National Travel Survey, fourth quarter 2021

Released: 2022-05-26

Highlights

In the fourth quarter of 2021, Canadians took 53.9 million trips within Canada or abroad, nearly 20 million more than in the fourth quarter of 2020. While this is a clear sign of recovery in travel, numeric and qualitative differences are apparent when compared with the same quarter in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trips made by Canadians from October to December 2021 were roughly three-quarters (75.5%) of those made during the same period in 2019. In the final quarter of 2021, the vast majority (95.2%) of trips were domestic, whereas pre-pandemic, roughly 12% were destined for the United States or overseas.

Compared with the fourth quarter of 2019, Canadians took longer trips within Canada but spent less; tourism spending at home was 5.7% below the pre-pandemic level. While trip characteristics were similar for international destinations, total spending was 60.5% lower because of fewer trips.

More recent data on international travel by Canadian residents are available from the monthly release, "Travel between Canada and other countries."

Increase in travel despite new variants

Despite the lingering threat of COVID-19 throughout 2021, increased vaccination rates and the easing of some travel restrictions seemed to spark pent-up travel demand in the fourth quarter. By the end of the third quarter, fully vaccinated travellers were allowed to cross the Canada–US border in both directions for non-essential travel.

In November, the World Health Organization declared Omicron a variant of concern, and in response, the Government of Canada issued a travel advisory and testing requirement for travellers arriving in Canada, effective December 21. However, this did not appear to dissuade holiday travel, as economic momentum supported overall Canadian tourism activity into December.

Domestic travel recovering

Canadians made 51.3 million domestic trips in the fourth quarter of 2021, up 49.0% from 2020, but just over four-fifths (82.0%) of the same quarter in 2019. Compared with these same three months—October to December—of 2019, overnights trips have recovered more than same-day trips.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, Canadians spent $10.9 billion during domestic travel, less than the $11.6 billion in 2019. Average spending was $213 per trip, compared with $185 in 2019, with Canadians spending $105 per same-day trip and $432 per overnight trip.

With relatively more overnight trips, the largest spending category—accommodation—totalled $2.2 billion during the fourth quarter, up 7.6% from the same quarter in 2019. Spending on vehicle operations was $2.1 billion, 3.7% lower than in the fourth quarter of 2019, before the pandemic.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, there was $1.2 billion spent on commercial transportation and $292 million on entertainment, both lower than in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Trip activities in the fourth quarter of 2021 reflected the easing of restrictions, allowing limited gatherings, and the ability to visit with friends and family. However, activities that consisted of large groups, such as going to a business meeting (down 66.4%), going to performances such as concerts (down 61.0%) or going to the movies (down 56.6%), remained low compared with 2019.

As was the case throughout the pandemic, solo or small-group outdoor activities continued to be more prevalent during the fourth quarter of 2021. For instance, hiking or backpacking rose 46.1% and visiting a national or provincial park was up 22.3% from the same quarter in 2019.

Travel to the United States lagging

With the Canada–US land border open for non-essential travel most of the fourth quarter, Canadian residents made 1.6 million trips to the United States. While over five times as many compared with 2020, these trips were one-quarter (25.5%) of the 6.3 million taken during the same months in 2019.

Canadians spent an average of $964 per trip during the fourth quarter of 2021, compared with $812 in 2019. However, with fewer visits, the $1.6 billion Canadian residents spent in total while in the United States was much lower than the $5.1 billion spent in 2019.

Among trip purposes, visiting friends or family (474,500) and holidays, leisure, or recreation (464,500) were the most frequent. The totals spent by Canadians in the United States on accommodation and in restaurants and bars—typically the two largest expenses—were $569.1 million and $283.7 million, respectively.

Canadian overseas travel increasing

With travel restrictions easing in the fourth quarter, almost a million (978,400) Canadian residents returned from trips overseas, almost five times more than in the same months of 2020. Despite the increase, this was about two-fifths (41.2%) of the number returning during the same quarter in 2019.

In the fourth quarter of 2021, Canadian residents made 541,400 overseas trips for holiday, leisure or recreation, and 316,200 to visit friends or relatives. While both are large increases from 2020, they represent 38.6% and 62.9% of such trips made in 2019, respectively.

The $2.0 billion spent overseas by travellers in the fourth quarter of 2021 was just over half (52.0%) of that spent in 2019 ($3.8 billion). The decrease was felt across all spending categories, including accommodation (-47.5% to $890.6 million), restaurants and bars (-52.6% to $407.2 million), and transportation (-63.0% to $128.9 million).

Year in review, 2021

The initial impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were not felt until mid-March 2020, making 2021 the first full year impacted by the pandemic. As data collection was also disrupted in 2020 (see Note to readers), annual comparisons are made with 2019, before the pandemic.

During 2021, Canadian residents took 206.6 million trips within Canada or abroad, about two-thirds (65.9%) of the number taken in 2019, before the pandemic. Domestic trips made up a higher proportion of total trips taken in 2021 (97.9%) compared with 2019 (87.9%).

In 2021, Canadian residents spent $50.6 billion during trips at home and abroad, with $43.2 billion spent domestically. This compares with total travel spending of $97.5 billion in 2019, of which $57.3 billion was domestic.

The largest expense incurred on domestic trips was accommodation at $10.1 billion in 2021, which was 5.8% lower than in 2019. However, spending on transportation, including the cost of car operations and airfare, was lower (-55.3%). Entertainment (-54.0%) was also far below 2019, while spending in restaurants (-31.0%) and on clothing (-27.0%) was also down.

However, with even fewer international travellers, the biggest change was what Canadians spent when travelling abroad. In 2021, Canadian residents spent $7.4 billion during trips abroad—$2.8 billion in the United States and $4.6 billion overseas. In comparison, in 2019, Canadian residents spent $40.2 billion while on trips abroad ($21.1 billion in the United States and $19.1 billion overseas).

With similar travel patterns but fewer trips, similar decreases were observed across all categories in 2021. Spending on accommodation was $2.7 billion, 84.2% lower than in 2019. Similarly, the $285.4 million spent on entertainment was 88.2% lower, the $1.3 billion on restaurants and bars was 83.2% lower, and the $894.1 million on transportation was 71.1% lower.

Measures to combat the pandemic, such as limits on large gatherings, impacted the domestic trip activities of Canadians in 2021. Compared with 2019, activities such as festivals (-81.7%) and concerts (-80.6%) were very low, while going to a restaurant, visiting family or friends, and shopping were down 43.3%, 36.9%, and 35.5%, respectively.

Outdoor activities were more popular among Canadian travellers in 2021. For instance, 19.8 million hiking excursions were reported, up 42.3% from 2019, before the pandemic. Similarly, in 2021, cycling was up 40.3% to 5.6 million, and cross-country skiing or snowshoeing up 30.4% to 2.0 million.

Products

Data from the fourth quarter of 2021 from the National Travel Survey are now available. Other tables, including statistical profiles of Canadian travellers, are available upon request. In addition, tables that provide final data for previous quarters of 2021, annual data for 2021 and updated data for the second quarter of 2020, are also available upon request.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).