Border reopening a big relief to tourism industry

Vaccinated Americans can come as of Aug. 9, government says

Relief in tourism circles was palpable following Ottawa's decision to reopen international borders over the coming weeks.

Fully vaccinated U.S. residents will be allowed back into the country for non-essential travel as of Aug. 9, the federal government announced Monday. Travellers from other countries fully vaccinated with a Canadian-approved vaccine can return starting Sept. 7. Border measures remain subject to change “as the epidemiological situation evolves.”

While the move probably won't allow hotels, restaurants and other tourism-related businesses in Montreal and elsewhere to save their summer season, it does give them a chance to operate under more normal circumstances and plan for growth in 2022. Canada's borders have been essentially shut since March 2020.

“We're happy and relieved,” Manuela Goya, vice-president of destination development at Tourism Montreal, the city's tourism promotion agency, said in an interview.

“Despite all the representations we made, we weren't sure how long the border was going to remain closed. This situation could have lasted longer.”

To be allowed into Canada, foreign tourists will still need to show proof of full vaccination and a negative test taken before arrival. Mandatory quarantine requirements will be scrapped, as will the obligatory test following arrival — unless passengers have been randomly selected to complete a COVID -19 molecular test.

The easing of travel restrictions is “excellent news for tourism, for Montreal hoteliers and restaurateurs,” mayor Valérie Plante tweeted.

Summer is typically Montreal's biggest tourist period, accounting for 4 million of the 11 million visitors that the city welcomed in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic. Last year, Montreal drew 108,000 summer tourists.

Promotion efforts will begin immediately, mostly targeting U.S. northeast states such as Maine, New York and Vermont, Goya said.

While making forecasts is inherently risky, and even more so during a pandemic, Goya said Montreal is now aiming to draw about 6 million out-of-town visitors next year — assuming the border remains open.

The reopening “is going to do us a world of good,” Marie-pier Germain, vice-president of sales and marketing at the hotel chain that bears her family's name, said in a telephone interview. “The last year has been a perfect storm. It's great to get some time to organize ourselves properly.”

Germain Hôtels operates 18 establishments across Canada, including seven in Quebec.

Crucially for tourism industry professionals, unvaccinated U.S. children under 12 accompanied by a fully vaccinated parent or guardian will be allowed to enter Canada for non-essential travel.

“You're going to see U.S. families coming back, which is a key part of the recovery,” said Michel Leblanc, head of the Chamber of Commerce of Metropolitan Montreal.

Since it's impossible to predict how many foreign visitors will return, or how quickly, Ottawa should extend financial assistance for tourism companies until the end of 2021, Leblanc added.

“The reopening has been so long in coming that businesses such as tour operators may have trouble generating enough cash flow to make it through the fall,” he said.

With the easing of restrictions now confirmed, global airlines can begin restoring some 682 domestic and international routes that were scrapped due to the pandemic, the International Air Transport Association said Monday.

Reopening the border will boost Canada's gross domestic product by $14 billion a year, IATA estimates.

Montreal-based Air Canada said Monday it plans to operate up to 220 daily flights to and from the U.S. after the reopening, which it called “an important step based on science.”

Its updated summer schedule will include 55 routes and 34 destinations in the U.S. Twenty-one flights each week will link Montreal to New York's Laguardia Airport.

Rival Westjet Airlines also welcomed Ottawa's announcement, calling it a “significant and positive step forward.”

“This is the type of announcement we have been looking for,” Andy Gibbons, head of government affairs at Calgary-based Westjet, said in a telephone interview. “It's been so difficult to schedule our flights appropriately over the last year and a half. The most difficult challenge right now is planning where our planes are going to go because the demand environment is not predictable. A lot of it depends on the government, and consumer trends that have really fluctuated.”