A survey of 5,785 past customers of tripcentral.ca, a travel agency specializing in booking leisure travel for Canadians, was conducted between February 24 and 28, 2021.
The seven-question survey aimed to understand the relationship between vaccination levels and future demand to book travel.
“80% of respondents, who want to be vaccinated, expect to be vaccinated by September, indicating belief in the Government vaccine rollout plan, despite the slow start”, said Richard Vanderlubbe, President of tripcentral.ca. Just under 18% indicated that they were not interested in being vaccinated.
Of those not interested in being vaccinated, 61% indicated they would go away now if it were not for the restrictions. 68% of those not interested in being vaccinated ranked the quarantine on return being the #1 concern about booking travel.
For those expecting to be vaccinated by September, not yet being vaccinated themselves is the number one concern for 45% of the respondents, followed by the quarantine on return chosen as the first concern by 30%.
Almost one quarter of respondents who expect to be vaccinated by September ranked vaccinations in their destination the top 2nd concern.
“Concern about vaccination at destinations would indicate that even if Canada is mostly vaccinated by fall, demand for travel will still not fully recover” said Vanderlubbe.
“Canada has purchased far more vaccine than will be needed, and eventually we will donate it to other countries. It makes sense for the Government to consider donating it to countries where Canadians travel such as Cuba, Dominican Republic, parts of Mexico, Jamaica and other Caribbean islands. Giving back to countries that Canadians visit most and reducing the risk of Canadians returning home carrying variants from unvaccinated destinations is a win-win all around.”
encouraging news!