Hotwire.com president Clem Bason dropped by the Canoe.ca office last week to chat with me about the release of the Canadian Hotel Rate Report.
This report highlights the cities where room rates have dropped the most and where travellers can capitalize on budget travel this summer. Quebec City, Vancouver, Whistler and Banff have seen the greatest price drops in Canada. Luxury properties in these cities have rooms available starting from around $100 a night -- something I thought was surprising in the case of the Western Canadian hotels.
Wouldn't the excitement around the 2010 Vancouver Olympics already be drawing visitors to these areas to check out already opened sporting venues?
No so, according to Bason.
"Canadians are not heading there yet," he said. "The Olympics hype hasn't hit yet."
While the recession has also affected hotel prices in the United States -- the decline in business travel has hurt fill rates and hotels are looking to sell off rooms cheap, especially in New York City, Las Vegas and Phoenix -- leisure travel has taken a bigger hit in Canada.
"We can speculate Canadians are finding it harder to justify spending on higher end hotels," Bason said.
According to Hotwire numbers, Seattle is the number one destination for Canadians, followed by New York City. Bason said San Diego is also emerging as a budget destination Canadians should consider. He said the recession unfortunately began at a time when many San Diego hotels were just opening or remodelling.
"They cut the prices fast," Bason said. "They have to fill the rooms somehow."
Despite the great U.S. deals, Bason said 70% of Canadians still book vacations within Canada, with Montreal and Toronto receiving half the total bookings.
-- Nicole Feenstra is canoe.ca's travel editor
