Latest news with #FlightCentreCanada
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Canadian travel to the U.S. declined even further last month, report says. Here's why — and where Canadians should travel to instead
Canadians aren't changing their mind about boycotting travel to the United States. In a new report by Statistics Canada, Canadians returning from international travel by air or by vehicle in April 2025 was down 15.2 per cent compared to April 2024. It's the steepest decline in travel year to date, and marks three consecutive months of year over year declines. According to StatsCan, 4.5 million Canadian residents who returned from international travel by air or vehicle last month. Although April showed a decline in travel overall, there was a 35.2 per cent decline in Canadians who returned from the U.S. via automobile compared to April 2024. Faced with tariff and annexation threats from the U.S. President Donald Trump, and increased anxiety over treatment at the border, many Canadians are choosing to boycott travel to the States altogether. A recent Abacus survey found that 56 per cent of Canadians who initially planned to travel to the U.S. this year had since scaled back or cancelled those plans, the primary reason being political tensions. We recently asked readers to weigh in on travel plans to the U.S., and if they had changed. Of those polled, 77 per cent of readers said they do not plan on travelling to the U.S. within the next year, while 58 per cent of readers said they have already cancelled a trip to the U.S. they had planned for this year. One reader, Allen C. said he has many friends in the U.S. and typically travels there to visit them during the winter months — usually spending between $8,000 to $12,000 CAD while he's there. However, this year is different. 'I have cancelled trips to the [U.S.], rerouted to Vancouver Island, Vancouver, Shuswap and Penticton,' he said. Marie B. said she's travelled to the U.S. at least once a year for the past 20 years — except during COVID-19 restrictions. Typically, she joins a busload of Canadians for a holiday shopping trip to the States. 'Not this year, we all will shop at home,' she said. 'No more USA shopping or support for our neighbours to the south. Too bad, really. What a sad turn of events for our two countries.' 'My husband and I are finally out of debt,' said Ann P. 'Our dream for years was to … spend three months in the sunny south over the winter. It is absolutely no longer an option.' New February data from Flight Centre Canada found a 40 per cent decrease in leisure bookings to the U.S. compared to February of last year. 'That trend continued into March, with U.S. bookings once again down 40 per cent year-over-year,' said Amra Durakovic, head of communications at Flight Centre Travel Group Canada. And between November 2024 and January, Flight Centre Canada saw a 20 per cent cancellation rate on pre-existing U.S. trips. Many were rebooked to countries like Mexico and the Caribbean. Another recent Flight Centre survey conducted by YouGov, found that 86 per cent of Canadian travellers are taking a more intentional approach to travel this year, adjusting their vacation in 2025 to prioritize affordability, especially when it comes to considering the exchange rate. We continue to see softened demand to traditional U.S. destinations like California, Florida, Hawaii, Nevada and New York. There's also growing interest in domestic travel to places like Alberta, Newfoundland and Nova Durakovic, Flight Centre Travel Group Canada 'Year-to-date, we continue to see softened demand to traditional U.S. destinations like California, Florida, Hawaii, Nevada and New York,' Durakovic said. 'There's also growing interest in domestic travel to places like Alberta, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.' 'Internationally, Europe is trending for summer, with destinations like Amsterdam, Portugal, and the U.K. leading the way thanks to more flight options and competitive pricing,' Durakovic said. 'Canadians are also turning their 'someday' trips into reality, booking long-hauls to destinations like Japan, Thailand and Australia, supported by favourable exchange rates.' If you're a Canadian avoiding U.S. travel — whether you're a snowbird who spends winters in Arizona or Florida or just looking to take the cheapest, most fun weekend trip you can find — there are plenty of places that you can swap in. We turned to experts at Flight Centre Canada to ask what trending travel destinations, both in Canada and abroad, are worth checking out. Costa Rica for zip-lining, wildlife spotting and beach adventures. Mexico, including Riviera Maya, for going beyond the resorts and exploring cenotes, Mayan ruins and interactive eco-parks. Thailand, including Chiang Mai and Phuket, to visit elephant sanctuaries and kid-friendly resorts. Ecuador, including Quito and the Amazon, for family-friendly wildlife adventures without breaking the bank. Nova Scotia, including the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island and Peggy's Cove, for scenic drives and whale watching. Northwest Territories and the Yukon to spot the Aurora Borealis and do Arctic wilderness adventures. Haida Gwaii, B.C. to check out high-end eco-lodges and Indigenous cultural immersion. Torngat Mountains in Labrador for helicopter tours or Arctic expeditions. Portugal, including Lisbon and Algarve, for beaches, castles and great food at family-friendly prices. Vietnam, including Ha Giang Loop and Sapa Trekking for motorbike routes and rice terraces. Torres del Paine, Patagonia for multi-day trekking in mountain scenery. Ecuador, including Galápagos and the Andean Highlands, for snorkelling with marine life and mountain trekking.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Yahoo
Canadian travel to Cuba on a double-digit downturn in early 2025
