Trends Canadians plan to vacation close to home, says poll

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Lauren La Rose
THE CANADIAN PRESS

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TORONTO - Despite tough economic times, six in 10 Canadians are still planning to pack their bags for a summer vacation, but the majority of those travellers will be spending their holiday close to home, a new poll suggests.

The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey found that among the 59 per cent planning to take a holiday, 61 per cent are making their summer vacation more of a staycation. Of those making plans, 26 per cent intend to vacation near the town or city where they already live, while 35 per cent said they planned to stay within their home province. Only 18 per cent plan to travel outside Canada.

"My impression of the situation is that people are going to continue to take their vacations but they're going to find a way of scaling back the expenditure on those vacations, whatever type they decide to take," said Harris-Decima senior vice-president Jeff Walker.

Of those travelling, 54 per cent said they would be spending around the same amount on summer vacations this year compared to last; however, 29 per cent said they would be shelling out less.

Minnow Hamilton, managing editor and co-founder of SavvyMom Media, which operates online resource savvymom.ca, said they found comparable results in a similar poll they conducted this year.

"Families all said, 'We're still taking our holiday but we might go closer, we might not fly, we might find ways to have a less expensive holiday,'" said Hamilton, a mother of two sons, ages 12 and 10.