Destination Canada: Australia Global Tourism Watch

Thompson Okanagan
Written By Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association

2017 Australia Public Summary Report

Read the Full Report Here: 2017 Destination Canada Australia Public Summary Report

Key Highlights Include:

Market Potential:

  • The immediate potential market increased significantly from the previous year: 2.67 million travellers are definitely or very likely to visit Canada in the next 2 years (versus 1.95 million in 2016).

Competitive Environment:

  • Although results are consistent to 2016, Canada’s ranking on unaided consideration moved from 6th to 4th in 2017. The US remains in 1st position, followed by the UK and Japan.

  • Knowledge of Canada has improved, resulting in a move up from 12th spot in 2016 to 7th place.

Path-to-Purchase:

  • Younger travellers aged 25-34 are more likely to be actively planning a trip to Canada.

  • Canada is a top performer when it comes to converting awareness into dreaming, but only average at converting travellers further along the purchase cycle.

  • Additional focus could be placed on moving travellers from creating a vacation movie to itinerary planning, where Canada performs much weaker than the US.

Destinations: 

  • There are several significant shifts in likelihood to visit in 2017, with the Prairies, Regina, Mont Tremblant, and Fredericton trending downwards year-over-year.

  • St. John’s saw a significant increase as the most appealing destination.

Vacation Activities:

  • Natural attractions, Northern lights, cruises, historical sites, and local food and drink are the top trip anchor activities Australian travellers.

  • Popular activities that Canada could better promote to Australian travellers: historical sites, Northern lights, food and drink festivals, breweries/wineries, exploring places most tourists won’t go, fall colours, and spring blossoms.

Barriers:

  • Cost remains the key barrier to visiting Canada, followed by distance to travel.

  • Concerns about safety and delays/hassles at airports and borders are up significantly in 2017.

  • For younger travellers aged 25-34, concerns about lack of vacation time and language barriers are higher.

  • Older travellers 55+, have fewer barriers to visiting and are most likely to say nothing will prevent them from travelling to Canada.

For more research information by TOTA, Visit us online at: https://totabc.org/research/

For more research information by Destination Canada, Visit: https://www.destinationcanada.com/en/research

Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association
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