Six in Ten (58%) Canadians Plan on Taking a Vacation This Summer

Toronto, ONTARIO - According to a new Ipsos-Reid study, conducted on behalf of Expedia.ca, six in ten (58%) Canadians plan on taking a vacation this summer, that is, between Victoria Day (May 19th) and Labour Day (September 1st). As to where they plan on going, staying close to home appears to win out over international travel. In fact, one in three say they will be vacationing within their own province (35%), while 44% mentioned places elsewhere in Canada.

Hiking in the Australian Outback (38%) is the top choice of Canadians when provided a list of five possible exotic vacations. If given the opportunity and if cost was not a factor, 15% would most like to trek through the Amazon Jungle in South America, while one in ten would opt for heli-skiing in the Rockies (12%), running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain (10%), or climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa (9%). Eleven percent say that they would not choose any of these options, while five percent say they `don't know'.

Half (52%) of Canadians report to having used the Internet or visited a website in the past two years to get information about or research destinations for a pleasure or vacation trip. However, asked if they had used the Internet or a website to book or pay for vacation travel, flights, accommodations or travel packages, just one in three (29%) Canadians indicate they have done this.

And finally, men appear to be more willing to go with local beach custom than women. When men were asked if they were visiting a country where it was normal for men to wear bikini type swim suits, such as a Speedo, four in ten (41%) of Canadian men said they would go along. In comparison, slightly less (35%) women indicate that if they were visiting a country where sunbathing topless was the norm they would do it.

These are the findings of an Ipsos-Reid poll conducted on behalf of Expedia.ca between May 6th and May 8th, 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.

Six in ten (58%) Canadians plan on taking a vacation this summer, that is, between Victoria Day (May 19th) and Labour Day (September 1st). This compares to 42% who say they will not be taking a vacation this coming summer.

• Middle aged (64%) Canadians are more likely than older (50%) Canadians to say they plan on taking a vacation of pleasure trip during the summer of 2003.

• Canadian from upper income households (71%) are more likely than those in middle (58%) or lower (39%) income households to report planning on a summer holiday.

As to where they plan on going, staying close to home appears to win out over international travel. In fact, one in three say they will be vacationing within their own province (35%), while 44% mentioned places elsewhere in Canada. Other summer vacation destinations cited include Europe (7%), the Caribbean (2%), Mexico (1%), Florida (1%), Central/South America (1%), Las Vegas (1%). One in ten (11%) mentioned locations other than Florida and Las Vegas in the United States.

• Residents of Quebec (53%) are more likely than those in Ontario (35%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (15%), Atlantic Canada (14%) and Alberta (12%) to say they would be vacationing this summer within their own province. Four in ten (41%) of British Columbians also say they will do this. Meanwhile, residents of Atlantic Canada (74%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (71%), and Alberta (70%) are more likely than those in Ontario (41%), British Columbia (36%) and Quebec (26%) to say they will be vacationing in Canada but outside of their own province.

• Men (48% versus 39% of women) are more likely to report that they will be vacationing in Canada, but outside of their own province this summer. Women (40% versus 31% of men) are more likely to report that they will be vacation this summer within their own province.

Hiking in the Australian Outback (38%) is the top choice of Canadians when provided a list of five possible exotic vacations. If given the opportunity and if cost was not a factor, 15% would most like to trek through the Amazon Jungle in South America, while one in ten would opt for heli-skiing in the Rockies (12%), running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain (10%), or climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa (9%). Eleven percent say that they would not choose any of these options, while five percent say they `don't know'.

• Residents of Alberta (48%) and Saskatchewan/Manitoba (46%) are more likely than those in British Columbia (32%) or Quebec (30%) to make the Australian Outback their top choice, while residents of Quebec (19%) and Ontario (16%) are more likely than residents of Saskatchewan/Manitoba (7%) to opt for a trek through the Amazon. Residents of the Quebec (18%) and Atlantic Canada (17%) are more likely than those in Ontario (9%) or British Columbia (9%) to choose heli-skiing in the Rockies.

• Middle aged (44%) and younger (38%) are more likely than older (27%) Canadians to select hiking in the Australian outback as their top choice. Younger (20%) Canadians are twice as likely to select trekking through the Amazon than are older (10%) Canadians. Younger (16%) Canadians are more likely to opt for heli-skiing in the Rockies than are their middle aged (9%) counterparts. Older (19%) and middle aged (9%) Canadians are more likely to say they would not want go on any of the vacation options tested than are younger (5%) Canadians.

• Men (14%) are more likely than women (10%) to opt for a vacation of heli-skiing in the Rockies.

• Canadians from lower income households (15%) are more likely than are those from upper income households (9%) to say they want to run with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

Half (52%) of Canadians report to having used the Internet or visited a website in the past two years to get information about or research destinations for a pleasure or vacation trip. The remaining 48% say they have not done this.

• Residents of Ontario (59%) are more likely than are those in Atlantic Canada (47%) or Quebec (40%) to say they have done this.

• A majority of middle aged (61%) and younger (59%) Canadians say they have done this in the past two years, while just one in three (34%) older Canadians indicate they have done this.

• Canadians with a university degree (70%) are more likely than those with some university or other post-secondary education (54%), a high school diploma (42%) or without a high school diploma (17%) to indicate they have done this in the past two years.

• Canadians from upper income households (74%) are more likely than those from middle (49%) or lower (25%) income households to indicate they have searched for travel information over the Internet.

However, asked if they had used the Internet or a website to book or pay for vacation travel, flights, accommodations or travel packages, just one in three (29%) Canadians say they have done this. Seven in ten (71%) say they have not done this in the past two years.

• Residents of British Columbia (41%) are more likely to indicate they have book or pay for vacation travel, flights etc using the Internet than are those in Alberta (27%), Saskatchewan/Manitoba (27%), Atlantic Canada (27%) and Quebec (17%). One in three (35%) Ontarians report doing this.

• One in three middle aged (34%) and younger (32%) Canadians report using the Internet to pay for travel, flights etc. This compares to just one in five (21%) older Canadians.

• Canadians from upper income households (44%) are more likely than either those in middle (22%) or lower (15%) income households to report this action.

• Canadians with a university degree (44%) are more likely than those with some university or other post-secondary education (29%), a high school diploma (20%) or without a high school diploma (9%) to report doing this.

And finally, men appear to be more willing to go with local beach custom than women. When men were asked if they were visiting a country where it was normal for men to wear bikini type swim suits, such as a Speedo, four in ten (41%) of Canadian men said they would go along. In comparison, slightly less (35%) women indicate that if they were visiting a country where sunbathing topless was the norm they would do it.

• Men in Atlantic Canada (55%) and Quebec (52%) are more likely to say they would wear a bikini type swim suit if they were visiting a country wear it was normal for men, than are those in Ontario (31%) or Saskatchewan/Manitoba (27%). As for the willingness of women to sunbath topless if visiting a country where it was the norm, Quebec women (42%) are more likely to do so than women in Atlantic Canada (25%) or Saskatchewan/Manitoba (24%).

• Almost half (48%) of middle aged men, significantly more than older (37%) or younger (36%) men, would be willing to this type of swim wear if it was the norm for the country they were visiting. Almost half of younger (48%) women and four in ten (39%) middle aged women say they would sunbath topless if it was the norm for the country they were visiting, while just one in five (19%) of older women would be willing to do it.

• Women from upper income households (43%) are more likely than those from lower income households (29%) to indicate they would sunbath topless if they were visiting a country where this was the norm.

Please open the attached PDF documents to view the factum and detailed tables.

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