Canadians continue to go south for cheap air tickets

It’s a trend that’s gaining increasing momentum as Canadians continue to head south of the border in search of cheap air tickets. In its newly released 2013 Canadian Travel Intentions survey, the Hotel Association of Canada (HAC) found that 18% of those surveyed had travelled to the US to buy cheaper airline tickets in 2012– an increase of 3% over the previous year — and 32% of those questioned indicated they would do it in 2013. An alarming 61% of respondents said they knew people who travelled to the US in 2012 to purchase cheaper airline tickets. HAC reports that the highest number of cross border air ticket shoppers come from Ontario and BC at 23% — up 4% over the previous year; and 32% of those 18 to 24 year old age category say they’ve gone cross border for air tickets. HAC president, Tony Pollard observed, “Almost 20% of all Canadian travellers, including a quarter from our largest province, are travelling to the US for deals on airline tickets. This represents a lot of Canadian dollars going to the US to buy cheaper airline tickets.” And Pollard said that this trend is “the result of high airport rents, Air Traveller Security charges, NAV CANADA fees and airport improvement fees and amounts to millions of Canadian travellers finding the price of Canadian tickets more expensive than the cost of driving to the US and flying from airports like Buffalo, Detroit, Plattsburg, Bellingham, Bangor, Seattle, Syracuse or Grand Forks.” To fix the problem, HAC believes that the travel and tourism sector requires a fair tax and regulatory regime that allows it to compete on a level playing field with the rest of the world which underscores the importance of a comprehensive federal review of the aviation cost structure in Canada. Go to http://www.hotelassociation.ca for more.