Canadians have taken 1.7 million return trips home from the United States in July. This new number is an enormous drop from months past. That represents a significant drop as more Canadians choose to spend their vacation dollars outside the country. Trips originating from the U.S. have plummeted over 80 percent. At the same time, travel from other international origins is increasing, reflecting the increasing demand and travel patterns of Canadians.
Each of those July trips includes a trip Canadian residents took back to an overseas country. That was a 5.9 percent increase over July of 2022. This is a significant increase especially when compared to the continued devastation in travel to the U.S. Return flights decreased by air 383,700 and a decrease of 25.8 percent compared to July 2022. Those are encouraging signs of the increasing tendency of Canadians to look for travel experiences outside of their southern neighbour.
Air Travel Trends
The larger air travel scene for Canada is a mixed bag. In July, the latest month for which data are available, residents of Canada took 1.4 million roundtrips by air to international destinations. This is a 5.3 percent drop from the year before. There are many factors contributing to this drop in air travel. Industry experts cite changing consumer preferences and continued global economic factors as major contributors to this trend.
In July, though, Canada was still over 1.4 million non-resident air arrivals short of their 2019 levels. Prior to revision, this was a 3.1 percent increase over last year’s same month. This increase is an early indicator that Canadians are perhaps making fewer trips across the border to the U.S. Despite this, Canada is still a popular destination for international travelers.
Air travel has recently plummeted from the U.S. by a record amount, leading us to ask what other considerations may be informing these decisions. Higher airfares, evolving visa policies, and expanding opportunities abroad may all be factors making a big difference in this trend.
Road Travel Patterns
In fact, U.S. residents took 1.8 million automobile trips to Canada in July alone. This number is a 7.4 percent drop from the previous year during the same month. Taken together, these trends indicate a new reality of how Canadians and Americans are viewing and planning for cross-border travel.
For example, in 2019 Canadian residents took a significant 1.7 million return trips by car from the U.S. This figure reflects an increasing tendency to favor international destinations instead of traveling to countries that are nearby. As more Canadians travel the world, it seems that travel between Canada and the U.S. is changing.
Travel industry analysts are scrambling to keep their eyes on these patterns. They are leveraging all of this to inform longer-term forecasts for the domestic and international travel markets. Making sense of these changes is key for private sector and public sector leaders to respond to the new reality to stay ahead of the game.
