On 08JUN, The Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) launched a new campaign, calling on the federal government to reopen the Canada-U.S. border which has now been closed for 15 months.
TIAC represents Canadian tourism businesses, with leaders collaborating to foster growth and prosperity in Canada’s tourism sector.
TIAC’s campaign asks Canadian decision-makers to acknowledge the urgent need and to commit to a date to open the border, before the summer tourism season is lost.
Beth Potter, President and CEO of TIAC, said during the virtual launch event 08JUN, “With vaccinations rising and case numbers going down, we must now pivot to more forward-thinking policies, and talk about safely reopening the border, ending the extreme financial crush that has flattened the tourism industry and devastated the tourism economy in Canada.”
“As Canada and the U.S. return to normal, we must prepare to open the border quickly and safely, and restart our tourism economy,” she said.
As Open Jaw reported, the Minister of Health’s own advisory panel recommended scrapping hotel quarantines for air pax and developing a new system where land and air arrivals are treated the same, with differences for vaccinated or immune arrivals.
“There is a lack of urgency on the Canadian side for planning for the inevitable reopening of the border, which has been out-of-step with U.S. officials and the Biden administration. President Biden formally asked for a border reopening plan immediately after taking office, and so far, Canada has been slow to make any public progress,” added Potter.
This week, PM Justin Trudeau indicated fully vaccinated travellers would be welcome in the first phase of reopening the border. At this point no dates have been confirmed.
TIAC is asking the government to give Canadian tourism operators and businesses the ability to plan a restart of their businesses. They need time to retrain and rehire employees, and market Canada to tourists.
“Now that we are starting to come through on the other side, we must have a plan in place to reopen the border, to kickstart the Canadian tourism economy. The health and safety of Canadians continues to be of the utmost importance – which is why we need guidance from all levels of government on a plan,” said Potter.
