Canadians love travel and plan to keep travelling despite the economy. (Comstock Complete)

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A poll conducted by new travel website Savvy Traveller.ca reveals much about Canadians' lust for travel and tourism, despite these uncertain economic times; it also reveals which province's residents consider themselves to be the savviest travellers.

Seventy per cent of Canadians said if they had the money, they would travel more often. No surprises there. East coasters were the most likely to agree with this statement, with 78 per cent whistfully dreaming of throwing some cash down in the sunny south or Europe.

Atlantic Canadians may want to bring a west coast friend with on their travels, though. Twenty-nine per cent of British Columbians consider themselves to be savvy travellers, compared to 25 per cent nationally and just 16 per cent in Atlantic Canada.

Despite the softening economy, only 11 per cent of respondents said they were planning to travel less in the next year than they did this year; in fact, 32 per cent of Canadians are planning to travel more next year than in 2008.

Other survey results found that:

- Nearly 70 per cent of Albertans go online to hunt for the best travel deals before booking their trip versus the national average of 46 per cent; women are slightly more likely than men to go online for the best travel deals (48 per cent versus 44 per cent)

- Close to one quarter of Canadians say their friends and family often ask them for travel advice; Ontarians are most likely to have friends and family ask them often for travel advice (28 per cent)

- Only 19 per cent of Atlantic Canadians read up on a new destination and seek advice from friends and family before they go compared to 42 per cent of Manitoba and Saskatchewan respondents; on average, 32 per cent of Canadians do their homework

- Nearly half of Albertans book their travel themselves through online travel sites (47 per cent versus 31 per cent nationally)

- More than half of British Columbians buy travel insurance for their trip (54 per cent versus 35 per cent nationally)

The Savvy Traveller poll was conducted by Angus Reid Strategies in October 2008. It was a sample of 1,004 Canadian adults.

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