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Montreal, Toronto, Quebec City, Winnipeg and Cancun are poised to play an even bigger role in Canada’s outbound tourism network in 2026, as new and expanded sun links help channel Canadian demand toward the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Mexico. Official tourism and air-arrival data confirm that all three destination countries count Canada among their top source markets, meaning each new nonstop flight has a direct impact on visitor volumes, local jobs and foreign-exchange earnings throughout the wider Caribbean and Mexico region.​
The Dominican Republic continues to break tourism records, welcoming more than eleven million visitors in 2024 and targeting around twelve million arrivals in 2025, with projections showing sustained growth into 2026. Authorities report that Canada is the second-largest source market after the United States, accounting for roughly eighteen percent of total arrivals, a share underpinned by strong air connectivity from major Canadian cities to coastal hubs such as Puerto Plata and other resort regions.​
In this context, additional summer capacity from Montreal and Toronto to Puerto Plata and Samaná  directly supports the Dominican Republic’s strategy to diversify seasonality and reduce dependence on winter-only tourism flows. Increased lift from Canada helps spread demand across the year, sustaining employment in hotels, excursions and transport while reinforcing the country’s status as a tourism leader in the Caribbean.​
Cuba’s official and analytical tourism statistics show that Canada remains its single most important foreign market, representing around eight hundred sixty thousand visitors in 2024 and more than sixty percent of international arrivals in some recent years. Even as total visitor numbers remain below pre-pandemic peaks, Canadian leisure travelers continue to anchor demand for resort areas such as Cayo Coco, which depends heavily on charter and scheduled services from Canadian gateways.​
A weekly summer Quebec City–Cayo Coco link therefore carries significant weight for Cuban tourism, particularly as the island aims to lift arrivals from around 2.2 million in 2024 toward higher targets in 2025 and 2026. Each incremental flight from Canada contributes directly to hotel occupancy, local supply chains and foreign currency inflows, reinforcing the long-standing Canada–Cuba tourism relationship and supporting recovery in one of the Caribbean’s most airlift-dependent destinations.​
Cancun is one of the most powerful engines of tourism in the Americas, hosting roughly 9.7 to 10 million international visitors annually and welcoming more than thirty million total passengers through its airport in 2024. Canada is firmly established as the second-largest foreign market after the United States, contributing between 1.1 and 2.3 million visitors per year depending on the data series, and maintaining a double-digit share of international arrivals.​
A new Winnipeg–Cancun summer service reinforces this pattern, providing direct access from the Canadian Prairies to one of Mexico’s most important tourism hubs. Mexican federal data show that Canadian air passengers to Mexico have been rising, with more than four hundred fourteen thousand Canadian residents recorded in an early 2025 period and most funneled through airports like Cancun, underscoring how new nonstop routes can further strengthen bilateral tourism ties and diversify Canada’s long-haul leisure options.​
Official Canadian tourism accounts indicate that residents spent nearly seventy-five billion dollars on travel within Canada in 2024, while separate outbound analyses highlight robust international spending that is expected to increase steadily over the coming decade. The United States, Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe dominate this external travel mix, with sun and beach trips remaining a core motivation for holidaymakers seeking predictable weather and all-inclusive value.​
As US outbound tourism characteristics data show, North American travelers, including Canadians, are increasingly choosing air travel and booking packages that combine flights with accommodation, transfers and activities. This pattern aligns with the rise of nonstop leisure routes from Canadian cities to dedicated tourism zones in the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Mexico, where airport infrastructure and resort clusters are designed to accommodate high volumes of international visitors efficiently.​
For Montreal, Toronto, Quebec City and Winnipeg, additional sun routes contribute not only to outbound leisure tourism options but also to their evolving roles as regional air hubs. Statistical and economic reports highlight that airports serving these metropolitan areas play a key role in connecting Canadians to global destinations, with seasonal leisure services complementing year-round business and VFR (visiting friends and relatives) traffic.​
By offering direct access to Puerto Plata, Samaná, Cayo Coco and Cancun, these gateways help retain traffic within the Canadian aviation system, support airport employment and reinforce their positions within both national and international tourism networks. The broader effect is a more competitive and diversified market for Canadian travelers, who gain additional choice in airlines, schedules and price points for their summer beach holidays.​
For destination governments and tourism ministries in the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Mexico, every new nonstop route from Canada represents a strategic asset that can be used to sustain growth, manage seasonality and attract higher-spending visitors. Dominican authorities have repeatedly credited expanded air connectivity for helping the country reach more than eleven million visitors in 2024 and setting new targets above twelve million, with Canada providing nearly one-fifth of arrivals.​
Cuban planners, faced with slower overall recovery, view Canadian tourism as essential to meeting a 2025 target of 2.6 million visitors and stabilizing resort operations across key coastal areas. Mexico’s data tools show that Canadian passenger arrivals are rising at main resort airports, with Cancun a major beneficiary; additional lift from cities like Winnipeg further consolidates this trend and reinforces Mexico’s status as a premier sun destination for Canadian tourism year-round.​
Across all three countries, the 2026 summer expansion of Canadian nonstop links is set to deepen tourism interdependence, distributing economic benefits across airlines, airports, hotels and local service providers. In turn, Canadian travelers gain smoother access to some of the hemisphere’s most established beach destinations, sustaining the long-term appeal of sun and sand as a cornerstone of Canada’s outbound tourism portfolio.​
