Annual Survey Reveals Trends and Concerns of Canadian International Travelers in Q1 2025

• Most surveyed Canadian international travelers intend to take at least one international trip in 2025, with the United States being the preferred destination.
• The survey unveils a noticeable decline in Canadian travelers’ perception of the U.S. due to their previous experiences and political climate.

Future Partners, a leading market research firm, recently conducted its annual survey, “The State of the International Traveler,” assessing international travelers’ travel preferences and behaviors from 16 top global tourism markets, including Canada. The survey took place from December 20, 2024, through January 15, 2025.

According to the findings, 90.2% of Canadian international travelers plan to embark on at least one international trip this year. Moreover, 63.5% aim to maintain the same number of international trips as the previous year, demonstrating a sustained interest in global travel among Canadians. Interestingly, 39.8% of the respondents have earmarked international travel as a high priority in their 2025 budget.

In terms of preferred destinations, 44.8% of Canadian international travelers named the United States one of their top three international travel destinations for 2025, over twice the rate of the closest competitor, Mexico, which stood at 19.9%.

Despite the U.S. being a favored destination, the survey raised concerns over declining perceptions of the country among Canadian travelers. Of the Canadians who visited the U.S. in the last two years, 34.9% reported a decline in their perception of the country based on their travel experience, which is the highest negative shift among all markets studied.

Furthermore, U.S. politics appeared to impact travel decisions, with 29.9% of Canadian international travelers stating that U.S. politics make them less likely to visit the U.S. This percentage outweighs the 21.8% who indicated that it makes them more likely to visit.

Additional findings revealed that 68.1% of Canadian international travelers had visited the U.S. in the last two years. Meanwhile, trip costs emerged as the top consideration for 85.6% of Canadian international travelers when planning international travel. The report also highlighted that Canadian travelers highly value a friendly and welcoming tone in international travel advertising.

Future Partners will release the complete report in March 2025, providing further insights into the impact of politics, media usage, travel planning resources, trip expectations, travel behaviors, travel preferences, and brand metrics on more than 60 U.S. brands. The findings will serve as a valuable resource for U.S. marketers targeting the Canadian tourism business.