The World Travel and Tourism Council says Canada’s decision to require national carriers to suspend all flights to Mexico and the Caribbean until April 30, and impose hotel quarantines for all arriving passengers, will cause even further damage to its travel and tourism industry, which is already in a fight for survival due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as we published yesterday, a new survey in Canada shows almost 90 percent of respondents agreeing with not just the suspension of flights to most sun destinations, and the subsequent quarantine, but also believe the government should ban all international travel until there are several consecutive days of reduced COVID-19 numbers.
“Blanket flight cancellations and ineffective and costly quarantines are not the solution and will only slow down the recovery of this important sector,” says WTTC President and CEO Gloria Guevara. “These drastic measures will continue to cause untold damage to a sector that creates more than 1.6 million jobs, and in 2019 contributed $143.9 billion to the country’s economy. The sector will be key to Canada’s economic recovery once the pandemic has been combatted.”
Guevara said, “We firmly believe that rapid, low-cost testing on departure for all travellers, along with the implementation of a contact-tracing regime, is the only way to save the sector. These simple and effective measures, along with observing enhanced hygiene protocols such as mask wearing and social distancing, will avoid exporting the virus and enable the free movement of travellers.
“Quarantines should only be in place for positive cases, which is why testing passengers is absolutely critical. We would also like to see a clear and detailed exit strategy, as the travel and tourism sector needs to restart now, before many businesses crumble and even more people lose their jobs.”
The WTTC chief urged the Canadian government to collaborate with other leaders around the world to agree on a more internationally coordinated approach to restart travel and save the ailing travel and tourism sector.
“Our latest research reveals the devastating impact COVID-19 is having on travel and tourism across North America, with between 10.8 million and 13.8 million sector jobs at serious risk,” she said.
Related article: Canadians support travel restrictions.