One year ago, as vaccines against COVID-19 appeared to offer a way out of a devastating global pandemic, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Canadians they needed to hang on for "a few more months."
Yesterday, he said something very similar, despite Canadians being among the world leaders in vaccination rate.
"If we keep getting vaccinated and people get their booster shots and we get kids vaccinated and we continue to follow public health rules, we're going to make it through this winter and into a much better summer," Trudeau said.
The question for many in the travel industry is whether their businesses can survive that long.
Just a couple of months after travel restrictions began to ease and travel advisors got busy again planning vacations for Canadians grounded for nearly two years, the federal government yesterday advised citizens to avoid all non-essential international travel, regardless of vaccination status.
The new advice will be in place for at least four weeks, dropping a bomb on the peak holiday travel season. Many industry members fear that it will have a longer impact, causing thousands of Canadians to abandon winter travel plans.
Reaction from the industry was a combination of dismay, anger and despair.
"Fully vaccinated Canadians should not be singled out for choosing to take part in a safe activity," WestJet CEO Harry Taylor said in a statement.
"Travel bans, restrictions and blanket advisories are devastating to the continued economic recovery of our country and place tens of thousands of recently recalled Canadian travel and tourism jobs at risk. We are very concerned today's announcement will create unnecessary disruption and chaos in advance of the holiday travel season."
Airline customers have already been cancelling in the thousands, according to Air Transport Association of Canada CEO John McKenna. He says it's not because they're afraid of the virus, but spooked by constantly changing restrictions and the potential of quarantine on return.
"I think they're more afraid of the bureaucracy than of Omicron," he said.
David Green, managing director for Canada, G Adventures provided his comments.
"While all caution must be taken in the interests of public health, recent headlines indicate that boosters are effective against the Omicron variant and the symptoms are mild. As such, today's announcement that the federal government is reinstating the non-essential travel advisory has come as a shock to our industry, which was starting to recover after a successful Black Friday and Cyber Sale period. January traditionally sets agents up for the year ahead with strong sales, but they now face more disruption and turmoil.
"Not only is this a setback to our industry as a whole, but it's a major frustration for travel agents who will now be inundated with calls from panicked travellers looking to cancel or rebook their holidays, when they should be enjoying a well-earned break before heading into their peak selling period in January.
"I urge agents not to give up hope over the next four weeks when we hope this decision will be reversed. G Adventures continues to promote our Book With Confidence Policy which enables travellers to cancel and rebook up to 14 days before departure. We need to all keep fighting for bookings to continue changing peoples' lives through travel."
The Association of Canadian Travel Agencies warned that the advisory will have a "devasting impact" on the industry. ACTA says hard-hit travel agencies have been without financial support since October and could be facing bankruptcy if Bill C-2 - which offers financial support to some parts of the industry -- is not passed before the holiday break.
"They are bringing in more restrictions and we have no financial support as the wage subsidies ran out in October. Merry Xmas!," wrote Vancouver-based North South Travel advisor Craig Sabasch on TravelPulse Canada's Facebook page.
Lyndsay MacDonald, who works with Expedia Cruises in Waterdown, ON, reflected the views of many in a note to clients on her Facebook page.
"I don't know about you guys, but as someone who is now triple vaccinated and has never stopped working my front line job at any point throughout the pandemic, my days of isolating myself at home are long over. I've done my part. I will continue to do my part. But I'm also going to live my life."
Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos offered sympathy to the travel industry, while urging Canadians to stay home.
"To those who were planning to travel I say very clearly, now is not the time to travel," he said.
"I know this is difficult for airlines, for travel agencies, for families, for people who haven't been able to see each other for a long time," Duclos added.
Topics From This Article to Explore
