| Tourism officials say Canada’s new vaccination rules are a good start, but that the government hasn’t gone nearly far enough to boost the travel industry.
The Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO), the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable and the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB) put out statements saying more moves are needed.
“As the pandemic has evolved and new tools have emerged to control the impact of COVID-19, TIAO has been advocating for government to remove barriers to travel,” officials said. “TIAO welcomes today’s announcement as an important step towards normalizing travel; it will help increase inter-provincial travel and streamline processes at our airports, meaning a better customer experience for travellers.
TIAO’s own Dr. Jessica Ng, Director of Policy and Government Affairs, spoke with CP24 about the change:
“This is something that we’ve been calling on the federal government to do to remove those barriers to travel that make it so difficult for tourism markets to reach visitors. It’s been two years of travel barriers and restrictions and so this is such an important step to normalizing travel again.”
The changes will reduce barriers and encourage more people to travel, but TIAO said it’s “still concerned about the unanswered question of when unvaccinated travellers will be able to visit Canada and, crucially, when the mandatory requirement to use the ArriveCAN app will be eliminated.
“Many tourism businesses, especially those in Northern Ontario, have been hard hit by the pandemic and have yet to see the return of U.S. visitors. Despite this month’s increase in U.S. residents taking trips into Canada through land ports, the number of trips remains at half (50.8%) of the U.S. residents who arrived by automobile during the same month in 2019,” officials said.
“We ultimately need to follow the lead of European counterparts and remove vaccine mandates for all travellers in all directions,” Dr. Ng noted on CP24.
TIAO said it will continue working with federal counterparts to remove remaining obstacles to travel at all points of entry, following the lead of many European countries.
“Only then will the tourism industry and the wider visitor economy truly be able to recover.”
The federal government on Tuesday announced an end to mandatory vaccination for Canadians travelling domestically on airplanes and trains, and also for outbound international travel.
Senior ministers in the Trudeau government said foreign travellers will still need to show proof of vaccination to enter Canada, while unvaccinated Canadians returning home will still be required to quarantine. The new rules will take effect Monday, June 20.
Other entry requirements will stay in place, including the requirement to fill out the government’s ArriveCAN app. Masks will still be required on airplanes. cruise ships and trains, officials said.
Frederic Dimanche, director of the Ted Rogers School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Ryerson University in Toronto, said the announcement is good news.
“It will help increase traveller confidence and intentions to travel,” he told me in am email. “People are eager to travel and this measure, well timed at the beginning of summer, should contribute to increased demand. However, international travellers are still required to show proof of vaccination, so this remains a barrier for international travellers.”
While the news is generally good for tourism, Dimanche said he’s worried an overworked industry might not be ready for an increased demand.
“The labour gap now remains the major issue the industry is facing, and increased demand will put even more pressure on under-staffed airports (security, immigration, airline staff) as well as on the sector as a whole. Service quality will continue to suffer as a result… and this may affect the reputation of our airports and destinations” he said.
| The Travel and Tourism Roundtable said it’s calling on the federal government to continue following the science and lift all remaining COVID-19 restrictions governing the sector to streamline further and ease passenger experience. Further, the Roundtable is calling on the federal government to ensure that today’s regulatory changes at the border are permanent.
Firstly, the federal government must remain focused on addressing issues plaguing Canada’s airports. Public Health Agency of Canada (“PHAC”) requirements continue to control and check incoming passengers, causing significant delays in Canada’s customs halls, which has adverse knock-on effects across the travel experience. To that end, the ArriveCan app should no longer be leveraged to collect public health information. Restrictions and roadblocks at the border are relics of a different phase of the pandemic and are no longer justified by science.
Secondly, the Roundtable calls on the federal government to lift the mandatory mask mandate applying to federally regulated transportation sectors like aviation and rail. The mask mandate is out of step with provincial public health agencies, which have lifted mask requirements from more vulnerable settings like hospitals, schools, and public transit. Enforcing the masking requirement has become a safety issue for personnel, and in turn, the Roundtable advocates for this measure to be lifted.
“After two long, hard years, we are now focused on rebuilding tourism back to the economic powerhouse it was pre-pandemic. Today’s announcement by the federal government is another step in the right direction towards helping us achieve that goal,” said Beth Potter, President & CEO, Tourism Industry Association of Canada. “However, while this is good news for domestic and outbound travel, it does not address any of the current issues for inbound travellers or our cruise sector.
“I urge the federal government to now turn its attention to eliminating barriers to travel in these important areas and do so quickly so we can promote a resurgence in travel over the summer months,” Potter said. |
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The CFIB said the government’s announced changes are “long overdue” and are “welcome news for many Canadians and small businesses in the hospitality, events, travel and tourism sectors.
“Allowing all Canadians to travel by air, train and ship will be a big help to the sectors that were hit the hardest during two years of pandemic and restrictions, and to businesses whose employees need to travel by air or train as part of their jobs,” said federation president Dan Kelly. “While most COVID restrictions have lifted and the government has temporarily removed randomized COVID-19 testing at airports for vaccinated travellers, other restrictions remain in place for international travel.
“Unvaccinated travelers still have to quarantine on their return to Canada. This is an additional burden on many businesses and their employees, such as truck drivers, that cross borders for work. The federal government has also not provided any clarity on when it will lift restrictions on international travellers who are not vaccinated,” Kelly said.
“Boosting consumer confidence and attracting visitors by making travelling to and within Canada easier will allow more local businesses to fully recover,” he said. “Many small firms, particularly those in retail, dining and hospitality, rely on international tourism to make a living.
“CFIB is urging the federal government to quickly release a plan to lift all remaining travel restrictions.” |