Cuba saw a double-digit drop in the number of Canadians visiting the island nation this past winter, raising questions about what's behind the slide. Data from Cuba's national statistical agency reveals that the number of Canadians travelling there was at least 30 per cent below last year's numbers in January, February and March. Yet the downward shift goes beyond visitors from Canada, with Cuba also reporting a decreasing number of tourist visits from Russia, Spain and Italy, among other countries. The director of the Cuban Tourism Board in Toronto was out of the country this week and not available for comment. But the country's national tourism minister has recently hinted at the "complex" challenges Cuba is facing. Several domestic airlines and travel operators confirm they are seeing less travel to the Caribbean country that drew more than one million Canadian visitors annually in the years before the pandemic. "The reported decline in Canadian travel to Cuba aligns with feedback we're hearing from both customers and our travel experts," Amra Durakovic, head of communications for Flight Centre Canada, told CBC News via email. Cuba watchers say the country's accumulating economic and social challenges — on full display for tourists who venture away from resorts, and also in media reports — may be contributing to the decline in tourism. "The reality is that the country has changed significantly for the worse since the early 1990s, when Canadians began visiting the island in large numbers," said Ricardo Torres Pérez, a Cuban economist who pays close attention to the tourism statistics published by the state. Problems on display A prominent and recurring problem for Cuba has been its unreliable power grid and the effect that's having on the country and the lives of its people. For months, Cuba has seen repeated widespread power failures, including on back-to-back occasions last fall when the island was hit by successive hurricanes. There was also a major outage in December, and yet another in March. Andrés Pertierra, a Cuba analyst who previously lived and studied in Havana, was in Cuba for two of those major outages last year. He recalls the pictures shown on the news of darkened streets, juxtaposed against images of the lights working at hotels. "How do you provide an image of a carefree lifestyle, a quick, fun trip, when you have that?" Pertierra asked. Flight Centre's Durakovic says travellers are paying attention to the very public problems Cuba's been having, including the periodic power outages and limited availability of some essential goods and services, which he says "can understandably play a role in travel decisions." Since July 2023, Ottawa has warned Canadians to "exercise a high degree of caution" if travelling to Cuba. The full travel advisory points to shortages of food, medicine and fuel, as well as ongoing challenges with the power grid. LISTEN | Cuba, power outages and challenges for Havana: Torres Pérez said these problems are tied to Cuba's ongoing economic crisis. "The crisis has affected the quality of services, the state of infrastructure and has led to frequent blackouts," he said, noting there are also issues around keeping cities clean with "solid waste accumulating in the streets." Both Torres Pérez and Pertierra also say that amid these struggles, Cuba is seeing more problems with crime than it used to. "While one could argue that the island remains relatively safe compared to other Latin American countries, crime is on the rise — including incidents of pickpocketing," said Torres Pérez. 'I love the place' But the lure of Cuba's sunny weather and sandy beaches is strong, and for some Canadians, it's a place they'll continue to visit. Quebec resident Michel Dubois last visited Cuba in December and says he'll be returning there twice this year. "I love the place, that's it," said Dubois, a retired TV cameraman and editor, who worked for both CBC and Radio-Canada during his career. "I love the people." Dubois says he's made friends after making repeat trips to Cuba, and helps supply them with hard-to-come by necessities, like flashlights, when he visits. Sharon Pedley, of Brampton, Ont., intends to do the same, when she returns to Cuba later this year. She and her husband will pack an extra suitcase full of necessities — like over-the-counter medication — to bring for Cuban friends they've met through their prior visits. "You'll find a lot of the tourists that I know of, they'll do the same," said Pedley. The support that Pedley, Dubois and other like-minded tourists provide in this manner may benefit individual Cubans, but these visitors also provide the country with a critical source of foreign currency. Pertierra, the Cuba analyst, notes that as tourism wanes, "that will mean less foreign currency," which is critical for the country to have in order to import needed goods and supplies. A turn to China? This past week, Reuters reported that Cuba is looking to China as a possible source of new tourists. In March, the official Cuban Granma newspaper lauded the growing number of Chinese tourists heading to Cuba in recent years — from more than 8,000 visitors in 2022, to a reported 26,760 in 2024. But those numbers are far lower than the more than 500,000 Canadians who travelled to Cuba in the first three months of 2025 — and that's at a level 30 per cent below last year. Canadian travel providers point to continued interest from consumers, despite what the Cuban statistics suggest. "Although there has been a slight softening in bookings for the early part of 2025 compared to the previous year, we are also seeing signs of stabilization in the last month," Marie-Christine Pouliot, manager of public relations for Air Transat, said via email. Air Canada, meanwhile, told CBC News that "Cuba has been performing very steadily for us." Torres Pérez says Canada has long been Cuba's single-largest tourism market. Asked how it could potentially act to drive up those numbers, he suggested efforts could be made to improve the quality of service and ensure the hospitality sector has the supplies it needs to serve visitors.
