Dreamscapes Travel & Lifestyle Magazine
Issue link: http://read.dreamscapes.ca/i/725964
are still ongoing, Canada has become more affordable for many visitors; non-stop flights are more plentiful; experiential adventures are a promise; and social media recommendations have never been more powerful (four per cent of youth visitors say they would like to come back, and seven per cent say they would recommend Canada to friends). And every year, thousands of new Canadian residents are showing their over- seas families around. CONTRIBUTING TRAVEL TRENDS So what do Canadian residents get for all this sharing? Data shows that if Canada were to receive just five per cent of the tril- lion-dollar global travel receipts, this would translate into an increase of $2 billion in tourism spending, plus 15,000 to 28,000 additional jobs over the next three years. If we achieved seven per cent of the pie, this would likely result in 3.8 million new arrivals, $2.9 billion of additional tourism spending and 21,000 to 40,000 new jobs. Tourism officials say they still have much work to do, however, if you love to travel you might be surprised to hear that much of this early success is credited to you. Travel trends here are similar worldwide, so any request, complaint or recommendation you make can influence solutions to current needs, frustra- tions, planning tools, special-interest experiences and more. Take a look at some of these trends: • Driving our travel decisions is the lightening speed of communication technology, specifically: the pace and scope of social media influence online; interactive sites such as TripAdvisor; and webcams, beachcams, and now, the arrival of immersion technology where you can take a 360-degree virtual tour of places before leaving home. If you've voiced frustrations with certain aspects of your trips in the past, such as airport chaos, flight costs in Canada, visa delays, unde- sirable accommodation and more, well, you are being heard. • The travel-sharing economy (using pri- vately owned facilities and services at a fee) is appealing to those with modest budgets, but this kind of trade is still waiting for fuller regulations to ensure safety, payment security, basic quality and advertising truth. Until then, do your homework. • If you've expressed interest in 3D enter- tainment or at-home virtual touring, take note that forward-thinking accommoda- tion establishments are now producing 3D sneak-peeks as a trip-planning tool. In the lead is Best Western Hotels & Resorts. Visit its website to find out how to get Cardboard—the paper-made virtual- reality viewer by Google—which shows you any one of 2,100 Best Western prop- erties as though you were standing in the middle of it. • If you're a Millennial (under 35) much is being done to please you. Mobile travel services are expanding, products are being structured for limited budgets, attractions are inviting you to participate directly. This includes special-interest events such as the Queen West Art Crawl in Toronto, the POP Montréal Festival and the Vancouver International Film Festival, to name just a few in the fall. In the mean- time, millions of Baby Boomers are also being avidly courted with hands-on expe- riential travel. • Today, business travellers are not rushing home. In 2014, approximately 40 per cent added a leisure component. One short year later, 47 per cent were doing it by adding two to three extra days. Oh yes, and one more piece of advice. If you're male and you want to go somewhere, be nice to the women in your life. The current trend shows women in Canada make a whop- ping 89 per cent of the travel decisions. DS