Tapping into Canadian travel trends
What’s trending when it comes to holiday plans for Canadians? Will it indeed be the year of staycations?
Canadians are coming to Twitter for both inspiration for future trips and information about where it is currently safe to travel. Canadians are also sharing what they miss most about travel from pictures of sandy beaches to the rituals of travel. While air travel poses some challenges in the current day, we may be on the verge of the next golden age of the road trip with 47% of Twitter users planning to drive for their next vacation, stay close to home or take a staycation.
What else can you share about how the coming months may look like for Canadians, based on what you’re seeing on Twitter? Are different demographics more open to travelling internationally?
Two-thirds of Canadians are planning to take a holiday in the next 12 months with a higher than usual appetite for domestic travel. Interestingly, younger Twitter users (18-34 years old) are more likely to fly internationally for their next holiday and least likely to stay close to home.
Did anything stand out or surprise you about the poll results?
Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised but easily the #1 travel consideration for Canadians for their upcoming travel plans is safety — more than 60% of Canadians on Twitter said this was their top priority for any future travel plans. This represents the biggest area of opportunity for airlines, destination marketing organizations and the broader hospitality industry to help educate the public on what measures they are taking to ensure a safe travel experience.
How has the travel conversation evolved during the pandemic?
Like a lot of topics on Twitter, the evolution of emoji usage can often paint a picture of mood and sentiment of a conversation. Early on during the pandemic, Canadians were using a lot of emojis that represented fear and disgust. Over the course of the summer, this changed and we started to see far more happy emojis in conversations about travel, demonstrating joy, absence and thoughtfulness.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised but easily the #1 travel consideration for Canadians for their upcoming travel plans is safety — more than 60% of Canadians on Twitter said this was their top priority for any future travel plans.
Jeremy Vianna
Head of Automotive, Government & Travel, Twitter Canada
What precautions are people likely to take when planning their trips or travelling?
Since safety is the top travel consideration for Canadians on Twitter, the terms and topics within those conversations reflect that. This means discussions not only about masks, sanitizer and PPE but also “safety” from a financial perspective with Canadians talking about things like travel insurance and refund policies for airlines and hotel chains.
Is there anything else interesting to share?
There are so many different, interesting communities and conversations on Twitter about travel. One of the more unique conversations is a community of people on Twitter who miss planning and wearing their travel outfits. Who would have thought there’s such a powerful intersection between fashion and travel through an airport? It’s definitely there if you know where to look!
Poll results
Twitter asked Canadians to describe their next holiday. Here is what they said:
- 47% – Stay close to home or “staycation”
- 20% – Fly internationally
- 10% – Road trip out of province
- 5% – Fly domestically
- 3% – Road trip to US or beyond
- 15% – Undecided
Canadians on Twitter aged 25 and under have the strongest intention of flying internationally for their next holiday
Canadians on Twitter aged 35-44 have the strongest intention of staying close to home for their next holiday
71% of Canadians on Twitter say they’re less likely to travel internationally than they would have in the past. 56% say they’re more likely to travel domestically while 51% are more likely to take a road trip this year
Two in three Canadians (66%) of Canadians on Twitter have intentions of taking a holiday in the next year thought 88% of Canadians planning to travel have not booked yet
Twitter asked Canadians what their top consideration was for planning their next holiday:
- 61% – Safety
- 14% – Price
- 14% – Availability of destination and activities
- 5% – Cancellation policy
- 5% – Other
Many Canadians are also using this time to save up for travel as vacations are the #1 major purchase that Canadians on Twitter will prioritize post-pandemic.
This is how vacations ranked against other items in our survey:
- Vacations / Trips / Flights
- Clothing
- Smartphone
- Home appliances / devices
- Car / vehicle
