There are more signs today that the Justin Trudeau government is set to drop vaccine mandates and put an end to the unpopular ArriveCAN app, perhaps within the next two weeks. The mask mandate for flights within Canada also appears up for debate. Writing in the Toronto Sun today, columnist Brian Lilley reports that “The ArriveCan app may no longer be mandatory and other remaining travel requirements and restrictions for air travel in Canada could soon be removed. If all goes well, masking could even be made optional within the next few weeks.” Lilley said he’s had conversations with senior Read more
WestJet
Spiralling oil prices could be bad news for Canadian travellers, and it may only be a matter of time before higher costs are passed on to consumers. Given the current cost of fuel, “we will be looking at a surcharge of some sort when current contracts and futures are over , in all modes of transportation , air , cruise and ground,” said Martin Firestone, head of Toronto-based Travel Secure. Firestone said companies that ship cars home for Canadians have jacked up rates by $150 per car. “We can only speculate when this will trickle down to fuel Read more
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
As the Omicron variant spreads around the world, the travel rebound we were seeing just a few days ago is now looking like another setback. How big that setback will be could be determined in a few weeks, experts suggest. Meanwhile, here are some headlines you should be aware of as we head towards the first day of December. NEW TRAVEL RULES FOR CANADIANS START TODAY Starting today, unvaccinated travellers over the age of 12 won’t be allowed to board a plane or train in Canada. Also, a negative COVID-19 test will no longer serve as a substitute for most Read more
Canadians have always had plenty of reasons to visit Ireland. Now they have 92 more. According to Tourism Ireland’s Alison Metcalfe, a full 92% of Irish adults aged 12 and older have received their full dose of COVID-19 vaccines. As if that’s not enough, the latest COVID Resilience Report from Bloomberg put the island nation as the best in the world at handling the virus. “Ireland was in a very strict lockdown and handled COVID I think pretty well,” Metcalfe, Executive Vice President USA and Canada for Tourism Ireland, told me in a one-on-one interview in downtown Toronto on Tuesday, Read more
