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
omicron
Australia says it will open to fully vaccinated travellers on February 21. In welcome news for the battered and bruised Australian tourism industry, as well as Canadian and other airlines and worldwide tour companies, the Australian government today (Feb. 7) said it will end a nearly two-year-long ban on foreign travellers. Reuters reports the announcement means that people can travel to Australia from anywhere in the world as long as they are double vaxxed; the first time that’s been allowed since March, 2020. “If you’re double-vaccinated, we look forward to welcoming you back to Australia,” said Aussie Prime Minister Scott Read more
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
A new report finds more than eight in ten Americans are in a “ready to travel” state of mind, up five points from two weeks ago and one of the highest levels since the start of the pandemic. A new study of 1,200 American travellers by Destination Analysts shows that “travel sentiment has recovered from Omicron and in some areas even soared to levels not seen since the Summer 2021 vaccine rollout-high. “American travelers optimistic about the course of the pandemic over the next month climbed over 11 points in the last two weeks, reaching 41.9%—exceeding the post-Delta recovery,” the Read more
