Worsening Inflation and High Living Costs Temper Canadian Outbound Travel Plans – For Now For well over two years, millions of Canadian travellers were restrained by stringent lockdowns and widely detested border re-entry regimens that seemed to go on and on beyond any discernible purpose. Reasonable to assume, therefore, that once the restraints were lifted, outbound travellers would take to the air and hit the road in record numbers –making up for lost time and perhaps, even recording a post- pandemic “surge.” But then came the back half of this double whammy: record high gas prices, soaring interest rates and a relentless inflation that played havoc with many families’ household budgets and finances. According to a new report from the Conference Board of Canada, over the course of the summer its Index of Consumer Confidence fluctuated and in October, sank to 70.2 points – its lowest in two years – with only 10 per cent of surveyed Canadians believing that this was a good time to purchase large-ticket items. Significantly, the slide in consumer confidence was most pronounced among seniors (55 to 69 years), among whom the index dropped steadily from 84.7 points in August to 70 in October. (Consumer Confidence scores are pegged to a 100-point basic score for 2014.) And, as for outbound international travel, although CBoC’s October report on the first eight months of 2022 showed large increases over 2021 (a full-blown pandemic year), it indicated that there was still some catching up to do to equal pre-pandemic 2019 travel activity. By Milan Korcok Special Report 22 | www.snowbirds.org
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