What’s Your Preference?

Chill out or take a hike?

That’s pretty much the question that Canadians are asking themselves when it comes to taking a vacation and it seems that they’re having trouble deciding which to pick.

A new, global survey by GfK found that 50% of Canadians prefer a relaxing, easy vacation, while 41%favour an activity-packed one.

That’s certainly a contrast with the global averages in GfK’s 17-country online survey, which found that 59% of respondents worldwide prefer a vacation where they can relax and take it easy.

In fact, Canada was tied for 4th – with Spain – among countries most in favour of active getaways.

Of note, however is that 53% of Canadian men look forward to a peaceful getaway, while only 38% of them say they would be more interested in an adventurous vacation.

Canadian women, however, are almost evenly split on the subject, with 43% favouring an active holiday, versus 47% for a relaxing one.

GfK also found that when families with kids vacation, those holidays tend to be active.

Over four in ten (43%) Canadian households with children ages 6 to 12 go on active vacations, to keep everyone busy, compared to 39% of families with no children.

The biggest differences that GfK found were among age groups.

Canadian teens (47%) and those between 20 and 29 years old (48%) are most inclined to favour active vacations.

The preference for active vacations then drops steadily with each age band, ending with a much lower proportion (38%) of those in the 50-to-59 and 60+ groups opting for active getaways.

For more, go to http://www.gfk.com/global-studies/global-study-overview .