Business owners in Banff are urging the Canadian government to get rid of costly and cumbersome testing requirements that are scaring away vital customers.
Pete Woods President and CEO of SkiBig3, which represents Mt. Norquay, Banff Sunshine and Lake Louise Ski Resort, said the government’s requirement that visitors provide a negative PCR-style COVID-19 teset result before coming into the country is scaring away international customers that Banff tourism operators rely on.
Speaking on the edge of snow-packed slopes at Mt. Norquay, which opened for skiing last weekend, Woods said Ottawa needs to “remove unnecessary and redundant measures that still hang over the industry.” He also called the test requirements “complicated, confusing and costly.”
The Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable also is calling for Ottawa to end the requirement for pre-departure PCR testing.
Banff tourism and testing event at Mt. Norquay.
Woods noted that an expert federal panel earlier this year recommended that visitors and returning Canadians who are fully vaccinated should not be required to take pre-departure testing.
Right now the Trudeau government requires a negative COVID-19 PCR test result taken within 72 hours of departure. Those tests can cost upwards of $250 CAD per person, which means a family of four might have to spend $1,000 just for testing to come to Banff to ski.
Woods said cancellations are up 50% compared to normal years, and that many would-be visitors cite the testing issue as a reason for skipping their trip to Banff.
Fully vaccinated travellers should not require a pre-departure test, said Darren Reeder, board advisor for the Tourism Industry Association of Alberta.
“International visitors are key to keeping this industry moving,” he said. “Many tourism businesses are at serious risk of not making it through to next summer.”
“The PCR test is a major barrier for international visitors hoping to travel across the border. The result is that many families – particularly Americans who make up a significant amount of Banff’s winter visitors – are simply choosing to spend their money elsewhere,” Reeder said. “The cost and inconvenience is too high, and until the federal government takes action to reduce the obstacles to travel, small Canadian tourism businesses in Alberta will not be able to fully recover.”
Katie Tuff of the Banff hospitality collective, which owns 14 restaurants in Banff, said the lack of international visitors could lead to painful staff cuts.
“There are other places (for tourists) to go without these layers of complication,” she said.
Andrew Matergio, owner of Banff SoulSki and Bike, said small business like his can’t afford to lose another season.
Tourism officials said Banff National Park lost 300,000 visitors in 2019-2020 compared to the year prior. Things were better in the first half of 2021, but they noted that many of those visitors were locals. Businesses love local visitors, but locals don’t spend as much money as international tourists.
Canadian and U.S. border mayors also have called on the federal government to relax its testing rules, something chief medical officer Theresa Tam has said is being considered.
Comments on this entry are closed.
As a worker in the town of Banff I thank the government for keeping the “ governments requirement that visitors provide a negative PCR-style COVID-19 teset result before coming into the country.” It is keeping our community safe as there are already too many visitors who only think of their own experience and not of the health of the people providing the service. If businesses has to scale down so be it, we all know there is a staff shortage in the area and the workers are struggling as it is to keep up.
As an employee in Banff I support the governments requirement that visitors provide a negative PCR-style COVID-19 teset result before coming into the country to keep us safe. There are already too many people visiting our community that only think about their experience and not the people providing the service. If the businesses need to scale down so be it. We already know there is a staff shortage and we are struggling to keep up.