In this thought-provoking session, Steve Mossop leverages decades of market research expertise to explore the forces reshaping Canadian society and their implications for the travel and tourism industry. Drawing from Leger’s 100+ annual press releases and specialized studies, Steve delves into hot-off-the press topics such as the impact of tariffs/Trump policies on Canadian travel plans, the economic impacts of inflation, the influence of political polarization and populism, and the use of AI in travel planning.
Tailored for tourism professionals, this session offers a data-driven look at how these societal and economic shifts are shaping consumer behaviours, travel preferences, and market opportunities.
Here are the presentation conclusions:
- Economic confidence in Canada is at an all-time low, and economic uncertainty with the tariffs will only add to that. This is bound to affect discretionary spending, including travel.
- Canadian patriotism is at an all-time high, bound by the dislike of Trump, fear of tariffs, and the motivation to ‘fight back’ with their wallets with American boycotts.
- Despite economic headwinds and consumer economic pessimism, consumer sentiment towards travel is still riding the post-Covid wave and is seemingly an untouchable category for consumers to cut back on.
- Since the tariffs went through as planned and Trump continues to escalate his anti-Canadian rhetoric, consumers will make massive changes to their spending patterns by switching U.S. travel for domestic travel.
- While AI is well-established in many facets of our lives in Canada—the travel category has lagged, and it is still in the early adoption phase.
- Travel organizations that incorporate or encourage AI in their guest experience/travel planning behaviour will win.
- Organizations that can utilize AI tools like Cube AI can gain distinct advantages in creating consumer-facing materials that tug on human emotions.
