Canadian TravelPress Feature: What Drives Travel Choices

Canadian travellers are increasingly choosing experiences that reflect their values, identity, and emotional needs, not just destinations. Though two travellers may look the same on paper, their motivations can be entirely different.

Beyond Demographics: Understanding Today’s Canadian Traveller

Environics Research was featured in the July 2026 edition of Canadian TravelPress in the cover story, “Why Canadians Really Travel… It’s Not So Simple Anymore,” which explores the evolving motivations shaping Canadian travel decisions.

Drawing on insights from the 2025 Travel and Tourism Outlook Report, the article highlights why traditional demographic data alone is no longer enough to understand today’s traveller. As Stan Ivankovic, VP, Business Development – Travel at Environics Analytics, explains, two Canadians with similar demographic profiles can have vastly different travel preferences, motivations, and expectations. To illustrate this shift, the article features insights from Michele Cunningham, VP, Strategy & Insights at Environics Research:

“Canadian travellers are not simply choosing destinations; they are choosing experiences that reflect how they see themselves and what they want travel to deliver, emotionally.”

Michele Cunningham

Vice-President, Strategy & Insights at Environics Research

The feature also highlights how external events continue to influence travel behaviour. According to Environics Research’s 2025 Travel and Tourism Outlook Report:

of Canadians reported cancelling a planned trip to the United States.

of Canadians chose to replace that trip with a domestic destination instead.

These findings underscore how geopolitical and economic factors shape travel decisions and why understanding the motivations behind those decisions is increasingly important for destination marketing organizations (DMOs), tourism operators, and travel brands seeking to connect with travellers in meaningful ways.

Read the Canadian TravelPress magazine here:

Why Canadians Really Travel… It’s Not So Simple Anymore

2025 Canadian Travel & Tourism Outlook Study

The study explores Canadians’ travel outlook and intentions for 2025 through 2026, with a distinct focus on how Social Values influence both their travel mindset and destination choices.

View Travel & Tourism Report