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Hot travel trends for Canadians this winter

<i>[Woman sitting on a hamock at a small hotel in the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. (Getty Images)]</i>
[Woman sitting on a hammock at a small hotel in the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. (Getty Images)]

As much as Canadians make the best of our winter weather we also love to head to sunnier climes in the coldest months of the year. Every year more than 30 million visits to foreign countries are made by Canadians, according to Statistics Canada, and winter-friendly destinations like Florida, Cuba, and Mexico are top among those trips.

There are several factors at play this year that might affect those plans, giving Canadians a few reasons to stay home: travel warnings about the Zika virus, concerns about terrorism in Europe, continued weakness in the Canadian dollar. At the same time factors like the weak pound across the Atlantic are making non-traditional winter destinations more appealing than usual.

But so far a hot summer across Canada doesn’t seem to have put people off travelling to warmer locales in the winter.

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“This year, with Cancun, Honolulu and Orlando making the most popular destination lists, we are seeing that Canadians are looking to catch some rays this holiday season versus hitting up hot spots like Vegas, L.A. and New York,” Dave Solomito, KAYAK’s vice president of North American marketing, tells Yahoo Canada Finance.

Here’s a look at what to expect for the winter season for Canadian travellers, and the trends that could shape the way people in this country spend their winter vacations.

Zika might not be scaring Canadians off

The Canadian government currently has Zika-related travel warnings in place for several of the most popular destinations for Canadians including Cuba, southern Mexico, and parts of Miami. The current travel health warning advises those who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy to avoid travel to Zika-affected areas.

But those warning may not be affecting travel to Zika-affected destinations in a more general way. “Cancun has held steady on Canadians’ list of favourite holiday destinations and the trend seems to be continuing as of this pulse check,” Solomito says.

The weak dollar is still having an effect

Last year the weak loonie was expected to affect Canadian travel to the United States and to destinations pegged to the U.S. dollar. This year, the dollar has recovered only slightly. That could be significant considering that an estimated one million Canadians aged 55 and older spend at least a month in the U.S. each year, Canadian Business Journal reports.

“Overall, Canadians’ searches to the U.S. have declined,” says Solomito. “Compared to this time last year, interest in travel to the U.S. for holiday season has seen a 30 per cent year-over-year decrease.”

However, some U.S. destinations remain popular with Canadians, Solomito says, including Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, and Miami in Florida. That is perhaps not surprising considering an estimated 700,000 Canadians own homes in the Sunshine State.

Look across the Atlantic to Europe

“Canadians are showing an increase in interest in traveling to London this holiday season,” Solomito says. A weaker pound makes the UK a cheaper-than-usual destination right now, even when our loonie is also down.

And concerns about tourism in Europe aren’t necessarily scaring Canadians off, Solomito says.

“We are still seeing strong interest in European destinations,” Solomito says. “London and Paris are among the top destinations for Canadians this holiday season, which is consistent with 2015.”

The weak loonie might not keep them home

In the summer KAYAK’s data showed more interest in Canadian destinations like Calgary and Montreal, Solomito says, indicating that Canucks were travelling more in their own country. And tourism markets across Canada are having strong years in 2016 thanks both to in-country travellers and international visitors. Tourism spending in Canada increased by just over one per cent in both the first and second quarters of 2016, according to Statistics Canada.

But the same trend won’t necessarily hold in the colder winter months. “Our recent searches are showing that Canadians have less interest in staying closer to home, given the 50 per cent year-over-year increase in interest in international destinations vs. domestic,” Solomito says. “We have also seen that more Canadians are planning on hitting the road this holiday, with six per cent more interest in holiday travel versus 2015.”

Cuba no more?

Cuba has long been a favourite sunshine destination for Canadians. Nearly 800,000 of us visit the country annually, according to Statistics Canada, spending a total of $689 million.

Interest in the destination is also growing for Americans as legal routes to the country continue to open up. Ninety-eight thousand visited in 2012, double the number from five years prior, and those numbers should only increase now that sanctions continue to loosen and there are regular commercial flights to the island.

What remains to be seen is whether or not increased travel to Cuba by Americans will lead to lower travel there by Canadians, be it due to higher prices, less availability, or other factors.

Cuba is the fifth most visited country for Canadians behind the U.S., Mexico, the United Kingdom and France, but that may not play out the same way this winter. “So far, we haven’t seen Cuba crack the top ten list for holiday searches for 2016,” Solomito says.