More Canadian Cross-Border Shopping for Less Expensive Airline Tickets

Half of Canadian travellers have gone or plan to go to the U.S. to buy cheaper airline tickets, says data released today from the Hotel Association of Canada’s (HAC) 2013 Canadian Travel Intentions Survey.

While 18 percent of HAC 2013 survey respondents said they travelled to the U.S. for cheaper airline tickets in 2012 (up 3% over last year’s survey), 32 percent said they plan on doing so in 2013. The highest numbers of cross-border airline ticket shoppers come from Ontario and British Columbia, at 23% (up 4%), and in the 18-24 year old age category (32%). An alarming 61 percent of respondents said they knew people who travelled to the U.S. in 2012 to purchase cheaper airline tickets.

“Almost 20 percent of all Canadian travellers, including a quarter from our largest province, are travelling to the U.S. for deals on airline tickets. This represents a lot of Canadian dollars going to the US to buy cheaper airline tickets,” said Tony Pollard, President of the Hotel Association of Canada. “This trend is the result of high airport rents, Air Traveller Security charges, NAV CANADA fees and airport improvement fees and amounts to millions of Canadian travellers finding the price of Canadian tickets more expensive than the cost of driving to the U.S. and flying from airports like Buffalo, Detroit, Plattsburg, Bellingham, Bangor, Seattle, Syracuse or Grand Forks.” 

The HAC believes that the travel and tourism sector requires a fair tax and regulatory regime that allows it to compete on a level playing field with the rest of the world which underscores the importance of a comprehensive federal review of the aviation cost structure in Canada.

2013 Travel Intentions Survey

The survey of Canadian travellers is the ninth annual Canadian Travel Intentions study undertaken by the Hotel Association of Canada. This survey was fielded by Opinion Search and defines a traveller as someone who will stay at least one night in a hotel, motel or resort. The online survey was conducted in the second and third weeks of January 2013 among 1505 “likely travellers” with a margin of error of +/- 2.5%.

Hotel Association of Canada

Celebrating its Centennial Anniversary, the Hotel Association of Canada is the national voice and resource for the Hotel and Lodging Industry in Canada. For 100 years, it has worked to enhance the prosperity of the Canadian Hotel and Lodging Industry through strong member engagements, effective government advocacy, and the provision of value added programs and services. The Hotel Association represents more than 8,400 hotels, motels and resorts that encompass the $16 billion Canadian hotel industry which employs 284,000 people across Canada. www.hotelassociation.ca.


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