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 Travel & Outdoors | November 2007 
Canadians Booking in Record Numbers to High Canadian Dollar
 Marketwire
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 |  | Canadians are 40% richer today than they were in 2002 and as a result are heading south in record numbers. |  | |
Toronto - Not since 1957, when the Canadian dollar hit an historic high of $1.06US has our dollar been so strong. "A scant 11 months ago $500CAD bought you 3750 Mexico Pesos" says Jonathan Carroll, President of itravel2000, "and just this morning my $500 was worth an astounding 5,708 Mexico Pesos". This amounts to an increase of $125USD buying power in Mexico and Canadians are using this to their advantage when planning their vacations.
itravel2000, Canada's largest independent online travel retailer, is experiencing record bookings right now as a result of the strong Canadian dollar. 'We've seen a significant rise in bookings to Mexican destinations as a direct result of the soaring loonie" says Carroll. And, not only is Mexico reaping the benefits but bookings to the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Cuba are exceptionally strong this fall and winter.
One major upside to the strong loonie right now is that Canadian travellers are offsetting what they might have spent at duty free shopping or dining out by applying that savings to upgrading their vacation. Travellers who may have booked a 4 star property last year are upgrading to a 5 star property this year.
Travellers are also benefiting from the more-than-favourable dollar when deciding on a cruise. "Typically onboard extras like premium dining and alcoholic beverages as well as offshore excursions are extra'" notes Carroll, "but now travellers have those extra dollars to experience the activities that truly make a vacation special". Cruising remains one of the fastest growing travel segments for Canadians and is expected to grow even more as the Canadian dollar strengthens.
Today $500 CAD gets you:
• 533.821 US Dollars
• 5,708.42 MXN Mexico Pesos
• 37,952.72 JMD Jamaica Dollars
• 17,979.31 DOP Dominican Republic Peso
• 489.390 Cuban Convertible Peso
In 2002 $500 CAD was worth:
*312.55 US Dollars
• 2, 861 MXN Mexico Pesos
• 14, 728 JMD Jamaica Dollars
If ever consumers were thinking of taking that special vacation or have been putting off taking the entire family south for a week, now it the time to do it. Canada's dollar is the best performer this year versus the 16 most-actively traded currencies and experts really don't know how long this trend will last.
About itravel2000: itravel2000 is Canada's largest independent travel company and operates one of Canada's busy travel web portals www.itravel2000.com which is supported by over 100 sales agents in their call center located in Mississauga Ontario. |
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