Business as usual on the horizon

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/06/2021 (1572 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Dedicated travellers may feel as if July 5 should be named a national holiday — with so many waiting so long for the rules to be lifted requiring quarantine upon return for those who have travelled out of Canada.

It’s now official, fully vaccinated Canadians and permanent residents no longer have to quarantine, and no longer have to complete the Day-8 COVID test, upon their return to Canada. They will still need to do pre-arrival and on-arrival PCR tests.

While travellers may be celebrating, and tour operators, airlines, and travel agencies are ready to pop the corks on champagne, before those corks hit the ceiling the positive travel signals need to turn into actual bookings before the industry is in the clear.

However, the signs are there in most segments of the industry, including the cruise sector.

Those less jubilant depend on tourists from other places to visit Canada.

The outdoor attractions in Banff and Whistler, and popular urban attractions including Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, all depend on out-of-country visitors. Manitoba’s own fly-in fishing industry also relies heavily on U.S. visitors.

Even if the border is reopened on July 21, they will need to see an immediate response from those who want to experience Canada.

For other worldwide destinations however, the early signals seem to clearly indicate that significant numbers of people are ready to resume pre-pandemic travel.

While the United Kingdom is not seeing the uptick yet, France, Germany, Spain and Italy report May traffic even before the prime tourist season is back to 60 per cent of pre-pandemic levels.

Alaska cruise itineraries, one of the most popular of all sailings, would have seen these come to a complete stop because of what is known as the Jones Act. It is an old declaration which prevented foreign flagged vessels, which most cruise ships are, from sailing from one port to another without stopping in a second country. All Alaskan itineraries originating from Miami to Seattle had to port in Canada as a result. The Biden administration passed an amendment overriding this policy.

American cruisers who love the Alaskan itineraries are heeding the call and ships are sailing again. As popular as Canadian West Coast stops are, this policy change may not bode well for the long-term health of Canadian cruise ports such as Vancouver and Victoria.

Recent conversations with Hawaii’s tourist board indicate they are expecting significant increases from Canada this winter. They believe Canada will deliver even more visitors than it has in the past, and that view seems to be supported by WestJet, who have added a number of non-stop flights from Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

Hotel rooms and short-term rentals in the United States are already stronger as U.S. residents feel much more confident with a high vaccination percentage and a long period of isolation. Early cross-country travel has shown that Americans are bursting at the seams to be on the move again.

This pattern will likely continue into the winter, with reports that properties and rentals in places such as Phoenix and Palm Springs have seen strong increases in bookings, along with rising prices.

Golf resorts, frequent choices for Canadian visitors, are in a boom phase because of the explosion in golfer numbers during the pandemic. Golfers were among the few who could continue their games freely while still easily maintaining physical distance from one another.

Those considering travel this season and wishing to rent a car at their chosen destination should also be looking at booking as soon as they can. Prices have already gone up beyond what many would consider reasonable, with reports of rental costs exceeding more than $500 a day.

During the pandemic, car companies sold off vehicles and due to other manufacturing related issues have not been able to return to their normal rental fleet numbers.

With a number of starts and stops and rising and dashing hopes, it seems hard to finally accept travel will return, but this time it looks like it really is going to be a reality.

pradinukr@shaw.ca