POR 387-06
Contract # 08227-075900/001/CY
Contract Award Date: 2007-02-16
Prepared for
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
March 31, 2007
The Strategic Counsel is pleased to present Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada with this report on a survey conducted between March 7th and March 20th, 2007 among 850 Canadian travellers in the Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver international airports. This survey of international travellers is the second phase of a two-phased research program. The first phase of research comprised a series of 12 focus groups held among travellers and travel professionals in Toronto (February 26th), Calgary (February 27th), Halifax (February 27th), Vancouver (February 28th) and Montreal (March 1st). Results of the first phase of research are presented under separate cover.
In keeping with the need to ensure the safety and well-being of Canadian travellers, the Client Services Division of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (DFAIT) Consular Affairs Bureau has produced a series of communication tools designed to inform Canadians on the precautions and/or considerations to be taken into account when traveling abroad. This research built on the findings of a prior study completed in 2006 by DFAIT's Consular Affairs Bureau.
The current program of research was thus intended to extend DFAIT's understanding of travellers' and travel professionals' information requirements when preparing for travel abroad and specifically to undertake a deeper and more probing evaluation on the effectiveness of DFAIT's communication tools and how they might be improved.
As such, the main objectives of this research were to:
This second phase of research was conducted inside the international departure concourse beyond the security screening areas at the Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver airports. A total of 850 interviews lasting approximately 15 minutes were conducted between March 7th, 2007 and March 20th, 2007. The margin of error for the entire survey is of +/- 3.4% 19 times in 20. It is important to note that this margin of error applies to generalizations for the population of Canadian international travellers. The survey is not deemed representative of the entire Canadian population and should not be considered as such. Respondents were selected randomly among travellers in international waiting areas, with care being taken to ensure appropriate representation by gender and age groups.
Interviewing was held on different days and times in each airport, depending on flight schedules and times made available by airport authorities. Appropriate authorization for on-site interviewing was provided by the Airport authorities at each location. The interviewing process took place as follows at each airport:
| LOCATION | DATES | TIMES | NO.OF COMPLETIONS |
|---|---|---|---|
| Montreal | March 7th-14th | 7am-11pm | 280 |
| Toronto | March 9th, 12th-13th, 16th, 19th-20th | 6am-11pm | 292 |
| Vancouver | March 7th-9th, 12th- 16th | 7am-11pm | 278 |
Travellers have a tendency to overstate the extent of their planning before they embark on a trip to a new international destination. The vast majority report taking a number of key steps when asked about the preparation process on a prompted basis, although their initial, un-prompted, responses demonstrated a certain lack of top-of-mind awareness of the specific key steps to be taken. Getting information about the destination country (51%) tops the un-prompted list, followed by looking for accommodation, attractions and weather (48%), ensuring that their passport is valid (44%), seeking health information (36%), checking entry visa requirements (28%), getting health and/or travel insurance (26%), verifying money/currency requirements (22%) and checking travel advisories (20%) are also important steps for a fair number of travellers.
When prompted, participants are much more likely to report taking many more crucial steps in their preparation. Respondents verify that their passport is current (99%), ensure that their health insurance coverage is sufficient (84%), leave a copy of their itinerary with someone at home (80%), check visa requirements (80%), get information on currency (72%), ensure proper travel insurance coverage (70%), check vaccination requirements (68%) and get travel report information regarding the destination (59%).
These somewhat clashing results indicate that preparation does take place, but it appears to be somewhat improvised. The improvisational approach to travel may not be all that surprising given the hectic pace of life and the limited time that remains for recreational and leisure pursuits and the preparation for such pursuits. In addition, the availability of voluminous travel information online may actually be serving to reduce the amount of time and thought that goes into pre-trip planning. While travellers can now search through numerous web sites to obtain information about their destinations over the Internet, they may in fact be somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of available information. In this respect the internet may be seen more as a hindrance than a help. Moreover, increased access to the internet, even in seemingly remote parts of the world, and the explosion of cellphone use may offer travellers, who previously might have prepared for trips more diligently, an option to make or finalize their plans "on the fly." The advancements in and proliferation of telecommunications technology may leave travellers with some sense of comfort, either real or imagined, that any situation that might arise can be dealt with, reducing the importance of rigorous advance planning. At the same time respondents to the survey did acknowledge that it is better to prepare rather than to deal with situations abroad as they arise. This ad-hoc approach to trip planning also surfaced during the focus groups discussions held prior to fielding this survey, when many participants said that they planned their trips, but not necessarily as carefully as they knew they should. This gap between the prompted and un-prompted answers on the topic of trip planning was even more noticeable among Francophone respondents.
