All Dressed Up and Everywhere to Go: How a Passion for Fashion Fuels the Style-Conscious Canadian Traveller

Booking.com reveals how style can impact our vacations; from mood and confidence, to transforming our personal style while on holiday and back at home

TORONTO – September 5, 2018 – Travel and fashion are a perfect match with almost half of Canadian travellers agreeing that looking their best while on vacation is important (46%). Whether functional or fashionable, a vacation wardrobe is a big part of any trip, from planning and packing to the actual vacation experience itself.

Booking.com, the global leader in connecting travellers with the widest choice of incredible places to stay, is championing the all-encompassing nature of travel and its ability to inspire the way we live our lives, including the experiences we have that impact our style, confidence and our fashion choices while travelling.

Look good, feel great

Vacations are a time when we leave our worries at home, escaping and immersing ourselves in a new environment. It’s no wonder then that many travellers feel more confident while on vacation than at home. Vacation wardrobes have a significant part to play in this, with over four out of ten Canadian travellers citing their travel wardrobe as the secret to vacation confidence (42%).

When delving deeper, Canadian travellers’ top reason for vacation confidence is being with people they’re comfortable with, like friends and family (69%). Conversely, a badly-planned wardrobe can ruin a traveller’s confidence, with one of the top reasons for feeling less confident while travelling being their vacation clothes are functional rather than fashionable (31%).

Beyond confidence, a travel wardrobe can influence day-to-day moods while on vacation. When asked how style choices make us feel, the top three emotions listed were being comfortable (55%), relaxed (54%) and normal self (45%).

Style stimulation

Before the trip comes stressful vacation prepping such as researching, planning and packing. Almost half of Canadian travellers agree that looking their best while on vacation is paramount (46%), as well as dressing their best for vacation photos that will likely end up on social media (39%). In fact, some travellers (17%) are so concerned with their appearance while on holiday that they would rather spend money on a wardrobe than on activities during the trip.

When planning their travel apparel, Canadian travellers seek inspiration from friends (79%), family (69%), TV programs (46%) and fashion and style influencers (34%).

Throughout their travels, Canadians are also finding style inspo to take home with them.

“It’s no wonder that what we see around us on vacation can transform what we wear at home. We get used to the norm of dressing a certain way back home but when we travel, our minds expand, and we become open to new possibilities with style, fabric and color. Experimenting with local style and translating it to your look back home can make you feel like a new person, whether it’s simply wearing your hair differently, trying a bolder color or tying on a scarf in a vibrant local print” says top fashion designer and Booking.com style ambassador Christian Cowan, whose clientele has included Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj and more.

Travelling outside the comfort zone

Cowan adds “A vacation is the time to get experimental with your style, the environment often allows you to be bold and adventurous with prints, textures, and accessories. It’s the perfect time to try out a new look that you wouldn’t necessarily wear at home. When it comes to vacation style, I have one piece of advice: go big or go home!”

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CONTACT DETAILS:

For further information, contact the Booking.com Canadian Press Office:

annie@punchcanada.com

NOTES TO EDITORS

Booking.com conducted research among 21,500 respondents in 29 markets globally (Australia, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, China, Brazil, India, United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Thailand, Russia, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Hong Kong, Croatia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Mexico, Netherlands, Sweden, Singapore, Colombia, Israel, South Korea). The fieldwork was carried out from 18th June – 16th July 2018.

About Booking.com:

Established in 1996 in Amsterdam, Booking.com B.V. has grown from a small Dutch start-up to one of the largest travel e-commerce companies in the world. Part of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: BKNG), Booking.com now employs more than 17,000 employees in 198 offices in 70 countries worldwide.

With a mission to empower people to experience the world, Booking.com invests in digital technology that helps take the friction out of travel. At Booking.com, we connect travellers with the world’s largest selection of incredible places to stay, including everything from apartments, vacation homes, and family-run B&Bs to 5-star luxury resorts, tree houses and even igloos. The Booking.com website and mobile apps are available in 43 languages, offer over 28.8 million total reported listings, including more than 5.5 million listings of homes, apartments and other unique places to stay, and cover more than 138,000 destinations in 229 countries and territories worldwide.

Each day, more than 1.5 million room nights are reserved on our platform. So whether travelling for business or leisure, customers can instantly book their ideal accommodation quickly and easily with Booking.com, without booking fees and backed up by our promise to price match. Via our customer experience team, customers can reach Booking.com 24/7 for assistance and support in 43 languages, any time of the day or night.

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