Canada’s restrictions on international travel drastically reduced the number of COVID-19 cases entering the country during the first waves of the pandemic but were insufficient to prevent new outbreaks, according to a new study led by University of British Columbia researchers. The study, published today in eLife, used publicly available viral genome sequences to create a detailed timeline of how the virus was entering Canada from January 2020 to March 2021, and the resulting chains of transmission. The genomic data was used to identify the geographic origin of COVID-19 cases, enabling the identification of 2,263 instances where COVID-19 was imported into Read more
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Two major hotel groups are reporting surging numbers, further proof that the travel recovery is very real. Ongoing strength in leisure travel and an acceleration in the recovery of group demand pushed Marriott International’s second-quarter performance to or above 2019 levels. Hilton also is reporting much stronger numbers than expected. Excluding its hotels in the Greater China region, Marriott’s global June revenue per available room (RevPAR in hotel parlance) came in at 1% above 2019 levels, Marriott CEO Tony Capuano said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call, according to Hotel News Now. Worldwide occupancy reached 71%, only 5 percentage points Read more
They still lost nearly $400 million in the second quarter of the year, but Air Canada revenues soared almost five times higher than last year. Canada’s largest airline reported its finances for quarter two today and, despite recent difficulties, sounded an optimistic tone. Officials said the company lost $386 million in the quarter, but that revenues were $3.981 billion; nearly five times the second quarter of 2021. “The past three months have been very challenging for our company, our employees, and customers from an operational perspective,” said Michael Rousseau, President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Canada. “The path to Read more
It looked like things might be improving at Canadian airports, but Sunday was not at all good. A glance at Flight Aware stats shows Toronto Pearson on Sunday (July 31) had 25 cancelled outbound flights (4%) and 238 delays (40%). Last week’s stats were generally around 38% or 39% delays for outbound Pearson flights. It was pretty much the same on Sunday at Montreal Trudeau, which had eight cancellations (2%) but 119 delays (40%). In Calgary, seven outbound flights were cancelled (2%) and 96 delayed (33%). For Edmonton, there were five cancellations (3%) and 36 delays (25%). Toronto Pearson has Read more
New Zealand fans; rejoice. Aotearoa, the “Land of the Long White Cloud,” on Monday fully opened its borders to visitor from the around the world. It’s the first time borders have been fully open since the government slammed the door on visits in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel restrictions began to ease in February for New Zealanders, and then were gradually opened for others. As of today, visitors who need visas and those with student visas can enter the country, as can cruise ship passengers and foreign recreational yachts. CTV and Reuters report that most visitors arriving Read more