Respondents to the 2006 and 2007 travellers' survey exhibit similar, somewhat paradoxical, views towards the Government of Canada as an information source on international travel when compared to their use of the information gleaned from the government. On the one hand, the Government of Canada is seen as a highly credible source of information on international travel, particularly regarding safety and security issues. On the other hand, it is not commonly used as a source of information. While, on the surface, this finding may seem unusual and somewhat contradictory, it is in keeping with other research that suggests the Government of Canada garners a high degree of credibility as a repository of information on a variety of important topics, but is not commonly the first or even a top-of-mind "go-to" source for such information. This likely stems from an historical tendency to view the process of accessing and extracting information from government as onerous and labyrinthine.
Canadian travellers are almost unanimous in stating that the Government of Canada is a highly credible information source on safety and security issues related to international travel, with a full 96 per cent of respondents saying they trust the information provided by the government. This level of trust is higher than that for family and friends (92%), travel guides (88%), travel agents (83%) and especially the governments of destination countries (64%).
Nevertheless, the Government of Canada is not commonly identified as a primary source of information on international travel in general. In fact, only 4 per cent of respondents identified the Government of Canada as a top-of-mind source of information on international destinations in 2007, down from 10 per cent in 2006. For both 2006 and 2007, the internet is the main source of information on new or unknown destinations. In fact, its importance rose by 12 percentage points in 2007, with 73 per cent saying it was one of their favourite sources of information compared to 61 per cent stating the same in 2006. Approximately a third (34%) of respondents mentioned using travel books, while one-in-five (18%) identified family and friends who have been there as a favourite source of information. Family and friends living in the country of destination were seen as a key source of information by 12 per cent of all respondents.
The Government of Canada nonetheless ranks higher as a preferred source of information about issues specifically related to safety and security. While the internet remains the most important source of information on such topics, with one-in-three respondents (34%) choosing it as their favourite source, it does not trump all other sources as it did for the previous question. The Canadian Government now appears as a key source of information for 17 per cent of respondents. Nevertheless, this proportion is 10 percentage points lower than in 2006. Travel books (15%), friends and family who have been there (10%) and friends and family who live there (8%) are also important sources of information for some.
In the same vein, a majority of respondents in both 2006 (66%) and 2007 (87%) who have seen travel advisories from the Government of Canada state that they are useful. Yet, only 15 per cent of respondents have ever checked travel advisories and only a minority among this small group (20% in 2006 and 29% in 2007) say that the information they read in the advisory made them change their behaviour.
It is difficult to know on the basis of responses to this survey what is behind the apparent discrepancy between perceptions of the high degree of utility of travel advisories and the low actual usage or reference to these tools. One could speculate that in a post 9/11 environment, travellers have become more cautious about their travel plans and choice of destinations to the point where they generally avoid destinations that might, in their view, warrant consultation of travel advisories from government. By the same token, it may also be the case that travellers presume that they would likely hear of issues in the news media that might affect their travel plans. The news media may, to some extent, be usurping or be used as a proxy for the information role provided by governments in issuing travel advisories. As such, travellers may rely more heavily, perhaps disproportionately so, on the former to keep them informed of significant issues affecting their travel plans. Finally, it may simply be the case that travellers are not fully aware of the type of helpful information which can be found in travel advisories (i.e. contact information, laws and customs, etc.) and that these reports are not exclusively focused on major issues or problems that might be encountered in a particular country.
Despite the fact that travellers do not often see the Government of Canada as a regular or preferred source of information on international travel, a majority of them (71%) state that they have encountered information provided by the government over the past five years. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of them have seen this information over the internet (92%). Nearly half of respondents (46%) recall having seen the Bon Voyage, But… brochure, while 19 per cent recall visiting the "voyage.gc.ca" web site.
The vast majority of travellers would make use of Government of Canada resources if they encountered trouble when travelling abroad. Three-in-four respondents (74%) say that they would contact the Canadian embassy in the country of destination, with another 36 per cent saying they would contact the Canadian consulate. By contrast, only 18 per cent would contact the local police, 12 per cent would contact local friends or family and 9 per cent would call home.
The most important role of the Canadian Government relative to Canadian travellers who need help in a foreign country is seen to be the provision of a new passport in case of loss (50%). One-third (31%) of respondents also see the government as a source of assistance in case of natural or civil disaster. Help in case of detention by foreign authorities (20%) and providing information about local country (20%) are also seen as important roles.
A shift in opinion from 2006 to 2007 can also be found with regards to views on limiting Canadian Government assistance to Canadians abroad. For most items listed, the proportion of travellers who do not believe that limits should be imposed increased substantially from 2006 to 2007. At the same time, the proportion of those who believe that the government should not impose limits also increased. These simultaneous shifts in opposite directions were made possible by the vast decrease among those with ambivalent positions compared to 2006. Opinions are therefore much more polarised in 2007 when compared to 2006. The highly publicised Lebanese crisis during the summer of 2006 may explain this large shift in opinions, having made Canadians more aware of some of the issues with respect to assisting Canadian citizens travelling through conflict zones. Canadian travellers have more entrenched views on what the Government of Canada should do or should not do in case of crisis abroad.