Global travel and tourism have been characterized in recent years by both healthy, even robust, rates of growth, coupled with stark declines brought about by concerns about health and safety during a global pandemic. Over this time the industry has begun to embrace the concept that the local resident is the industry’s most important customer – a vital partner in the development and prosperity of this industry.

As such, resident sentiment has become the new “essential KPI.” The resident will be the traveler who powers tourism’s rebound, the partner at the table to advocate for funding and building new tourism product, the trusted source of vital word of mouth to friends and
relatives, and the beneficiary of the financial gains from this vital economic engine.

In 2021, Longwoods International again fielded a national Resident Sentiment Study, utilizing a national online consumer research panel of 4,000 adults. The scale and scope of this study make insights available on the regional and generational level for the first time, allowing for both a national benchmark evaluation, as well as evaluations of nuances across the country. Further, this was the first year which this research was expanded into the Canadian market allowing for both a depth of insights into Canadian resident sentiment toward travel but also a comparison with those insights from the U.S. study. In partnership with Destinations International, the results of these two National Resident Sentiment Studies Towards Tourism are being made available to the tourism industry.