Canadians Stay Home for the Summer Vacation--of the 42% Planning a Summer Vacation, 8 in 10 (80%) Say They'll Do It in Canada

Toronto, ONTARIO - According to a new Ipsos-Reid poll conducted for Mastercard Canada, four in ten Canadians (42%) are planning on taking a vacation this summer--that is, "a planned and extended trip away from home between June and September." Of these Canadians, the bulk of vacationers (40%) are taking a week long vacation, with just over another quarter (27%) planning a two-week vacation. Eight in ten (80%) vacationing Canadians say they will be taking their holiday in Canada, with the remaining vacationers headed out of the country.

Canadians planning a vacation this summer expect to spend an average of $1982.91 on the various aspects typically included in a summer vacation. They anticipate spending the most on transportation (averaging $700.47), followed by accommodations (averaging $461.81), and restaurants (averaging $295.65).

Further, the largest proportion of Canadians surveyed (33%) choose British Columbia as their destination for a "Priceless Canadian Summer Vacation" over all of the other provinces and territories in the nation.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted on behalf of Mastercard Canada between May 7th and May 11th, 2003. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 1,000 adult Canadians. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire adult Canadian population been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were statistically weighted to ensure the sample's regional and age/sex composition reflects that of the actual Canadian population according to the 2001 Census data.

Vacationing Canadians...How Much, How Long, and Where?

Four in ten Canadians (42%) are planning on taking a vacation this summer--that is, "a planned and extended trip away from home between June and September."

• Residents of Quebec (45%) are the most likely to take a vacation this summer, followed by residents Ontario (43%), British Columbia (42%) and Alberta (42%). Residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (36%) and Atlantic Canada (31%) are significantly less likely to do so.

• Middle-aged Canadians (48%) are significantly more likely than their older counterparts (36%) to be taking a vacation this summer.

• Canadians from middle (43%) and upper (55%) income households are significantly more likely than their counterparts from lower (27%) income households to be taking a summer vacation this year.

Of those Canadians who intend to go away on vacation this summer, 18% plan on taking less than a week, 40% plan on taking a week, 27% will take two weeks, 5% will take three weeks, and 10% plan to take a summer vacation longer than three weeks.

• Young adults (51%) are more likely than their middle-aged (38%) and older (29%) counterparts to take a week-long summer vacation, while middle-aged (31%) and older (27%) Canadians are more likely than their younger (20%) counterparts to take a two-week vacation.

Eight in ten vacationing Canadians (80%) say they will be holidaying in Canada. Thirteen percent (13%) plan to vacation in the United States, 6% in Europe, and 5% plan to take their holiday elsewhere, indicating that some Canadians may be vacationing in more than one country.

• Residents of Alberta (91%) and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (88%) are those Canadians who are most likely to plan on a Canadian vacation, followed by Atlantic Canadians (85%), Quebecers (80%), and Ontarians (78%). Residents of British Columbia (68%) are the least likely to be vacationing in Canada this year.

How Much They'll Spend...And on What...

Canadians planning a vacation this summer expect to spend an average of $1982.91 on the various aspects typically included in summer vacationing. They anticipate spending, on average, the most on transportation ($700.47), followed by accommodations ($461.81), and restaurants ($295.65). Canadians expect to spend an average of $199.45 on food purchases (i.e. grocery store), $136.96 on attractions and events such as amusement parks and museums, $106.81 on clothing, and $81.76 on souvenirs.

• Residents of Quebec ($525.77) anticipate spending a significantly greater amount on accommodations than their counterparts in British Columbia ($332.42); Quebecers ($361.28) expect to spend a greater amount on restaurants than their counterparts in Alberta ($197.06) and British Columbia ($226.27), and Quebecers ($100.60) anticipate spending more on souvenirs than their counterparts in British Columbia ($47.87). Residents of British Columbia ($227.86) and Alberta ($218.93) expect to spend a significantly greater amount on food purchases than their counterparts in Atlantic Canada ($110.06).

• Middle-aged Canadians expect to spend more than their younger counterparts on accommodations ($509.97 middle-aged vs. $324.77 young adults) and food purchases ($230.16 middle-aged vs. $150.51 young). Middle-aged ($308.29) and older ($358.81) Canadians expect to spend more than younger Canadians ($228.63) on restaurants, while younger ($153.51) and middle-aged ($155.96) adults expect to spend more than older adults ($84.31) on attractions and events.

• Men ($871.38) anticipate spending significantly more than women ($522.18) on transportation costs.

• Canadians from upper income households expect to spend significantly more than their middle-income household counterparts on transportation ($819.79 upper vs. $468.48 middle), attractions/events ($177.10 upper vs. $94.92 middle), and souvenirs ($99.54 upper vs. $59.92 middle); and they expect to spend significantly more than their counterparts from both lower and middle income households on accommodations ($632.00 upper vs. $314.51 middle vs. $211.96 lower) and restaurants ($397.99 upper vs. $201.49 middle vs. $209.53 lower).

British Columbia Chosen by Largest Number of Canadians (33%) as their Most "Priceless Summer Vacation Destination," Followed by P.E.I. (10%) and Quebec (8%), Ontario (8%), Alberta (8%)

Considering all of the provinces and territories in Canada, the largest grouping of respondents (33%) choose British Columbia as the destination for their "Priceless Canadian Summer Vacation." Prince Edward Island (10%) comes in as a distant second, followed by Quebec (8%), Ontario (8%), Alberta (8%), Nova Scotia (7%), New Brunswick (7%), and Newfoundland (6%). The Yukon (4%), Northwest Territories (3%), Manitoba (1%), Nunavut (1%), and Saskatchewan (1%) were not quite as popular.

• British Columbia is the most mentioned "Priceless Canadian Summer Vacation" spot across all the regions, but is significantly more popular among Albertans (41%), British Columbians (38%), and Ontarians (38%) than it is among residents of Quebec (24%), Atlantic Canada (25%), and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (29%).

• British Columbia is also more popular among young adults (38%) than it is among older Canadians (27%).

The most "Priceless Canadian Summer Vacation Activity" appears to be camping (14%) followed by specific Canadian destinations (9%). Sports, sightseeing, the cottage, and beach vacations were each thought to be the most "Priceless Canadian Summer Vacation Activity" by 6% of Canadians. The remaining "Priceless Activities" (53%) are scattered into various other categories including fishing (5%), Hiking (4%), and Golf (3%). A full distribution of other activities identified by respondents is attached in the detailed tabular results.

• Residents of Atlantic Canada (19%) and British Columbia (18%) are significantly more likely than their counterparts in Quebec (10%) to think camping is the most "Priceless Canadian Summer Vacation Activity," while Quebecers (16%) are significantly more likely than Canadians residing in all other regions (1%-5%) to think a sport vacation would be the most "priceless."

• Young adults (21%) are significantly more likely than their middle-aged (13%) and older (8%) counterparts to think camping is the most "Priceless Canadian Summer Vacation Activity."

To view the factum and detailed tables please open the attached PDF files.

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For more information on this news release, please contact:
John Wright
Senior Vice-President
Public Affairs Ipsos-Reid
(416) 324-2900