After months and months of travel discontent across Canada, the Canadian government today said it will spend $1.8 billion over five years to improve airport operations and passenger screening, and to address a backlog of airline complaints to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA). Canadian Press reports the Trudeau government also is “proposing to strengthen the rules around compensation for Canadians whose travel plans are disrupted, and to give the CTA more authority to resolve passenger complaints.” That will no doubt play well with consumers who were angered by flight delays and cancellations over the Christmas holidays, but probably not with Read more
ACTA
A well-known travel agents group is asking the Trudeau government to fix Canada’s airport mess. “As has been reported across nationally, travellers are experiencing significant delays at airport security and customs & immigration check points– and Canadians renewing passports in-person are experiencing day-long wait times, sometimes having to return day after day,” the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies said in a statement today. “These delays are caused by several factors, including labour shortages and increased administrative burdens due to legacy COVID-19 policies, as well as absenteeism.” Lineups have been particularly long at Toronto Pearson the last week or so. “Canada’s Read more
A leading group of travel agents says it’s “imperative” that the Trudeau government extend aid to travel agents devastated by the coronavirus. The Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program rent and wage subsidies are scheduled to be cut in half on Sunday, March 13 and end entirely May 7, 2022. “The fifth wave of Omicron has devasted Canada’s travel and tourism small businesses, nearly eliminating the winter holiday season,” said Wendy Paradis, President, ACTA. “While recovery is on the horizon, border restrictions remain and travel agencies and independent travel agents cannot recover until the summer season.” “It is imperative that the 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
Travel groups from across the globe are calling on government leaders around the world to provide dedicated financial support for travel reliant businesses and to lift travel bans as quickly as possible. The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA), Association of South African Travel Agencies (ASATA), Association of Canadian Travel Agencies (ACTA), Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA), European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Associations (ECTAA) and World Travel Agents Associations Alliance (WTAAA), collectively representing the hundreds of thousands of people who work at travel agencies and related businesses around the world, today (December 13) called on government leaders globally Read more
