End of the road for the great Canadian road trip?

The days of packing boredkids and an overly exciteddog into the station wagon and driving for days across the Canadian countryside seem to have come to an end, say Canadian tourism officials.

"The longer duration driving vacations of the past, maybe the '70s and '80s when that was more prevalent, we don't tend to see that. And that was something that was a little bit eye-opening," says Greg Hermus, associate director of the Canadian Tourist Research Institute at the Conference Board of Canada.

Hermus is the author of theBoard's Canadian travel intentions report. The annual survey polls 1,500 Canadians on their summer travel plans. Thisyear's survey was done in April.

Cheaper gas, weaker loonie

The results show lowergas prices (compared to last year) and a weaker Canadian dollar will helpboost to domestic Canadian tourism, but not by a lot.

Of those who say they will bestaying in Canada for their summer vacation this year, 60 per cent cited the depreciation of the loonieas a factor in their decision. A U.S. dollar now costs more than $1.20 Cdn.

The Board also says the majority ofdomestic leisure travellers plan to use an automobile as the primary mode of transportation to get to their destinationthe summer.

Those longer duration trips, say, trips lasting sixor sevennights or more, Canadians weren't still looking to do more of that.- Greg Hermus, Canadian TouristResearch Institute

"Instead of having $1.25, $1.30-per-litre gas prices, we're looking at maybe $1.10," saysHermus.

"That's going to help domestic travel just a little bit, oneto twoper cent. The weaker dollar as well makes Canadian destinations more competitive, keeping Canadians within Canada."

Butthe Board saysaweaker economic environment subduedemployment, GDP and income growth has negated much of the positive influenceofthe lower dollar and cheaper gas prices.

Staying closer to home

And even those who plan to stay in Canada and drive to their destination, aren't straying very far from home.

"Those longer duration trips, say, trips lasting sixor sevennights or more, Canadians weren't still looking to do more of that," says Hermus.

There could be a number of reasons for that. Air travel is up, with passenger demand andload factors at record levels for many airlines, including Air Canada and WestJet.

Canadians also don't get a lot of time off, averagingjust10 paidvacation daysper year. That ranks3rd last among21 of the world's top economies. Only Japan and the U.S. mandate fewer paiddays off.

Kids also lead much more structured lives these days. Many children are in activities or camps throughout the summer. Those cost money and parents may be reluctant or unable to spend the time and extra money on a long road trip.

Students are among those whostill have the time for a long road trip, but even some of them are cutting back.

Newly minted university graduate Sara Martinez is on her way to Ottawa where she will be working for anengineering firm. She and friendsLaura Mejiaand Cindy Corrales, both still students,are spending fourdaysdriving to the capitalfrom London, Ont.

They're camping in provincial parks, hiking and exploring along the way.

"At one point, we were thinking of going to the U.S., but in the end, this turned out to be better. Less expensive, too." says Martinez.

"I didn't want it to be too expensive, so travelling closer to home was probably the easier way to go for me." says Mejia.

The Conference Board says there are some exceptions when it comes to planning a long road trip this summer.

RV travel bucking the trend

"Places like the Yukon, where you would see a lot of RV travel," says Greg Hermus.

Flight, train and bus travel options are morelimited and often more costly and lower gas prices may encourage longer summer roadtrips in the North.

In fact, those in the RV industry saybusiness is up overall.

OwascoRV Centre inWhitby, Ont., east of Toronto, says they're seeing a surge in sales.

"Our sales volume is up by 14 per cent (over last year). Our rental business is up over 40 per cent." says sales managerAmyCloster.

Much of the boost in rental business is coming from Europeans looking to get value in Canadian dollars versus the stronger U.S. greenback.

Butshe says the sales increase is beingdriven mainly by Canadian buyers.

"Especially with the dollar being where it's at right now, going down south is a lot more expensive than it used to be andRV'ingis actually 70 per cent cheaper than the average family vacation to the U.S. or Europe," saysChrisMahoney, executive director of GoRV'ingCanada.

Are we there yet?

"These days, everybody isoverscheduledand there's a lot going on with families andfamilies need to take a little bit more time and get away."

"That's the main reason to getRV'ing, because the road trip is actually bearable," says Mahoney

But short of an RV, whether it's in astation wagon, minivanorSUV,the days of long summer drives with kids fighting in the back seatand the dog slobbering out the front window may be coming to an end.