Four in 10 Canadians plan to take a road trip this summer as the pandemic has changed vacation plans for the majority of people (74%), with day trips and family visits among the most popular options.
That is the latest findings of an Ipsos survey published on June 29. The poll was carried out on behalf of Toyota Canada, and found that while 24% of Canadians are comfortable with flying this summer — 86% plan to stay closer to home.
“Canadians may be taking to the highway this summer, but they will not be venturing too far from home,” said Ipsos. “While 70% of Canadians say they feel comfortable travelling outside of their city/town in a car, 42% say they would feel comfortable (15% very/28% somewhat) going out of province.”
A smaller (21%) percentage would feel comfortable going to the U.S. if the border opens up: 7% would feel very comfortable versus 14% that would feel somewhat comfortable.
Two in 10 Canadians (21%) plan to go no further than 100 kilometres from home, while 50% will not travel more than 300 km from home. According to the survey, the most popular activities for summer road trips are day trips (68%), visiting family (53%) and camping (39%).
A little more than half of respondents will visit another city or town; 42% will visit a national park, 38% will go to a campground, 31% will head to the beach, and 23% will opt for a cabin vacation.
“Canadians are well-prepared to hit the road this summer, as 85% of summer road trippers say their current vehicle meets their needs for summer travel,” said Ipsos, adding that air conditioning (68%) and good gas mileage (60%) are the top features they will be checking.
Other features include:
Some of the precautions they intend to take include:
More information about the survey can be found here.
