After weeks and months of calling on the federal government to open land borders, the Canadian Tourism and Travel Roundtable responded to Ottawa’s Monday border announcement with a statement indicating that, while its members were encouraged, there are still critical points that need addressing.
"The Canadian travel industry is pleased with yesterday's announcement on reopening the border. This signals great progress – however there is still lots to be done," said Beth Potter, president and CEO of Tourism Industry Association of Canada.
"We need an all-hands approach to successfully reopen the sector, including collaboration on key issues such as digital vaccine certification and re-instilling confidence amongst Canadians about the safety and feasibility of travel."
Besides calling for greater specificity in the details for businesses, the Roundtable also calls for “the government to now encourage Canadians and other fully vaccinated foreign travellers to travel across our country and explore Canada.”
The Roundtable also criticized the updated rules about unvaccinated children. As reported Monday by Open Jaw, unvaccinated children with vaccinated parents will no longer have to remain in the house for 14 days. But while they may leave the house with their parents, they must avoid group settings for 14 days, and that includes school, summer camps, or group child care settings. The Roundtable called even these modified restrictions a disincentive to travel and not in line with other countries’ decisions.
