POLL: Some Saultites planning staycations this summer, others have no vacation plans at all, poll suggests

Summer is upon us, and for many, COVID-19 has put a damper on regular holiday plans.

While new daily COVID-19 cases in the province are continually lowering, and vaccination rates are increasing across Ontario, some COVID-19 travel restrictions are still in place.

This has prompted many of us to spend more time exploring our own backyards than ever before.

However, with restrictions loosening, we at SooToday were wondering if Saultites were planning a staycation or a vacation for summer 2021.

So we asked: Are you planning a staycation this summer?

The answers were mixed. While 27 per cent of Saultites polled say they are planning to explore their own backyards, 38 per cent of voters say they don't plan on vacationing anywhere this summer.

Meanwhile, a small percentage of voters say they plan to vacation outside of their region.

The breakdown was as follows: 

• 776 (38 per cent) voted no, I don't plan on vacationing at all this summer
• 546 (27 per cent) voted yes, I plan to explore more of my own region this summer
• 369 (18 per cent) voted no, I plan on vacationing outside of my region this summer
• 329 (16 per cent) voted not sure yet

Starting Wednesday, travellers may once again drive freely across the border between Ontario and Manitoba, and between Ontario and Quebec. 

In Algoma, community spread and variants of concern have been confirmed in the last 14 days, and Algoma Public Health (APH) is still recommending residents avoid travel except for essential reasons.

A total of 2,020 local votes were cast in the poll. This poll had a 2.15 per cent margin of error, 19 times out of 20.

SooToday's polling system allows for the capture of relevant local data and gives us the ability to detect and prevent fraudulent votes, as well as detect and prevent robots and filter out non-local duplicate votes.