Young Canadians are prioritizing spring travel despite dull economic outlook: poll

Young Canadians are prioritizing travel this spring despite a dull economic outlook, according to a new survey from Scotiabank, released Tuesday (March 7). 

The Scotiabank Spring Travel poll was conducted on behalf of Scotiabank by Maru/Blue between Jan 11-12, 2023, online with 1,518 randomly selected Canadian adults who are Maru Voice Canada panelists.

Even as the economic outlook is far from sunny, Canadians aged 18-34 (42%), 61% of Gen Z and a third of Millennials (32%) plan to travel this spring, the poll found.

Overall, nearly one-in-four Canadians (23%) say they're planning to vacation this spring, with another 17% considering travel. 

Among those officially planning a trip, the majority want to venture internationally (53%), while 42% plan to stay within Canada's borders. What's more, younger Canadians (aged 18-34) are mostly looking to travel domestically (53%), while Canadians aged 35-54 (58%) and 55+ (70%) are looking at an international destination.

When asked of the following four main features which one they consider a must for a travel credit card, survey respondents planning on using their credit card to pay for an upcoming spring trip cited they would take most advantage of redeeming points towards the cost of the trip (45%), travel insurance benefits (44%), no foreign transaction fees (14%), and airport lounge access (10%), while 14% of respondents cited other features.

"With so many credit cards on the market, it's critical to offer something to Canadians for all their travel needs, including flexible ways to earn and redeem points, travel insurance, no foreign transaction fees, airport lounge access and beyond," said D'Arcy McDonald, senior vice-president of retail payments and unsecured lending at Scotiabank. "The Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite helps Canadians stretch their dollars in order to make the most of their trip after such a lengthy period of travel restrictions and roadblocks."

Also, when it comes to credit card perks, younger Canadians are more likely to say they plan to use their loyalty points to pay for their spring travel plans through travel redemptions (14%), compared to their older counterparts aged 35-54 (5%) and 55+ (10%).

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