Cost of fuel slams brakes on road trips

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This article was published 17/05/2022 (953 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fuelling up could cost more than $2 a litre this summer — and tourism outlets close to home are hoping that will keep Manitobans nearby.

“Summer’s always a quirky time of year,” said Dan McTeague, president of Canadians for Affordable Energy. “Oil could fall, but gasoline will remain robust, so $2 a litre is possible.”

McTeague, a petroleum analyst, doesn’t expect the jump to come anytime soon. Fuel may fall two cents by Thursday, he said — oil prices have dropped a few cents.

Still, Canada recorded its highest fuel average — above $2 per barrel, at $2.019 — on Tuesday, according to GasBuddy, a fuel price tracking website. Manitoba’s average was $1.878 per litre.

“There’s no doubt that rising gas prices, as well as overall inflation… is certainly a concern, as far as bringing out of province visitors,” said Linda Whitfield, Travel Manitoba’s vice-president of communications and stakeholder engagement.

The Crown corporation is primarily targeting Manitobans to holiday within the province’s borders. It’s building off marketing used throughout the pandemic.

“It doesn’t have to be an expensive vacation — certainly not when everything is going up in price,” Whitfield said.

The Manitoba Chambers of Commerce’s tourism rebate program, which involved Travel Manitoba, ended Monday.

Over 4,400 Manitobans submitted hotel receipts, and more are incoming, Whitfield said.

“When people are given a little incentive, they are showing they’re certainly enthusiastic about doing a staycation,” she said, adding there’s pent-up demand for travel.

She wouldn’t comment on whether the rebate program would reopen this summer, saying only “we’ll see”.

Next year should bring visitor levels closer to pre-pandemic, Whitfield said. The Conference Board of Canada predicts business and pleasure travel to Manitoba will increase 34 per cent this year from last — which is still well below 2019’s numbers, Whitfield added.

Folks south of the border are hoping gas prices will draw Manitobans their way.

“With our location being so close to Manitoba, I’m hoping we’ll see a lot of (vacationers) going back and forth between North Dakota and Manitoba,” said Julie Rygg, executive director of Visit Greater Grand Forks.

“Hopefully the proximity will alleviate some of the stress of those higher gas prices,” she said.

Pre-pandemic, Matt Winjum would see “a significant amount of Canadian traffic” at Rhombus Guys, his Grand Forks pizzeria.

Then COVID-19 exploded and the borders closed. Now, inflation could detract customers.

“We’ve been trying to get back to 2019 (levels) for three years, and it seems like every time we turn around, we’re getting knocked back or knocked down by something else,” Winjum said.

“It doesn’t seem like anything is really going the way of the restaurant/service industry in particular.”

Winjum read in the Grand Forks Herald that Canadians made up about 40 per cent of the local airport’s traffic during some April days — a good sign for business, should people grab a bite to eat before jetting out, he said. The numbers are up from the first months of 2021, where Canadian travellers didn’t account for more than one per cent of traffic at Grand Forks’s airport.

“We would be saddened to see (Canadian visitation) go back to what it has been the last couple of years,” Winjum said.

Desire to travel after two years of a pandemic might not be hindered by gas prices, said Natalie Thiesen, Tourism Winnipeg’s vice-president.

However, fuel — and other inflated costs, like food — could make vacationers more cognizant of their mileage, she said.

“We’re still anticipating a very positive summer,” Thiesen said, noting the return of events like Winnipeg Folk Festival.

For some, it’s been years since family and friends have visited.

“Though we might be seeing people leave and travel to different parts of Canada, we also expect to see a surge of both domestic and international visitors… visiting friends and family,” Thiesen said.

Barry Prentice is one of those exiting Manitoba.

The University of Manitoba supply chain management professor has a wedding in Ontario this summer.

“I was looking forward… to a road trip,” he said.

It’s expensive to fly and book a rental car, he said. In his own vehicle, he can stop for swims, play music through a good sound system and take in the country’s views.

Prentice doesn’t expect the cost of gas to significantly decrease as long as Russia’s war in Ukraine continues. Russia is one of the world’s largest oil exporters.

“The demand for oil will stay, but the supply of oil will have more bidders for it, which will push up the price,” Prentice said.

Last year, gas in Manitoba cost an average $1.278 — 60.1 cents less than Tuesday.

The province’s hotels need people booking rooms this summer, said Scott Jocelyn, president of the Manitoba Hotel Association.

“If the gas prices make that a barrier for some to travel, then yeah, that’s not good news for us,” he said. “(Hotels) still have big bills to pay. We’re still dealing with the impacts of COVID.”

Over $1 billion in total visitor spending will be lost due to the pandemic, according to the Travel Manitoba’s 2020-2021 annual report.

Two-thirds of Manitobans plan to cancel or limit their road trips this summer because of fuel prices, results from a recent Tire and Rubber Association of Canada survey show.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com