![The business of planning that winter getaway](/o1/sites/default/files/2025-01/beach-article.jpg)
During the depths of winter, many Canadians seek to escape to warmer climes. Some book their trip through a tour operator or travel agency. In 2023, the operating revenue at tour operators and travel agencies rose by almost two-thirds (+66.0%) to a record high of $11.9 billion.
Revenue of tour operators return to pre-pandemic levels
Revenue of tour operators rose by over two-thirds (+69.6%) to $9.1 billion in 2023, returning to pre-pandemic levels.
The operating profit margin for tour operators turned positive, reaching 2.8% in 2023. This marks the first profitable year since 2019 and the most profitable year in over a decade.
Revenue of travel agencies hits all-time high
Operating revenue at travel agencies rose 55.5% year over year to $2.8 billion in 2023, exceeding pre-pandemic levels by 11.6%. The profit margin for travel agencies reached 14.8%, the highest profit margin in more than a decade.
Travel agencies and tour operators faced large losses because of pandemic-related restrictions, with many firms going out of business, leaving only the more profitable firms standing.
Caribbean countries are the most popular overseas destinations for Canadian sunbirds during the winter months
Canadian residents returned from 3.5 million trips overseas from January to March 2024, up 58.9% from the first quarter of 2023 and 8.1% higher than the same quarter of 2019, prior to the pandemic. Most Canadian residents who reported travelling overseas in the first quarter of 2024 did so for holiday, leisure or recreational purposes (2.6 million) or to visit friends or relatives (660,400).
Perhaps not surprisingly, tropical destinations like Mexico (955,700 visits), the Dominican Republic (405,800), and Cuba (354,700) were the top three overseas countries visited by Canadian residents during the first quarter of 2024.
Average length of winter getaway is two weeks
Canadian-resident visitors spent $7.8 billion overseas in the first quarter of 2024, up 59.7% from the same quarter of 2023 and 44.9% higher compared with the same quarter of 2019.
Canadian residents spent an average of $2,199 per trip overseas in the first quarter of 2024, and the average length of trips was 13.6 nights.
Canadian residents spent the most on accommodations ($3.6 billion) and at restaurants and bars ($1.7 billion) while travelling overseas.
The cost of travel tours has gone up, but the price of air transportation has descended from a year earlier
For those planning a winter getaway in 2025, prices for travel tours were up 5.7% year over year in December 2024.
Conversely, Canadians were paying 5.3% less for air transportation year over year.
![](/o1/sites/default/files/2025-01/app-promo_4_751x422_4.png)
StatsCAN app
Download the StatsCAN app today to have these articles at your fingertips! Already using the app? Leave a review in the App Store and Google Play and let us know what you think.
Contact information
For more information, contact the Statistical Information Service (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).