News Releases

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - June 8, 2011) -

Editors Note: There is a photo associated with this press release.

Good news for Canada's hospitality, recreation and entertainment industries – more than half of Canadians who plan to take a summer vacation say they'll spend their dollars in Canada, despite the loonie's higher purchasing power south of the border.

According to a new survey released today by BMO Bank of Montreal, almost 80 per cent of Canadians will take a summer vacation this year and the majority plan to vacation within Canada.

The study, conducted by Leger Marketing, revealed:

• 57 per cent of Canadians will vacation in Canada this summer.
• 18 per cent of Canadians plan to travel to the United States.
• 9 per cent plan to travel outside North America.
• High gas prices and other increasing costs have influenced Canadians' summer vacation plans the most.

"While Canadians have been taking advantage of the strong dollar by travelling more to the U.S., steep increases in fuel and food costs, along with continued restraints on spending could lead to more travel closer to home this summer" said Robert Kavcic, a BMO economist. "About 80 per cent of tourism dollars spent in Canada is from domestic tourism, and about 4 per cent of the labour market has a direct link to the tourism industry."

And while 78 per cent of respondents say vacation time will be spent with family, destination choices are almost entirely the purview of moms and dads (30 per cent). Sorry kids, only 5 percent of those polled plan their vacations around their children's preferences.

Forty per cent of respondents said affordability is the primary destination determinant, yet only 18 per cent said they would redeem loyalty rewards to offset the cost of vacation-related merchandise or flights.

"Given the importance of affordability, we were surprised to see that very few respondents are using loyalty rewards to lower the cost of their summer vacation," said Su McVey, VP, Customer Communications & Marketing, BMO Bank of Montreal.

"There's such a broad array of redemption options available to collectors today, from travel fare and car rentals, to cash-back gas cards, to summer merchandise, that it really is possible to upgrade your vacation experience without breaking your budget."

To make the point, Ms. McVey noted that BMO's current welcome offer of 1,000 Bonus AIR MILES reward miles to all new BMO Gold AIR MILES MasterCard cardholders represents a round trip flight between Vancouver and Kelowna, Halifax and St. Johns or Toronto and Ottawa. To see all the possible places you could fly for up to 1,000 AIR MILES, see the new BMO Facebook app at: www.facebook.com/BMOcommunity?sk=app_166250730106290

BMO's 2011 Summer Travel Survey was conducted from May 16-19, 2011, by Leger Marketing. The sample was 1503 Canadians, 18 years or older. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.5 per cent.

BACKGROUND

BMO AIR MILES MasterCard customers can use their reward miles to help pay for their summer play

Other top summer redemptions for 1,000 or fewer AIR MILES reward miles include:

• Passes to amusement parks and other attractions -- for example, a Toronto CityPass provides visitors to Toronto access to five of the city's top attractions. Cost: 450 AIR MILES reward miles for an adult or 300 reward miles for a youth
• Tickets to the Calgary Stampede Rodeo.
• Outdoor adventures such as a white water rafting experience in British Columbia.
• $20 Shell Fuel Certificate that can be used at participating Shell, Turbo, Beaver and Payless locations in Canada. Cost: 175 AIR MILES reward miles.
• Waterproof 2-way radio system.
• Portable speakers for MP3 players.
• Sleeping bags.

As part of the summer BMO Gold AIR MILES MasterCard campaign, BMO will be distributing vouchers worth 10 AIR MILES reward miles at the Dundas and Bloor-Yonge subway stations in Toronto on June 7.

To view the photo associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/BMOim.JPG