Canada Favors Home Trips

Canadians are keeping more summer trips at home as higher travel costs push vacation plans closer to home. (ca.finance.yahoo.com) Expedia Group said in a summer travel outlook released Monday that Canadians are still booking Europe, but rising costs and tighter budgets are driving a continued preference for domestic travel. The company described the pattern as travelers trying to stretch their dollars in a weakening economy. (ca.finance.yahoo.com) Federal data show the shift is not just a survey result. In the second quarter of 2025, Canadian residents took 90.6 million trips that included a domestic visit, up 10.9% from a year earlier and the highest second-quarter total since the National Travel Survey began in 2018. (statcan.gc.ca) Canadians also spent more on those trips. Statistics Canada said domestic-visit spending reached $20.3 billion in the second quarter of 2025, up 13.5% from a year earlier, with food and beverages at $5.4 billion and transportation at $3.1 billion. (statcan.gc.ca) The budget pressure is showing up across travel plans. An Ipsos survey for Allianz Global Assistance Canada, published February 3, found 48% of Canadians planning to travel in 2026 said they would adjust plans because of the weak Canadian dollar, and 31% said they were planning fewer trips because of inflation, interest rates and geopolitics. (ipsos.com) That does not mean Canadians have stopped wanting vacations. The same Ipsos survey found total vacation spending is projected to hit $47.6 billion in 2026, up 22% from the previous year, while the average household vacation budget is expected to reach $4,169. (ipsos.com) The domestic tilt is also being reinforced by where Canadians are no longer eager to go. A Leger report published in April said 67% of Canadians plan to travel within Canada in spring 2026, up from 49% a year earlier, while 14% plan to travel to the United States, down from 21%. (leger360.com) Leger also found 70% of Canadians said they were less likely to visit the United States in 2026 than in 2025, citing politics, tariff and trade tensions, safety concerns, feeling unwelcome and the exchange rate. For travelers who still want a break, that leaves more short-haul and in-province options competing for the same dollars. (leger360.com) Canada’s inflation rate rose 2.4% in March 2026, Statistics Canada said this week, with gasoline helping drive the monthly increase. That keeps pressure on the same household budgets now steering more vacations toward road trips, nearby cities and domestic stays. (www150.statcan.gc.ca)