by Jim Byers
Last updated: 9:39 PM ET, Thu June 17, 2021
Canadian hotels are dying due to the closed Canada-U.S. border, says the head of the Hotel Association of Canada.
Susie Grynol, the association's president and CEO, told a Tourism Industry Association of Canada panel on Thursday that the closed border is "devastating our country" and that hotels "are at a breaking point."
Grynol said 70% of Canadian hotels could be out of business by the end of this year without government help.
A trio of western Canadian premiers this week called for a border opening sooner versus later. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discussed the issue Thursday night in a virtual meeting with Canadian premiers and territorial leaders, according to Global News.
Federal officials have said the easing of border measures will be a phased-in approach, and have hinted the reopening won't start until some time in early July.
Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith of Toronto says that's too long to wait.
"It isn't fast enough or further enough in keeping with the science," he said, adding the border should reopen right away
Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc this week said there should be news about border changes by Monday, when the current border closure expires.
Speaking during Thursday's panel talk, Grynol said many downtown hotels in Canada are earning 90% less revenue than they did before the pandemic.
"Our hotels are empty and they're dying. And I just don't think there's enough of an appreciation for how critical a state we're in here."
Grynol said 75% of summer visitors to Canada are international visitors, and that half of those are Americans.
"If we have the majority of Americans already now double vaccinated, there's no scientific reason why they can't be coming here and spending their dollars in Canada."
"Our loyal employees are seeing a resurgence in other sectors, but no plan from the federal government on when they will see steady work again," Grynol said. "What we need is certainty. Everyone needs the federal government to table a comprehensive, evid-ence -based, smart border initiative to allow us to be ready to welcome guests back safely."
Beth Potter, president and CEO of the tourism Industry Association of Canada, said the pandemic has displayed a half million workers in Canada. "If the NHL can go back and forth across the border … then why can't the rest of Canadians, and why can't Americans come into Canada to do business?"
Tori Barnes, Executive Vice President Public Affairs and Policy for the U.S. Travel Association, said tourism visits from Europe and Canada are 98% below 2019 levels, and that the U.S. is losing $340 million a week because the border is closed.
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