My old Toronto Star friend Josh Rubin has a great story in today’s Star Business section about how some folks in the Canadian travel and tourism biz are suggesting that Canada partially open its borders to try to rescue the summer season.
Rubin writes that the head of the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario, Beth Potter, believes that, even if the U.S. border doesn’t open, Canada should still be allowing visitors from other countries.
Rubin notes that the European Union this week announced it was opening borders to visitors from 15 countries, including Canada, but not the U.S., Brazil or Russia. Many folks in the tourism biz, who obviously have their own interests partly in mind, say Canada should reciprocate in some form and allow visitors from countries that are mostly free of COVID-19.
“If we can get the border opened by the end of the year, that would be great,” said Potter, president and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario.
The CBC reports that Ottawa has extended for at least another month a sweeping travel ban that bars entry to all travellers who are not Canadian citizens, permanent residents or people entering from the U.S. for “essential” reasons.
The order, which was set to expire last night, “has been extended until July 31 for public health reasons,” Rebecca Purdy, spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency, said in a statement to CBC News.
Rubin’s story points out that the tourism industry in Ontario, a major source of jobs and income, has been devastated by the lack of visitors.
Something to think about.
JIM BYERS PHOTO
The president of Air Canada, Calin Rovinescu, made a similar plea in today’s Globe and Mail Report on Business.
Rovinescu wrote that his airline has been ahead of federal regulators in its reaction to COVID-19.
“We outfitted crews with hospital-grade physical protection equipment. We required customer face coverings before it became industry practice. We were the first airline in the Americas to mandate temperature checks, as part of CleanCare+, our new protocol, which includes personal hygiene kits, limited crew interactions and use of electrostatic sprayers.”
The HEPA air filters on air planes also make the air as clean as what’s recommended for medical isolation rooms, he said.
Here’s a segment of his story:
Air Canada represents about $50-billion in economic output to Canada. Prior to COVID-19, we employed 38,000 people, plus 6,000 more at our regional carriers. We indirectly support 190,000 jobs in spinoff industries. Millions of Canadians and their families depend on our company and on this economic activity.
Virtually all other airlines among the world’s top 20 are receiving tens of billions of dollars in support from their governments. We have thus far managed to raise adequate liquidity to go it alone. But now, we need to be permitted to prudently do some business, in the same way airlines in other countries are.
Our government, as a matter of urgency, needs to find a way to achieve its vital public-health objectives while allowing for a prudent lifting of restrictions throughout Canada, as well as from select countries with infection rates under control. Other Group of 20 countries have introduced “safe” corridors or air bridges in a gradual manner and use science-based approaches. We need to as well.
Two weeks ago, 120 travel and tourism industry leaders, a sector that employs 1.8 million people and contributes $102-billion to our economy, publicly called for the reopening of travel – to cautiously begin relaxing restrictions. They suggested the mandatory 14-day quarantine for international travellers and the closing of our border is now disproportionate and out of step with other countries.
That group is using the hashtag #timetotravel and is trying to get rules loosened so more visitors from safe countries can visit Canada, and so that more Canadians can travel from province to province.
So far, their please appear to have fallen on deaf ears. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently said he’s far more worried about keeping Canadians healthy than he is about border changes.
Win A Free Weekend at the Holiday Inn Express Toronto Downtown
The Holiday Inn Express Toronto Downtown.
The Holiday Inn Express Toronto Downtown, which has a super convenient location in the heart of the city, is re-opening to the public on Friday, July 3.
To celebrate the occasion, they’re giving away a gift certificate for a FREE WEEKEND at the hotel for two people, with BREAKFAST AND PARKING INCLUDED.
The certificate will be valid until Dec. 30, 2020, so you can go almost any time in the next six months.
I haven’t stayed at this particular Holiday Inn Express, but I’ve stayed in several others and always find them comfortable and clean places to bed down for the night. They’re also quite good-sized, and that’s important to folks who travel a lot and like a bit of space around them. (It also helps if your spouse or special friend suddenly decides that a little physical distancing between the two of you is a good idea.)
All rooms have a fridge and a microwave, and there’s free Wi-Fi, too. They also promise the highest safety and cleaning standards, an important factor in choosing a hotel these days.
The hotel has 195 rooms so it’s not too big, and it’s right in the heart of the action at Lombard and Jarvis. That means you’re in the middle of the oldest part of the city, with cool, historic architecture and great restaurants and shopping. It’s only a short three block walk to St. Lawrence Market, considered one of the best in the world, and also an easy stroll to the Distillery District, Sugar Beach, the Toronto Island ferries, the Eaton Centre and much more.
Of course, we need a skill-testing question to make this legal. Since this is Canada Day and all, you need to tell me who wrote the famous song, “The Maple Leaf Forever.” Hint, the author grew up in what is now Leslieville, a short streetcar ride or a nice walk from the Holiday Inn Express Toronto Downtown.
Drop me a line at this email: jim@jimbyerstravel.com and I’ll enter your name in a draw, which I’ll conduct on Friday, the day the hotel officially opens.
Good luck!
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This would be a great night out, in a beautiful hotel! Wishing everything would go back to normal already!