It depends on how you look at it: According to a new survey from Snowbird Advisor, the number of Canadians who intend to head stateside this year fell 12% from 2024. On the other hand, some seven in 10 respondents still expect to go to the U.S., which represents a much smaller decline than other travel segments to the U.S. have reported.
“We believe the discrepancy in survey results is due to the fact that our survey focused exclusively on snowbirds who travel each winter to their snowbird destinations, while some other surveys included general travel intentions for all travellers, or baby boomers who are not necessarily snowbirds,” said Stephen Fine, president of Snowbird Advisor, an online resource that offers tips, tools and services (including insurance) for Canadians who want to spend their winters abroad.
Conducted in late October, the survey included over 4,000 Canadian snowbirds – 70% of whom said they intend to spend this winter in the U.S., vs. 82% of respondents who spent last winter in the U.S.
Fine added: “We also learned that over 50% of respondents who spent last winter in the U.S. and are not returning to the U.S. this winter said that they would consider returning to the U.S. in the future.”
Increase in travel to international snowbird destinations
In addition, the survey revealed that 23% of respondents intend to spend this winter in international destinations vs. 12% of respondents who spent last winter in international destinations, indicating that year-over-year snowbird travel to international destinations will almost double from last year.
“Clearly, the majority of Canadian snowbirds will still be going to the U.S. this winter,” said Fine. “But it does show significant growth in the number of snowbirds travelling to international destinations such as Mexico, Costa Rica, Portugal, Spain, the Caribbean and others.”
Snowbirds not going away for shorter periods
The survey also showed that 62% of respondents said they intend to spend between three to six months in their winter destinations this year vs. 64% last year, which is virtually unchanged, indicating snowbirds do not intend to shorten the amount of time they spend away this year.
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