The Options

1. Current Canadian restrictions on travel stay pretty much the same until late July. The U.S. border opens then and intra-provincial travel restrictions end in Canada.
2. Current Canadian restrictions on travel stay pretty much the same until late June. The U.S. border opens then and intra-provincial travel restrictions end in Canada.
3. Current Canadians restrictions ease a bit in late May, then gradually more are lifted over the summer.

David Green, VP Commercial, G Adventures

“While there is still not a definitive roadmap for resuming international travel, we are more optimistic about when we believe international travel will resume. In recent weeks, we have heard from government ministers and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that health passports are likely, and the best news yet came last week when the PM indicated international summer holidays may be in the cards. Finally, some much needed optimism for our industry.

It is our hope that as more people are vaccinated the US and Canadian governments will come together with a plan to resume international travel by Canada Day on July 1st and US Independence day on the 4th July. Looking at the current vaccination rates, and when most people will receive their second vaccination, there is a possibility that most over 40 year olds will be fully vaccinated and able to travel overseas from August or early September. Throw in the possibility of Canada receiving surplus vaccines from the US to help open the borders by July and, as Trudeau said this week, we could be celebrating travelling by summer. 

We’ve been saying all along that this is a global pandemic, and we need to use science and data as a means to determine when to safely resume travel, and we are not alone – we should look at the lessons from other countries to support our recovery plans. 

Hopefully during the G7 summit in the UK we will hear more from world leaders about how they plan to open international borders globally. If we take the same approach as the UK, and listen to what European countries are saying, we could also be heading towards mandatory vaccine passports and a traffic light system for travel which enables movement between countries with low COVID cases and higher vaccination rates.”

Beth Potter, President and CEO, Travel Industry Association of Canada

“I think we might be looking at option 3.  If we can get vaccines into the arms of Canadian, and reach the markers that Dr. Tam outlined (75% of adult Canadians with 1 vax, 20% with 2 vax) by the end of June, I believe we will see inter-provincial restrictions start to ease over the summer.  In the meantime, we need Canadians to pledge to travel within Canada when these restrictions are lifted to support our home-grown businesses and boost the economy.

Jeff Element, President, The Travel Corporation Canada (includes dozens of companies, including Trafalgar, Contiki, Uniworld Cruises and others)

“Option 2. Current Canadian restrictions on travel stay pretty much the same until late June. The U.S. border opens then, and intra-provincial travel restrictions end in Canada.

This option is the most likely but if this happens, we will have missed the 2021 summer travel season to Europe. We might hit the tail end of it in October and then again for the Christmas markets but in general, it takes about three to four months in lead time to get a trip right away. However, tour operators of most stripes have all developed US and Canada trips that will run this fall. It will give Canadians an opportunity to seek some local experiences and reignite their wanderlust.

For further afield travel to happen even in this scenario, we need the following to happen very soon:

1. More vaccines being delivered which seems to be ramping up, and firm dates for earlier second doses need to follow.
2. We need announcements from our Prime Minister like Boris Johnson did in the UK ,outlining a road map out of this including dates and timelines. 
3. The road map also needs to include an announcement about reopening borders and how things will open up. Then an end date for the quarantine hotel policy and the end of the 14-day home quarantine.
4. A vaccine passport needs to be instated. Not necessarily for activities and outings or inter-provincial travel in Canada, but we need to know how to prove to other countries and/or airlines with a vaccination policy that we have been vaccinated. 

Travellers need to know these things months in advance if they are to make plans. While we all like to think we can be spontaneous and impulsive, when it comes to travel that is not the reality. People need time to plan and more importantly time to dream. A big part of travel is all the dreams you have about travel before it actually happens. I am cautiously optimistic about travel in the short term, but I am extremely optimistic about the future of travel in the long term. I believe the pandemic has helped us come to understand that we are global citizens, and we are all interconnected. More than ever, we now have a shared experience, and we all feel the need to get out and interact with our global brothers and sisters.”

Jason Sarracini, Omega Tours and Landsby.ca

“Option 1. Current Canadian restrictions on travel stay pretty much the same until late July. The U.S. border opens then and intra-provincial travel restrictions end in Canada.

We don’t know what kind of vaccine hiccups we will see over the next eight weeks but July is the time many will have had their second dose in Canada. No one is going to risk having a prolonged 3rd wave or potentially a 4th wave come so I hope everything stays closed until we can once and for all open up, with the help of a vaccinated population in Canada, the US and internationally.  This will also pave the wave for an incredible winter travel boom as COVID will be behind us.”

Beata Cieplik, Regional Vice President Canada, Marketing Commercial & Revenue Management at InterContinental Hotels Group

“We are already seeing evidence that when restrictions are lifted travellers feel assured and demand rebounds strongly, we have seen this over the past quarter in the US. Also, the rollout of vaccines will boost consumers’ confidence in travel, especially as the infection rates decrease. The strength of our brands and mainstream portfolio in Canada underpins this and domestic travel – consumers trust the cleanliness and safety of the Holiday Inn brand. Similarly, last summer when our restrictions were lowered we saw interest in domestic destinations.  Of course there is still a risk of volatility in the short-term, but expect industry’s recovery to gain further momentum over the course of the year.”