CBC
04-05-2025
- CBC
Canadian travel to Cuba on a double-digit downturn in early 2025
Cuba saw a double-digit drop in the number of Canadians visiting the island nation this past winter, raising questions about what's behind the slide. Data from Cuba's national statistical agency reveals that the number of Canadians travelling there was at least 30 per cent below last year's numbers in January, February and March. Yet the downward shift goes beyond visitors from Canada, with Cuba also reporting a decreasing number of tourist visits from Russia, Spain and Italy, among other countries. The director of the Cuban Tourism Board in Toronto was out of the country this week and not available for comment. But the country's national tourism minister has recently hinted at the "complex" challenges Cuba is facing. Several domestic airlines and travel operators confirm they are seeing less travel to the Caribbean country that drew more than one million Canadian visitors annually in the years before the pandemic. "The reported decline in Canadian travel to Cuba aligns with feedback we're hearing from both customers and our travel experts," Amra Durakovic, head of communications for Flight Centre Canada, told CBC News via email. Cuba watchers say the country's accumulating economic and social challenges — on full display for tourists who venture away from resorts, and also in media reports — may be contributing to the decline in tourism. "The reality is that the country has changed significantly for the worse since the early 1990s, when Canadians began visiting the island in large numbers," said Ricardo Torres Pérez, a Cuban economist who pays close attention to the tourism statistics published by the state. Problems on display A prominent and recurring problem for Cuba has been its unreliable power grid and the effect that's having on the country and the lives of its people. For months, Cuba has seen repeated widespread power failures, including on back-to-back occasions last fall when the island was hit by successive hurricanes. There was also a major outage in December, and yet another in March. Andrés Pertierra, a Cuba analyst who previously lived and studied in Havana, was in Cuba for two of those major outages last year. He recalls the pictures shown on the news of darkened streets, juxtaposed against images of the lights working at hotels. "How do you provide an image of a carefree lifestyle, a quick, fun trip, when you have that?" Pertierra asked. Flight Centre's Durakovic says travellers are paying attention to the very public problems Cuba's been having, including the periodic power outages and limited availability of some essential goods and services, which he says "can understandably play a role in travel decisions." Since July 2023, Ottawa has warned Canadians to "exercise a high degree of caution" if travelling to Cuba. The full travel advisory points to shortages of food, medicine and fuel, as well as ongoing challenges with the power grid. Torres Pérez said these problems are tied to Cuba's ongoing economic crisis. "The crisis has affected the quality of services, the state of infrastructure and has led to frequent blackouts," he said, noting there are also issues around keeping cities clean with "solid waste accumulating in the streets." Both Torres Pérez and Pertierra also say that amid these struggles, Cuba is seeing more problems with crime than it used to. "While one could argue that the island remains relatively safe compared to other Latin American countries, crime is on the rise — including incidents of pickpocketing," said Torres Pérez. 'I love the place' But the lure of Cuba's sunny weather and sandy beaches is strong, and for some Canadians, it's a place they'll continue to visit. Quebec resident Michel Dubois last visited Cuba in December and says he'll be returning there twice this year. "I love the place, that's it," said Dubois, a retired TV cameraman and editor, who worked for both CBC and Radio-Canada during his career. "I love the people." Dubois says he's made friends after making repeat trips to Cuba, and helps supply them with hard-to-come by necessities, like flashlights, when he visits. Sharon Pedley, of Brampton, Ont., intends to do the same, when she returns to Cuba later this year. She and her husband will pack an extra suitcase full of necessities — like over-the-counter medication — to bring for Cuban friends they've met through their prior visits. "You'll find a lot of the tourists that I know of, they'll do the same," said Pedley. The support that Pedley, Dubois and other like-minded tourists provide in this manner may benefit individual Cubans, but these visitors also provide the country with a critical source of foreign currency. Pertierra, the Cuba analyst, notes that as tourism wanes, "that will mean less foreign currency," which is critical for the country to have in order to import needed goods and supplies. A turn to China? This past week, Reuters reported that Cuba is looking to China as a possible source of new tourists. In March, the official Cuban Granma newspaper lauded the growing number of Chinese tourists heading to Cuba in recent years — from more than 8,000 visitors in 2022, to a reported 26,760 in 2024. But those numbers are far lower than the more than 500,000 Canadians who travelled to Cuba in the first three months of 2025 — and that's at a level 30 per cent below last year. Canadian travel providers point to continued interest from consumers, despite what the Cuban statistics suggest. "Although there has been a slight softening in bookings for the early part of 2025 compared to the previous year, we are also seeing signs of stabilization in the last month," Marie-Christine Pouliot, manager of public relations for Air Transat, said via email. Air Canada, meanwhile, told CBC News that "Cuba has been performing very steadily for us." Torres Pérez says Canada has long been Cuba's single-largest tourism market. Asked how it could potentially act to drive up those numbers, he suggested efforts could be made to improve the quality of service and ensure the hospitality sector has the supplies it needs to serve visitors.
