Survey finds fewer Canadians plan to travel this summer – but one generation is bucking the trend

TORONTO – Olga Valentin usually spends her summers zigzagging across Europe with her two young children, documenting the adventures for her family travel audience online. But not this year.

“Everything is a lot more expensive, and so certainly that’s having an impact on our travel decisions,” said Valentin, who goes by the handle mini.jetsetter on Instagram and has kids aged four and seven. “This summer we’re staying a bit closer to home.”

She’s not alone.

A new TD survey released Tuesday suggests 35 per cent of Canadians plan to spend less this summer, with 61 per cent of travellers actively reducing travel costs and 44 per cent saying higher fuel prices are affecting their travel decisions. Sixty-two per cent say they are redirecting spending toward essentials like groceries, fuel and housing.

Valentin notes long-haul flights are “super expensive now,” and for larger families, the costs multiply.

“If you’re a family of four or five, that adds up a lot. Hotels are ridiculous too,” she said.

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Valentin says she’s hearing it constantly from her followers and sees a clear shift in how parents are approaching the summer. To help feed an appetite for closer-to-home excursions, Valentin helped create a deck of 50 scratch-off cards called the “Play Day Passport,” which features kid-friendly itineraries in and around Toronto.

She plans to bike with her own family around the city and take a road trip to Quebec.

“I am seeing more people kind of staying close to home, trying to do more local adventures,” she said.

The survey bears that out: 79 per cent of Canadians plan to support local or Canadian businesses this summer, with 48 per cent saying it’s a stronger priority than last year.

“Everyone is taking a little bit more careful look at their finances,” said Leslie Logan, a senior financial planner at TD. “Everyone is just budgeting a little bit more this summer than they have in the past.”

Travel consultant McKenzie McMillan of The Travel Group says the picture is somewhat nuanced. He says bookings have slowed, but those still travelling appear willing to spend more to ensure their trips happen.

He notes there was an initial pullback on European travel amid headlines about fuel costs and jet fuel rationing overseas, but he believes that trend is reversing.

“What we’re seeing now is that people are starting to book again. We’re actually having quite a bit of a rush on Europe travel in the last two weeks,” said McMillan, who believes prices for travel will continue to go up this summer.

McMillan also notes the growing interest in domestic travel.

“On routes between Vancouver and Toronto, where we would normally see mostly corporate travel, we’re seeing a lot more leisure passengers deciding to make those bookings,” said McMillan.

“From out here on the West Coast, we’re also seeing a lot of people take interest in flying into the Maritimes. Flights to places like Moncton, Halifax, St. John’s are booking up quite quickly this summer.”

Meanwhile, one generation appears to be bucking the broader trend. The TD survey found nearly a quarter of generation Z respondents plan to actually increase their summer spending, with 32 per cent saying social pressures are influencing their decisions.

Logan says memories from the COVID-19 pandemic are a big factor.

“They’re young, they want to get out there, they want to experience life. They’ve got those lockdowns in their memory, and they just want to get out,” she said.

For everyone else feeling stretched, Logan has a prescription that costs nothing.

“There is a trend about experiencing a ’90s summer. Going analog. Turning our screens off, getting outside,” she said, noting a push towards things like riding bikes and connecting with neighbours, friends and family.

“There’s nothing wrong with having that kind of summer instead of having the social pressure of comparison of what everybody else is doing.”

She says she plans to take part.

“I’m going to get off my personal social media for July and August and go back to the ’90s, and actually be present and engaged in summer.”