Airbnb domestic searches surge 20% as Canadians avoid U.S. travel
Canadians’ interest in exploring their own country appears to be growing, as travel to the United States declines due to the trade war and political tensions south of the border.
Vacation rental company Airbnb Inc. said searches on its platform by Canadians for domestic stays have jumped approximately 20 per cent compared to last year.
“The surge suggests that Canadians are keenly interested in domestic travel and exploring their own backyard,” Hayley Clark, Airbnb Canada’s communications manager, said in an email.
Consumer patriotism, particularly about “ buying Canadian ,” has been on the rise in Canada following tariff and takeover threats from U.S. President Donald Trump.
The shift towards local exploration builds on a trend seen in recent years: domestic travel in Canada is booming, Airbnb said in its spring travel trend report, which highlights where Canadians are travelling to this season.
Québec City, Moose Jaw, Sask. and Summerside, P.E.I. were some of the “trending” domestic searches Canadian travellers made on Airbnb this spring, it said based on internal data.
Economic uncertainty and the weaker Canadian currency have proved a silver lining for the tourism sector, making Canadian tourists less likely to go abroad, the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) said in a March report.
BDC said that while foreign visitors are important contributors to tourism in Canada, Canadians actually make up the biggest share of demand for tourism businesses at about 76 per cent.
In a survey released in March, Abacus Data said the recent surge in patriotism is reshaping Canadian travel intentions this year, with many opting to stay within Canada’s borders rather than head south. This change in behaviour represents a pivotal moment for Canada’s domestic travel market, it said.
“Tourism boards, local businesses and destinations across the country have a timely opportunity to harness this sentiment, encouraging Canadians to spend their vacation dollars at home and reinforcing a spirit of unity in an era of heightened political and economic tensions,” the report said.
Abacus Data said its survey shows that 19 per cent of Canadians who have either changed or cancelled their visit to the U.S. have shifted to travelling to different locations within Canada instead.
Canadians aren’t the only ones favouring the country.
French hotel group Accor SA, which owns 57 brands including Fairmont and Novotel, said Canada is gaining traction as a tourist destination as travellers increasingly avoid the U.S. for holidays.
Canada is benefiting from this influx of travellers, chief financial officer Martine Gerow said on an earnings call last week.
“The only market where we’ve seen an inflection, which is actually benefiting us, is Canada, where we see Canadians who were planning to travel in the U.S. actually staying in Canada and some events that were planned in the U.S. now repositioned in Canada,” she said.
The decline in flight bookings to the U.S. has driven some airlines to modify capacity for certain routes. Flair Airlines Ltd., for example, restarted some inter-Canadian routes earlier than planned this year due to the rise in local demand. Meanwhile, it cancelled summer flights to Nashville, Tenn. due to a drop in demand, the carrier said in late March.
— With files from Bloomberg, Ben Cousins, Financial Post
• Email: dpaglinawan@postmedia.com
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