Travel search engine KAYAK released its 2019 Travel Trend Forecast which showed that Canadians just might be more adventurous travellers than their American neighbours.
According to KAYAK’s search data, seven of the top 10 most popular destinations that interest Canadian travellers lie beyond the country’s borders, including New Delhi, London and Paris. For American travellers, nine out of the top 10 most popular destinations are within the United States.
The search data also indicated trending destinations like Male, Maldives and Cartagena, Colombia where searches are up 215 per cent and 193 per cent respectively. Americans and Canadians are both drawn to Europe, but one difference is that Canadians show more interest in niche destinations such as Sofia, Dubrovnik and Porto, whereas the obvious places like Rome, Munich and Paris are still what attract Americans.
“When looking at this year’s up and coming cities for both Americans and Canadians, it’s clear that international travel is top of mind. But, our most popular destinations reveal Canadians are actually following through with their international travel plans and turning their fantasies into realities,” says Steve Sintra, Canada Country Manager, KAYAK. “KAYAK’s data also demonstrates how travel trends can differ across the country, which may be influenced by different cultures, geography or a desire to seek something different than what their city has to offer.”
The 2019 Travel Trend Forecast also showed that Canadian travel habits differ depending on where they live:
- Vancouverites have a hunger for cultural experiences making Asian cities like Tokyo, Beijing and Hong Kong popular choices.
- Torontonians are the party people of Canada, travelling to cities with boisterous nightlife including Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, Paris and Miami.
- Montreal residents are the sun-seekers always looking to escape the cold temperatures and warm up in destinations like Cancun, Casablanca and Orlando.
- Calgarians are the homebodies and middle-grounders, literally and figuratively. When it comes to travel destinations, Calgarians choose close-to-home North American cities like Toronto, Phoenix, San Francisco and Montreal.
- Edmonton residents are the friendly Canadian neighbours, looking to their Western friends in British Columbia for a good time. Popular destinations include Abbotsford, Kelowna and Vancouver.
For the first time since tracking Canadian travel trends, KAYAK has seen more Canadian cities included in the Travel Forecast than ever before. Toronto took the number one spot on KAYAK’s most popular list with cities like Vancouver (#3) and Calgary (#10) also making the cut.
It is also the first time a Canadian city has made an appearance on KAYAK’s list of trending destinations (destinations that have seen the largest increase in searches year over year)- Edmonton snagged the #5 spot with searches up 161 per cent.
