A troubling report for Canadian tourism, potential new flights to China and a great offer for frontline workers who need a vacation. Check out my Future of Travel blog Sunday edition.
I’ve been thinking for quite some time that this might be a decent year for Canadian tourism. With so many Canadians seemingly wanting (and, in some cases, still pretty much required) to stay close to home, it seems likely that most Canadians will take road trips in Canada this summer instead of flights to Europe or Asia, or the U.S. Given that, I which found that under the worst case scenario, travel spending in the True North Strong and Free could drop nearly 60% this year, which thought maybe folks at Canadian hotels, resorts, attractions and restaurants/bars might do reasonably well this year, despite the general economy.
Now, I’m not so sure. Here in Ontario, we’re pretty much still staying home. British Columbia did a much better job than Ontario and has opened some things up, but they’re not inviting visitors from other provinces.
Now comes a report commissioned by Destination Canada, a federal Crown corporation that encourages Canadian tourism, amounts to a $47 billion loss, the CBC reports.
“It’s an industry in deep distress,” said Marsha Walden, the CEO of Destination BC, which usually markets the province to international travellers, but at the moment is encouraging people to stay home.
An electric bike tour in the Okanagan wine region in British Columbia. JIM BYERS PHOTO
I’ve been told many times that Canadian destinations love to cater to locals, but that international travellers are where they make their money. Many Canadians, and Americans, for example, might spend a weekend in Niagara Falls or Victoria. But foreign visitors tend to come for a week or two, and they spend more.
The CBC story says British Columbia’s tourism industry alone generated $18 billion in 2018. International tourists accounted for 25% of all visitors, but they were responsible for half the spending, according to Destination BC.
If there no foreign visitors this summer, or a just a trickle of international travellers coming through our airports, it will be very bad news for tourism folks from coast to coast to coast. I don’t have the numbers, but Prince Edward Island tends to attract a lot of Japanese visitors in summer, partly because of Anne of Green Gables. Chinese visitors make up an increasingly large segment of international tourism here in Canada, as do Brits and the French. All three of those countries have some kind of travel restrictions in place, and all three have been hit fairly hard by COVID-19.
China Flights Picking Up Again?
On the other hand, I saw a Forbes story this morning that says a number of airlines plan to add international flights to China in June in anticipation of travel restrictions easing.
Asiana Airlines, Korean Air, Qatar Airways, and United Airlines expect to soon serve multiple mainland Chinese cities with passenger services.
China since March has restricted international passenger flights, effectively limiting foreign airlines to having only one flight a week to all of mainland China. It has not yet announced any easing of the policy.
RV’s for Frontline Heroes: Nice Offer From Outdoorsy
AD GILL PHOTOGRAPHY/UNSPLASH
Healthcare professionals are going to need a vacation soon to recoup from the overtime they are putting in now. With RV road trips expected to be the one of the only ways to vacation this year, Outdoorsy, which bills itself as the world’s largest and most-trusted RV rental and outdoor experiences marketplace, is stepping up to give away free holidays to give back to the heroes.
For trips booked from now until June 30, 2020, Outdoorsy will match the booking with free road trip nights donated to deserving healthcare workers.
And to kick off the campaign, they’re putting out a call for nominations for deserving healthcare heroes. Starting tomorrow, friends and family (or even the heroes themselves!) are encouraged to submit Toronto heroes’ stories for a chance to win.
Very nice.
