After being fenced in by some of the most stringent − and confusing – border-crossing restrictions in the Western world for more than two years, Canadians have begun their great breakout by logging in more than 3.3 million* out-of-country trips (including at least one overnight stay) in the first three months of 2022. That’s more than seven times the volume recorded for the equivalent period of the previous year. *Conference Board of Canada data. Of that breakout, more than 1.8 million trips were to the United States (41 per cent by auto). That’s nine times the volume recorded over the previous year. What this presages, despite concerns about inflation- fueled higher costs of living (especially gas prices − see sidebar), is a strong winter season in the safe harbours which Canadian snowbirds know so well − Florida and Arizona. And let’s not forget the thousands of snowbirds − from primarily British Columbia and Alberta − who winter in California’s stunningly beautiful Coachella Valley (Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage) and the Riverside County area to the South (Hemet). According to official Florida data, 578,000 Canadians travelled to that state in the first three months of 2022 − that’s almost as many (584,000) as visited in the entire COVIDplagued year of 2021. To put the data in better perspective, in pre-pandemic 2019, Canadians made 3.62 million visits to Florida, slightly more than in 2018, when 3.55 million visitors spent an estimated US$6.5 billion. As for Arizona, Canadians (52 per cent from B.C. and Alberta and, surprisingly, 32 per cent from Ontario) made approximately one million visits in 2019 − spending an estimated US$1 billion. According to official California numbers, Canadians made 1.7 million trips to California in 2019, spending some US$3.2 billion. We’re talking serious money here. By Milan Korcok As Canada “Breaks Out” A Strong Snowbird Season is Anticipated 28 | www.snowbirds.org Travel
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