Business, leisure travel picking up: HAC
The latest results from the 2013 HAC Canadian Travel Intentions Survey show that business and leisure travel is projected to be up 2% in 2013. Eighty-two per cent of business travellers said they would be doing more or the same amount of business travel in Canada in 2013 as they did in 2012 with the highest percentage coming from Ontario. Eighty-four per cent of leisure travellers said they will be travelling more or the same for vacation this year. While overall, leisure travel has increased slightly, 34% of respondents from BC said they would be travelling more for leisure, 11% more than the national average. Respondents in the Prairies were the most uncertain regarding leisure travel with 17% indicating they will travel less than last year and 8% stating they don’t know what their leisure travel plans are for 2013. Of those who said they would be travelling less for leisure in 2013, 31% said they were doing so because of financial difficulties while the cost of airfare was also identified as a leading reason for travelling less. Business travellers who said they would be travelling less this year said the number one reason for doing so is the cost of airfare in Canada (34%), followed by the use of tele/video conferencing (23%). BC (48%) and ON (36%) business travellers cite the cost of airfare as a reason for travelling less in 2013. These two provinces lead the country for the number of travellers going to the US to buy less expensive airline tickets. Travellers were asked how many times in 2012 they took a “staycation”where they stayed in a hotel in their home town and visited local attractions, shopped and ate at local restaurants. Thirty-one percent said they did, up 9% over 2012 numbers. A further 14% said they would consider it in 2013. “More ‘staycationers’ than ever are vacationing in their own town or city,”said HAC president Tony Pollard. “With the high cost of airline tickets and the price of gasoline, people want the feel of a vacation by staying in a hotel, but are staying closer to home to make it more affordable.”Since 2009, the Internet has become the most popular way for people to make their hotel reservations. Fifty-nine per cent of leisure and 62% of business travellers use only the Internet to make their reservations. When asked about where they gathered information for their last trip, 73% of leisure and 61% of business travellers said the Internet. When asked about their use of social media sites in 2012, almost double the number of business travellers (15%) said they used social media sites to get travel information, than those that did in 2011 (8%). The top five things leisure travellers are looking for on the Internet are photos, maps, specials, amenities and guest ratings. Topping the list for business travellers is directions, photos, amenities, specials and shopping for rates. (http://www.hotelassociation.ca)