Hamilton Spectator
24-04-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Canadians and Americans alike souring on cross-border travel, new data shows, as day trips plummet
U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war with Canada hit North America's tourism industry quickly — and hard, according to new data from Statistics Canada . More than 450,000 fewer Canadians returned from trips to the U.S. in February compared to January, according to travel data released Wednesday . Much of the decline was driven by a nearly 300,000 drop in day trips by Canadians south of the border. While this marked the second consecutive month of fewer return trips from the States, February saw an even more dramatic drop than January when comparing Statistic Canada's year-over-year data for each month. There were nearly 18 per cent fewer Canadians heading home from the U.S. in February 2025 compared with February 2024. When comparing January 2024 and January 2025, there was only a 2.3 per cent drop. Wednesday's data is yet another sign that the U.S. tourism industry has become collateral damage for Trump's tariff threats, 51st-state jeers and hardline border policies as Canadians use their travel plans to push against what they see as an antagonistic government. In February, Flight Centre Canada saw a 40 per cent decrease in bookings to the U.S. compared with the year before, said Chris Lynes, the agency's managing director. This trend continued, he said, with bookings to the States again down 40 per cent in March. 'While some Canadians are travelling less to the U.S., Flight Centre bookings show a steady shift toward international destinations where the dollar stretches further, such as Mexico, Japan and Australia,' Lynes added. Meanwhile, U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded a plummet of nearly one million travellers crossing the land border in March compared with the same month a year prior — one month after seeing a decline of 500,000 trips. Across social media, Canadians have been sharing that they're cancelling trips to the U.S. out of frustration with Trump's threats of tariffs and annexation to fears of the U.S. government's stringent border policies . The February data notably predates many of the reports of foreigners being detained at the U.S. border, as well as travel advisories issued by the Canadian government and other groups warning of visiting the States. It's not just Canadians souring on cross-border travel; Wednesday's data shows a more than five per cent drop in Americans heading north in February compared with the same month a year prior. In Windsor, where Canadians and Americans cross the border regularly for work, sports games and just to shop, there was a drop of around 14 per cent in border traffic in February, said Gordon Orr, the CEO of Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island. Any loss of American visitors could be significant for the region's $856-million tourism industry. According to Orr, about a third of the region's 5.6 million visitors in 2023 hailed from the States. Still, Orr said he is optimistic that there would be a good tourism season once it starts in earnest in May. Over in Niagara Falls, the local tourism industry is also feeling hopeful that Americans, who make up about 40 per cent of the region's 14 million visitors each year, will continue to visit this coming summer. 'We've built a friendship over many, many decades of cross-border travel,' said Janice Thomson, president and CEO of Niagara Falls tourism. 'So we don't see that going way quickly at all.' Even if there are fewer Americans, Orr said he expects more Canadian visitors to Windsor in the future as a result of the growing 'Buy Canadian' movement that's seeing droves of people interested in supporting local, including domestic travel. 'We were exhibiting at the Toronto Outdoor Adventure Show in February,' he said, 'and a lot of attendees came up to our booth and said, 'We weren't necessarily considering Windsor-Essex as a destination. But we're not going to the U.S. this year, and so we want to travel to other parts of Ontario.' ' 'So that's all very, very positive.'
