Australia today said it will open to fully vaccinated visitors as of Feb. 21. New Zealand has a plan to welcome foreign travellers over the next six months or so. And then there’s Canada, which continues to treat the tourism and travel industry like some kind of pariah. While other countries recognize the value of travel and tourism to their economies, Canada continues its over-the-top testing regulations, which discourage Canadians from travelling abroad and also discourage visitors from spending their money in Canadian cities and towns that are desperate for tourism dollars. WestJet last month clipped its flight schedule by Read more
Canada
WestJet has further extended its schedule reductions by 20% through March. “As WestJet continues to navigate ongoing uncertainty and barriers facing travel, the airline is announcing a further extension of its planned schedule consolidations through to March 31, 2022,” officials said Monday morning (Feb. 7). The company on January 18 announced a 20% flight reduction through February 28, 2022. Air Canada Vacations and Transat also have seen a reduction in flights this winter. An Air Canada spokesman this morning said it has nothing further to report on the issue. “For two years, WestJet has gone above and beyond to keep Read more
Canada’s chief health officer says provincial vaccine passports and other health measures need to be “re-examined” as Canada deals with the Omicron variant. Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said Friday that Canada needs to find a more “sustainable” way to deal with COVID-19 and that all existing public health policies, including provincial vaccine passports, need to be “re-examined” in the coming weeks, the CBC reports. “What we need to do going forward, as we emerge out of this Omicron wave, is recognize this virus is not going to disappear,” she said. “We do need to get back to Read more
The latest poll from the Angus Reid Institute finds a strong majority of Canadians want community restrictions lifted. The latest poll, taken Jan. 27-28, found 54% want restrictions to be lifted compared to just 39% who wanted restrictions lifted when the same question was asked two weeks earlier, the non-profit institute said. “With Omicron now appearing to have peaked, many Canadians are leaning toward reducing restrictions related to COVID-19 control in Canada,” the group said in a statement on its website. The survey found that 32% of Canadians strongly agree with the statement that “It’s time to end restrictions and Read more
Destination Toronto, in partnership with Destination Canada are proud participants in an upcoming episode of ABC’s “The Bachelor.” The episode will feature the diverse and dynamic city of Toronto, Canada as home for the week for the newest Bachelor, Clayton Echard and the remaining women vying for his heart. This episode of “The Bachelor,” currently in its 26th season, is scheduled to air Monday February 7, at 8/7c, on ABC. Echard, who was first introduced as one of Michelle Young’s suitors in season 18 of “The Bachelorette,” not only connects romantically with the captivating Minneapolis school teacher but is also a favorite of Michelle’s middle school students. Ultimately, Read more
