On Vancouver Island, pressure mounts to reopen Canada-U.S. border to tourists
As vaccination rates rise on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, so too is pressure to reopen the border to tourist travel.
Clipper Vacations CEO David Gudgel says there is a lot of pent up demand for the passenger ferry that connects Seattle and Victoria.
“We felt like it’s pressure behind a dam, and the dam is beginning to crack, and it may happen very quickly,” said Gudgel on Tuesday.
Meanwhile on the Canadian side of the border, the Tourism Industry Association of Canada launched a campaign Tuesday calling on Ottawa to lay out a timeline for reopening the border, and to allow recreational travel as soon as safely possible.
Paul Nursey, head of Destination Greater Victoria and a director of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, says a roadmap for when the border will reopen is important for the industry to start its planning.
“Our association thought the time was right to start to press the government more concretely to try and get a roadmap and a plan,” said Nursey on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Trudeau was asked about rumours the Canadian border might partially open to tourists from the U.S. by June 21. “We have no announcements to make today,” said Trudeau.
Still, political pressure has been mounting from south of the border, where more people have second doses, and large gatherings are already occurring at events, including sports competitions.
The Canadian Press quoted Trudeau Monday acknowledging that the government was looking at a phased approach to reopening the border, perhaps by July or August.
What is clear: tourism businesses on both sides of the border need international tourists to survive.
“We have had to lay off many people, including about 20 folks from Victoria,” said Gudgel, noting that the company would be “elated” to be able to bring back those folks after the border reopens, something it’s now hopeful may happen sooner than the fall.
Nursey added that American travellers spend more money than domestic travellers.
“The U.S. traveller is a much more lucrative traveller in terms of average spending — almost twice as much compared to the Canadian traveller,” he said.
While previously the fall was seen as the earliest date for the international border to open, Nursey now says an August opening would be a “win” for the industry.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.