by Jim Byers
Last updated: 5:08 PM ET, Tue June 8, 2021
Canadian tourism and travel businesses desperately need Ottawa to come up with a plan for reopening the border, tourism officials said on Tuesday.
"We would like to see a plan and we would like to see a timeline that comes with that plan," Tourism Industry Association of Canada president and CEO Beth Potter said on Tuesday at an event to launch a new "Open the Border" campaign and website.
Potter said the federal government is talking about reducing pandemic benefits, such as the Canada wage subsidy, to the tourism industry and other businesses. If that's the case, then the border needs to open up so vaccinated Americans can visit safely and bump up devastated businesses, she said.
"You can't have it both ways," she said.
Potter said tourism businesses need time to train staff, line up their marketing plans and perform other tasks.
"We need a plan, and we need it now."
Trudeau on Monday said Canada is working on a plan to bring vaccinated travellers into the country to boost the tourism industry, but he didn't provide a timeline. The PM has said Canada should have roughly 75% of the Canadian population with a single vaccine dose and 20% with two doses before travel restrictions are eased.
Speaking to the media today, Trudeau said there will be more news in the coming weeks about easing measures for people who have been fully vaccinated.
According to the latest CTV figures, 62% of Canadians and 71% of vaccine-eligible Canadians (those age 12 and up) have had a first dose. But only 8.2% of all Canadians have a double dose, and only 9.4% of those age 12 and up have been given two vaccines.
Potter today (June 8) was joined at an outdoor press conference in Toronto by Chris Bloore, president and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario, Scott Beck, the CEO of Destination Toronto, Peter Doyle, GM of Ripley's Aquarium, and Vito Curalli, Executive Director, International Sales and Industry Relations, Hilton Hotels, and a board member at the Hotel Association of Canada.
Potter told reporters she's not asking Ottawa to open the border right now.
"I'm suggesting we need a plan, and we need a timeline. If that means the timeline is … four to six weeks, great. That's what we're asking for."
As part of their #OpenTheBorder campaign, officials are asking Canadians to write to their member of Parliament to seek border changes. They also can visit a new website, www.openuscanborder.ca.
Curalli said it's important to bring visitors back to Canada, and that it's a great time to visit.
"Hotels have never been safer or cleaner," he said.
Bloore said tourism employs more than half-a-million Ontario residents and supports 200,000 businesses.
"We've lost more than 140,000 jobs. Revenues are down close to 70%. Some businesses have lost up to 90% of their revenues in the last 15 months."
Bloore said some areas of the province, including Niagara Region and Ontario's north, are highly dependent on American travellers.
Beck said 70,000 jobs in Toronto are in the tourism sector.
"We're not asking to throw caution to the wind and just open the borders," he said. "It's clear from the recent report from the government's own expert advisory panel that there is an evidence-based, safe path to reopening the Canadian border, a path that focuses on verification of vaccine status, on testing and relevant quarantine protocols."
"Toronto is Canada's most visited destination," Beck said, "reliant on international visitors attracted to our destination as the business, tech, entertainment and financial capital of Canada. Action now also means recovery for business travel, a sector of our industry that is vital to fuel the economic and social recovery of our city, our province and the country."
Doyle said Ripley's has been closed for 288 days and that businesses such as his need time to plan for visitors. They also need a timeline.
"We don't want to be blindsided by any last-minute announcement," he said. "We need to be ready, have our plans in place to welcome back our number one international tourist market."
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