Road trips and other local travel filling void left by dramatic decline in air travel outside of Canada.
If you’re itching for a change of scenery this summer, you’re not alone. In a recent survey of Ontarians, only 1-in-4 respondents has taken a vacation in the past year. With the Government of Ontario moving into Stage 2 of its reopening framework today and many Ontarians weighing safe travel options, taking a road trip is the top choice this summer. In fact, road trips and other local travel appear to be filling the void left by a dramatic decline in air travel outside of Canada. Read the full release:
“Whether you’re headed to the cottage, camping or are passing through the GTA to your final destination, we’re proud to be the route of choice to spend less time in traffic and more time making memories on your summer vacation,” said Javier Tamargo, President and CEO, 407 ETR.
More than half of 407 ETR drivers report time savings between 20 to 60 minutes per trip and with Highway 407 ETR’s exceptional safety record and free roadside assistance if you run into trouble on the road, it’s the ideal route for road trippers.
According to the survey, almost 4-in-5 Ontarians have enjoyed road tripping at some point in their lives and 64% of respondents said that family road trips were part of their childhood. Not surprisingly, 81% of survey respondents planning a road trip said they would like to take a road trip with their family this summer.
If you’re planning a road trip, in addition to packing a vehicle safety kit, 407 ETR is encouraging drivers to download 407 ETR’s mobile app which allows users to conveniently calculate tolls and set routes to receive notifications about traffic conditions impacting their drive. Learn more at 407etr.com/app.
Key Findings of the Online Survey:
- Taking a road trip is a fundamental part of the Ontario experience
- Prior to COVID-19, taking a road trip was the single most common annual travel experience for Ontarians
- This year, 2-in-3 (66%) say they are considering a road trip this summer compared to 49% in an average year
- Listening to music is a key part of the road trip experience, especially for people who have been road tripping all their lives
- Road trips are a particularly popular option for drivers who have not taken a vacation in the past 6 months or who are generally less likely to take winter vacations
- Millennials (43%) are most likely to be lifelong road trippers while only 1-in-4 (27%) baby boomers say the same
- Younger generations are also embracing “the road trip.” Generation Z has been less likely than Millennials or Generation X to take a road trip in the past but the survey revealed they are mostly likely to do so this summer.
About the Online Survey
The online survey was conducted by Innovative Research on behalf of 407 ETR between June 15 and June 21, 2021. The full survey will be released in late July, 2021.
Sample Size: n=1,647 Ontario general population, 18 years or older with a current driver’s license. The province-wide results are weighted to n=600 based on Census data from Statistics Canada. The remaining 847 interviews were used as oversample to allow for more confidence in the findings for the regions and cities of the GTA.
Weighting: Results for Canada are weighted by age, gender, and region to ensure that the overall sample’s composition reflects that of the actual population according to Census data; in order to provide results that are intended to approximate a probability sample. Weighted and unweighted frequencies are reported in the table.
Margin of Error: This is a representative sample. However, since the online survey was not a random probability based sample, a margin of error cannot be calculated. Statements about margins of sampling error or population estimates do not apply to most online panels.
