Is Travel Being Unfairly Targeted?
March 23, 2021 Marsha Mowers
On Tuesday afternoon, the Conservatives put forth a motion calling for the federal government to provide Parliament with “a clear data-driven plan to support safely, gradually and permanently lifting COVID-19 restrictions.”
In that motion, Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner called for assistance for airlines, the Travel Industry Association of Canada and the hospitality industry. You can watch it here.
There has been a lot of discussion throughout the pandemic as to what role the travel industry plays as a source of overall COVID-19 spread. We’ve covered it widely here at Canadian Travel News, from the blame game, to hotel quarantines to new restrictions.
Throughout the pandemic, all levels of government in Canada have consistently said they have and will continue to make decisions regarding COVID “based on science and facts.”
The fact is travel has continued to be a very low source of COVID cases in Canada. Travel is currently responsible for less than 1% of cases.
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) releases a weekly epidemiology summary that we were alerted to and now receive regularly. We are sharing it with you here as it’s an easy to read overview on the state of COVID in Canada.
It raises a lot of questions; the main one being, with international travel being only 1% or less of overall cases, are the quarantine measures currently in place, appropriate? In other words, is travel being used as a scapegoat?
Canada saw more than 4,000 outbreaks – not individual cases, outbreaks – last week alone in long-term care facilities, a number that has unfortunately been consistent over past weeks.
Schools are the second largest source of outbreaks, and yet they’re able to continue to be open with proper safety protocols.
Meanwhile the government of Canada spent nearly $1 million dollars on an anti-travel ad campaign that is scheduled to end this month.
The fact the ads started to appear after many snowbirds had already left the country could speak volumes about the government’s ability to create what should be a basic marketing initiative.
We encourage you to take a look at the data yourselves and let us know your thoughts.
About the Author
Marsha Mowers made the move to editorial side of travel after many years working in destination marketing where she represented places such as NYC and Las Vegas. Her experience on “both sides” of the industry has put her in a unique position to provide valuable context to both readers and trade partners. Marsha also serves as Director of Content for TravelPulse Canada
We left in October for our winter home in Southern California. Never heard or seen an anti snowbirder ad campaign until this article. We have been very careful and very safe all winter long. Not looking forward to traveling back and going through all this hoopla. Yes, totally, especially snowbirds are very unfairly targeted. Not to mention that most snowbirds are coming back vaccinated. In addition all these snowbirds (or old people) have not been a burden on the Canadian Health Care System for the last 5 – 6 months.