Vaccinations Will Open The Doors To Travel

In a survey of close to 6,000 of its past customers, Hamilton, Ontario-based tripcentral.ca found that more than 60% of past Canadian leisure travellers will book vacations after being vaccinated or being confident of being vaccinated.

Conducted between Feb. 24 and Feb. 28, the 7-question survey of 5,785 past customers of tripcentral.ca was aimed at understanding the relationship between vaccination levels and future demand to book travel.

Richard Vanderlubbe, president of tripcentral.ca, said that: “80% of respondents, who want to be vaccinated, expect to be vaccinated by September, indicating belief in the government vaccine rollout plan, despite the slow start.”

The survey found that just under 18% indicated that they were not interested in being vaccinated.

Of those not interested in being vaccinated, 61% indicated they would go away now if it were not for the restrictions. 68% of those not interested in being vaccinated ranked the quarantine on return being the #1 concern about booking travel.

For those expecting to be vaccinated by September, not yet being vaccinated themselves is the number one concern for 45% of the respondents, followed by the quarantine on return chosen as the first concern by 30%.

Almost one quarter of respondents who expect to be vaccinated by September ranked vaccinations in their destination as the second top concern.

Said Vanderlubbe: “Concern about vaccination at destinations would indicate that even if Canada is mostly vaccinated by fall, demand for travel will still not fully recover.”

He continued: “Canada has purchased far more vaccine than will be needed, and eventually we will donate it to other countries. It makes sense for the government to consider donating it to countries where Canadians travel such as Cuba, Dominican Republic, parts of Mexico, Jamaica and other Caribbean islands. Giving back to countries that Canadians visit most and reducing the risk of Canadians returning home carrying variants from unvaccinated destinations is a win-win all around.”

More survey results can be found at https://www.tripcentral.ca/blog/survey-leisure-travel-bookings-vaccine/ .