travel per year than the average consumer.
• Travel and tourism within Canada currently holds greater appeal and comfort for most consumers.
• Top concerns around travel today: having to quarantine at destination, financial risk (not being able to cancel/get refund), contracting COVID.
• Top factors driving decision to travel today: number of COVID cases at destination, number of days for quarantine, ability to cancel/receive refund.
• As travel planning is being influenced by government-imposed travel restrictions and varying quarantine requirements, availability of vaccines, and general uncertainty related to health regulations, the research suggests that the specific timeline to return to travel may be overly pessimistic.
• Although 7-19% of consumers still plan to travel in the next 3 months (depending on domestic or international travel), the data indicate that in general, those who would like to return “soon” (with the proper precautions in place) is closer to 50% – whenever “soon” can be.
• Positively, 1-in-3 consumers plan to increase their rate of average travel per year once things are more open—and even more so for those 35 years old and younger.
• 8-in-10 consumers plan to continue to allocate funds to travel per year, with 2-in-3 planning to spend the same or more.