Passenger activity at Canada’s busiest airport nearly tripled in the third quarter of 2021, a sure sign that travel is on the upswing. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (“GTAA”) today reported its financial and operating results for the three- and nine-months ended September 30, 2021. Passenger activity increased 190% for the third quarter of 2021, rising from 1.7 million in the third quarter of last year to 4.7 million this year. Domestic traffic rose from 1.1 million to 2.9 million in the quarter, an increase of 165.3%, while international traffic leapt from 600,000 to 1.8 million; an increase of 239.4%. Read more
Canada
Vancouver tourism and travel officials are keeping the heat on the federal government over mandatory PCR tests. Together with the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable, leaders representing the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, the British Columbia Hotel Association, Vancouver based travel agencies and Destination Vancouver today called on the Trudeau government to remove unnecessary and non-science-based obstacles to international travel, such as the pre-departure PCR test for fully vaccinated travellers, threatening the survival of Vancouver businesses and freezing business travel. “The PCR test is a major barrier for international visitors who hope to travel to Vancouver and other parts of Read more
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 Read more
Mayors of Canadian and U.S. border cities are pushing the Canadian government to jettison COVID testing requirements it says are both overly expensive and unnecessary. Mayors from the likes of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Windsor, Sarnia, and Niagara Falls, New York, as well as upstate New York Congressman Brian Higgins, gathered for a virtual press event on Monday to denounce the current rules implemented by the Trudeau government in Ottawa. In a tidy symbolic note, the event was held just hours after the U.S. government opened its land borders to fully vaccinated residents of Canada and Mexico, as well as opening Read more
The United States will be open for business in just a few hours. The U.S. has been closed for most international travellers since March of last year. Canadians and some others have been allowed to fly to the States, but the U.S. land border with both Canada and Mexico has been closed to all but essential traffic for 20 months. Beginning Nov. 8 at 12:01 a.m., the U.S. will open its doors to air travellers from around the world, provided they can show proof of being double dosed with a vaccine approved by U.S. authorities or the World Health Organization. Read more
