Though many Canadians love to travel, a sinking Canadian dollar means that many are rethinking their travel plans. Even a quick getaway south of the border is becoming cost prohibitive as the Canadian dollar plummeted to $0.70 USD on Tuesday, January 12. This means that travelers who were hoping to spend time in the US, or any nation abroad, are going to find that their money is now worth nearly 30 per cent less than it use to be.
This has made the idea of the stay-cation a lot more appealing to Canadians, who find that their money is going to go a lot farther at home than abroad. This means good news for the Canadian travel and tourism industries, who hope to benefit from an increase in domestic travel as international travel declines. According to a report by the Conference Board of Canada last year travel within Canada increased 2.8 per cent, partially because of the weak dollar. The Conference Board predicts that domestic travel will continue to grow over the next few years, projecting it will be increasing by an additional 2.4 per cent this year because of the low Canadian dollar and low gas prices. The cities that will see the most visitors are Halifax, Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa-Gatineau, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver according to the board.
This trend has also lead to an increase in demand for condo rentals in picturesque ski towns such as Canmore and Banff. Whistler Blackcomb, a ski resort in British Columbia, has recorded 90,000 more visits for the fiscal year ending January 3 2016 than for the same time period in the year before. Banff also saw a booming tourist season this year. Local vacations not only cost less because people don’t have to worry about the poor exchange rate but also result in reduced travel costs overall, especially if travelers can drive as opposed to flying. This is an especially attractive option for Canadians who have had to drastically reduce their vacation budgets this year.
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