Ontario Travel & Tourism Monthly (OTTM) is a CRG and Destination Ontario research study tracking Ontario’s tourism landscape. Built specifically for Ontario, it delivers monthly metrics on economics, social factors, safety, climate, AI usage, and more across priority domestic and international markets.
With 2,000 travellers surveyed each month — 24,000 annually — OTTM helps the Ontario tourism sector spot emerging trends, anticipate shifts, and make proactive decisions in a fast-moving market.
Highlights from the March 2026 Report:
- Domestic demand continues to lead. Interest in travelling to Ontario remains strongest among Ontario residents (85%) and continues to trend upward; U.S. Fly, Manitoba, and Atlantic Canada follow as the next most engaged markets. However, both U.S. Drive and U.S. Fly markets are showing a softening trend over time.
- Domestic visitation outpaces other markets. Ontario residents continue to drive the majority of travel activity within the province, with both overnight and day trips outpacing other markets. U.S. Fly travellers rank second to Ontario residents in the number of overnight trips to the province.
- Summer travel dominates. Early fall is an emerging opportunity. Summer dominates planned travel, with intent building from June into a peak in August and remaining strong through July, while interest in early fall travel is also increasing.
- Interest in visiting Hamilton Halton Brant Toronto, Niagara and Ottawa continue to dominate Destination Consideration rankings; Hamilton Halton Brant ranks 10th among Ontario regions (an improvement of one ranking position from February 2026’s report) with 11% of respondents indicating intent to visit in the next 12 months.
- Cost is the top barrier, and transportation concerns are rising. Roughly half of travellers cite cost as the leading barrier to travel in Ontario, with concern about transportation costs particularly pronounced among Canadian travellers.
- Geopolitical sentiment is shifting. Canadian travellers increasingly expect the Canada–U.S. relationship to worsen, while U.S. travellers remain more optimistic. Canada continues to rank as the most welcoming country among U.S. audiences. Ontario travellers remain the most likely to choose travel within the province due to the current U.S. political climate, and remain the most likely to travel within the province due to global instability and conflict.
- FIFA 2026 awareness is climbing, but intent is mixed. U.S. Fly travellers are the most motivated to visit for the tournament, while Canadian markets are more likely to avoid Toronto because it is a host city for FIFA 2026. Since the first month of tracking, FIFA 2026-related avoidance has increased among travellers from Ontario.
- AI is shaping early-stage trip discovery. AI is becoming an increasingly visible part of the travel planning journey. U.S. travellers are the most likely to use AI tools and to notice AI-generated summaries in search results. Across all markets, ChatGPT remains the most widely used tool for trip planning. Travellers primarily use AI to research attractions, discover destination ideas, and gather travel advice, reinforcing its role in early-stage trip discovery rather than final booking decisions.
Download the March 2026 Ontario Travel & Tourism Monthly report and more studies on the Destination Ontario Insights Portal.
