Canada Is Hot, Hot, Hot

The Conference Board of Canada is forecasting that with Canadian and foreign airlines expanding their fleets and adding direct connections to many destinations across the country, overnight visits are expected to increase by 3.7% in 2017.

Greg Hermus, associate director for The Conference Board of Canada’s Canadian Tourism Research Institute, observed:

“Last year, the low Canadian dollar and energy prices fueled travel to and within Canada. These factors will continue to benefit tourism growth in 2017. In addition, we expect that new direct flights and Canada’s reputation as a safe travel destination will drive the increased number of international arrivals.”

According to the Conference Board, domestic pleasure travel is expected to grow by 3.4% in 2017 and will be boosted by two major events – the 150th anniversary of Confederation and Montreal’s 375th anniversary.

Plus, the weak Canadian dollar will continue to work as a disincentive for Canadians to travel abroad.
A positive economic outlook and improvements in the energy sector will help stimulate domestic business travel, which is forecast to experience a 2.2% growth this year.

Expanded flight routes across Canada will also make business travel more convenient.

The Conference Board also notes that on top of the 9.5% growth in overnight visits from the U.S. witnessed last year, a further 5.3% increase is expected in 2017.

While the favourable exchange rate and low gasoline prices are obvious drivers behind this growth, the Conference Board also points out that tourism organizations have been increasingly targeting their marketing campaigns to attract more U.S. travellers.

In fact, Canada secured the top spot on The New York Times list of travel destinations for 2017.
Outside the United States, solid travel gains are expected from nearly every world region in 2017 with overseas visits to Canada forecast to increase by 8.4%.

The strongest growth this year is expected from Mexico at 28.3%. Canada lifted Mexico’s visa requirement in December 2016, which, coupled with the exchange rate and new policies put in place by the Trump administration, might make Canada appear more attractive as a travel destination.

Visits from Asia are expected to increase by 13.1% and overnight visits from Europe are slated for 4.5% growth this year.

Go to http://www.conferenceboard.ca for more.