Presented in partnership with CheapOair.ca

Living throughout the pandemic has made travelling and planning vacations very difficult. As travel restrictions lighten across Canada, people are becoming increasingly accustomed to safety precautions and are anxious to get back to enjoying travel again.

To assist in rejuvenating travel, the Ontario Government announced an Ontario ‘Staycation’ Tax Credit, which allows Ontario residents to claim up to 20% of eligible expenses for trips occurring between January 1st and December 31st, 2022. When filing personal 2022 Income Tax, individual travellers can claim up to $1,000 and families can claim up to $2,000.

To more thoroughly understand consumer thoughts on the Tax Credit and travel for 2022, CheapOair.ca recently conducted a Travel Perceptions survey from mid to late-January 2022 among visitors to their CheapOair.ca website.

CheapOair.ca is an online travel agency that specializes in providing affordable flights and making travel easier and less stressful for everyone. They offer a wide selection of vacation packages and travel deals with more than 600 airlines, a million lodgings and 100’s of car rental companies. What makes CheapOair.ca truly unique is that you are actively encouraged to call one of their trained agents, which can make booking complex itineraries and group/multi-destination travel easier.

“We wanted to start the year with a better understanding of future travel perceptions and to see if Ontario residents were aware of the tax credit,” said Daniel Hayter, Senior Product Manager for CheapOair.ca.

Survey Results

The Travel Perceptions results were very insightful and, surprisingly, showed that over 66% of Ontarian respondents were actually unaware of the Government's Ontario Staycation Tax Credit. As travel restrictions are gradually being lifted, it is no surprise that over 25% of respondents stated that they were highly likely to travel and were likely to claim the tax credit and travel.

The survey also revealed unique insights into Ontarian’s travel goals and concerns. It found that many Ontarian respondents (34.8%) continue to be concerned about the potential health risks associated with travelling, primarily the heightened risk of exposure to the COVID-19 variants.

Further survey results showed:

·    Adventure Above All Else: Over 50% of the Ontarian Travel Perception study participants conveyed interest in going on an outdoor adventure for their next trip. This was followed by 34% of Ontarian respondents who expressed interest in going to Family Theme Parks as opposed to staying indoors and not travelling.

·    Canadians Are Road Warriors: With safety and security being the largest concern for most travellers, there is no surprise that over 60% of Ontarian respondents prioritized travelling in owned/personal vehicles as opposed to flying (35%), renting a vehicle (12%), or rail (8%).

·    Consumer Confidence Changes: Close to 22% of respondents stated that their confidence in travelling has decreased over the past three months, however, approximately 45% of Ontarian respondents said that their confidence in travelling had increased or remained unchanged.

Overall, the results show that travel continues to be top of mind for Canadians, and incentives such as the ‘Staycation’ tax credit assist to entice future travel planning.

CheapOair.ca Travel Hacks

To help Canadian travellers save further beyond the ‘Staycation’ tax credit, CheapOair.ca has shared some key insights that consumers may not have been aware of when making a booking:

1. The Early Bird Gets The Worm: Planning a trip as far in advance as possible can often save travellers more money. Not only can you save more than last-minute bookings, but you also guarantee yourself a stress-free trip knowing your accommodations and activities are already booked.

2. Mix and Match: Two one-way tickets on different airlines can be more cost-effective than a round-trip ticket on a single airline. CheapOair.ca has a fusion fare search tool that automatically pairs one-way flight options to find you the most affordable option.

3. Longer Layovers: Many travellers might hate the idea of a long layover, but depending on your airline, planning long layovers can give you an extra day in a unique location without any extra airfare costs.

“With the rising cost of living, it is harder for consumers to find ways to save. As a leading online travel agency and resource, our goal is to help share ways for Canadians to save on their future travel, accommodation and transportation bookings,” added Daniel Hayter.

As travel restrictions continue to ease in Canada and incentives such as the ‘Staycation’ tax credit are introduced, CheapOair.ca is here to help travellers spend less on trips so they can spend more at their destinations!