Many of us in the travel industry can feel it; that sense of pent-up travel demand. And now we’re seeing proof.
Canadian government statistics show that 742,400 Canadians flew back into the country via Canadian airports in December of last year. That’s nearly 70% of the pre–pandemic figure of 1.1 million from 2019. It’s also nearly eight times more than the 93,800 Canadian travellers in December of 2020.
Tour companies and cruise ship owners are bumping up their public relations efforts of late, sensing a soon-to-arrive boost in travel. Conventions and meetings are coming back in some parts of the world, and travel journalists like myself are seeing actual invitations to, gasp, take trips around the world.
It ain’t the good times of 2019. But it’s not the gong show that was most of 2020, either.
CANADIAN AIRPORTS DUE FOR MAJOR TECH UPGRADE?
“Zipping through the Canada-U.S. border in 15 seconds. Facial recognition cameras at the airport to open an electronic gate. Sending your declaration to customs before you even get off the plane.”
The CBC says those are just some of the changes in the works at the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), partly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A CBSA spokesman told the network that prior to the pandemic, the CBSA had brought the average time spent speaking with a customs officer at the land border down to an average of 55 seconds. With the new technologies, it could down to a mere 15 seconds, or roughly the time it takes to sing “Oh, Canada, Our home and native land, True patriot love, In all of us command.”
CHAIN SAWS AND CRYSAL METH BURRITOS: TOP TSA CONFISCATIONS FOR 2021
This is priceless. The website Travel Awaits has a great list of the ten goofiest things seized by TSA airport officers in the U.S. last year. Included are a chainsaw (“why can’t I take that on the plane?”) and, wait for it, a small lump of crystal meth wrapped inside a burrito. Talk about your extra toppings.
MONTREAL HOTELS HURTING
A CTV story says Montreal hotel owners are pleading for government help after an industry survey found that 40% of Quebec hotels lost more than $100,000 in the last month.
“Taxes [are] coming in March — the city tax — and nobody has the money to pay for it,” said Jean-Sebastien Boudreault, CEO of the Hotel Association of Greater Montreal (AHGM).
Marc Saunier, who manages Hotel Monville in downtown Montreal, said the 270-room property has averaged only about 30 bookings per day.
