A Radio-Canada report says the Trudeau government could eliminate mandatory on-arrival testing within days. Their report says the Liberal government in Ottawa “plans to backtrack and return, quickly, to the establishment of random tests” for air passengers arriving in Canada. “The final decision has not yet been made, but, according to a federal source very close to the file, it is a matter of weeks, even days,” said Radio-Canada. Several tourism groups and a group that represents Canadian travel agents have recently called for an end to the government’s mandatory on-arrival testing, which was introduced late last year for passengers Read more
Canada
Canada’s new ultra-affordable airline, Lynx Air, announces the much anticipated launch of its booking website, with tickets going on sale for flights to the airline’s first five destinations: Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Kelowna and Winnipeg. This is an important milestone in Lynx’s mission to make air travel accessible to all Canadians, with ultra-low fares, a fleet of brand-new Boeing 737 aircraft and great customer service. Base fares start at $39 for a one-way ticket between Kelowna and Vancouver. One-way fares between Calgary and Vancouver start at $49, while one-way tickets between Calgary and Toronto start at $69, according to Yahoo Finance. Read more
An influential group of Canadian travel agents is joining the chorus of those pushing for a change to Canada’s on-arrival PCR test program. “The Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA) and its travel and tourism advocacy partners call on the federal government to lift the mandatory arrival testing and quarantine requirement for fully-vaccinated, asymptomatic travelers so these tests can be used to support Canada’s domestic testing needs,” the group said in a statement today (Friday, Jan. 20). “It is important that the Government of Canada remove these temporary measures – as well as others introduced over the past two years– Read more
So, this is interesting. A new study called the Tourism Sentiment Index has looked at the “most loved” destinations around the world, and it’s not at all what you might expect. Richmond, British Columbia was the top Canadian destination listed, coming 34th overall. Mississauga, Ontario was 42nd in the world and finished second in Canada. The company, which is based in Vancouver, said its findings were “drawn from more than 1.6 billion online conversations and content pieces publicly available about 21,330 global destinations.” “Our work with destinations is amassing a continuously expanding dataset within Tourism Sentiment Index,” the group said Read more
The head of the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) says it’s “positive” that some of its members will be able to re-open with limited capacity later this month. But he says that doesn’t equal recovery. With the Omicron variant seemingly easing in Ontario, Premier Doug Ford on Thursday announced a “phased approach” to reopening. Restrictions will ease starting Jan. 31 and run into March, Ford said. “It is positive news that many of our TIAO members will now be able re-open, albeit at reduced capacity from Jan 31,” TIAO President and CEO Christopher Bloore said in an email to Read more
