Many Canadians willing to hold nose at gas prices as they hit the road, take to the skies once again

Even as gas prices hit record highs, Canadians are fanning out across the country for fresh travel experiences after two years of bottled-up demand.

Beth Potter, head of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, says some vacationers are still staying closer to home on camping, hiking and cycling excursions, with many opting for road trips over pricey plane tickets as fuel costs and inflation loom large.

"When you think about those kinds of activities, they're not always a huge strain on the family pocketbook,'' Potter said.

The average price of regular gasoline across the country rose to an all-time high of 197.4 cents per litre Tuesday. But car travel can seem appealing regardless, since costly jet fuel has also hiked air fares.

"It's a more palatable alternative to other modes of transportation right now, where you'd be confined in a space with a lot of other people, you have other restrictions put on you like mask-wearing, or you have proof of vaccination,'' Potter added.

Canada remains the top destination for Canadians in 2022, but even more so than in pre-pandemic years, said Association of Canadian Travel Agencies president Wendy Paradis.

"People want to visit friends and family they haven't seen. And there are some people who are most comfortable still, with the pandemic not 100 per cent behind us, staying in Canada,'' she said.

With many Canadians opting to stay closer to home, some tourism operators are doubling down on the domestic market.

Vancouver-based Destination Canada Tours has ramped up its one-day tour offerings in and around Vancouver and Victoria, while also marketing new getaways further afield for Canadians who exhausted close-to-home options last summer. 

"We've seen Vancouver, we've seen Victoria, we love Whistler. Let's just try somewhere else,''' said marketing manager Elyse Mailhot, repeating clients' thought process.

Interest in the Rockies remains high, but bookings are on the rise for less explored spots such as northern British Columbia and the territories, industry experts say.

Near Yellowknife, Aurora Village, which had catered mainly to tour groups from East Asia, continues to host visitors looking to take in the northern lights between teepee warm-up sessions amid wood stoves and buffalo-hide blankets.

"The Asia-Pacific region is going to be one of the slower ones to start travelling internationally. And so they had to do a massive pivot... and they had to get to know the Canadian traveller,'' said Potter of the operator.

Agencies are, however, also seeing a surge in bookings for destinations across the globe, from Italy and France to sun destinations.