Updated June 21, 2021
The border between the U.S. and Canada, which has been closed since March 2020, will remain closed until at least July 21 and still has no confirmed reopening date. On June 17, the Tourism Industry Association of Canada hosted a panel with representatives from the Canadian and U.S. governments, as well as the travel industry, to discuss why travel restrictions between the two countries should be lifted.
Canada’s Covid-19 Testing and Screening Expert Advisory Panel recommended changing the travel policy, including eliminating the mandatory hotel quarantine system and easing restrictions for fully vaccinated travelers. "Covid doesn’t discriminate by citizenship and we shouldn’t either," said Susie Grynol, president and CEO of the Hotel Association of Canada. "The border policy needs to be rooted in science and the science says that fully vaccinated travelers should be exempt from quarantine."
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, announced that once they reach a 75 percent vaccination rate of the first dose and a 20 percent vaccination rate of the second, restrictions can be eased without placing a burden on the health-care system. According to Beth Potter, president and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada, the country is going to reach that goal this week.
The border closure has affected the travel industry greatly on both sides. "Each month that Canada remains at a standstill, the U.S. economy loses $1.5 billion in potential travel exports, which is enough to support more than 10,000 American jobs," said Tori Barnes, executive vice president of public affairs and policy for the U.S. Travel Association.
On the Canadian side, "The last member survey we had showed that 70 percent of our membership of the hotels in Canada will not make it to the end of the year without government support," said Grynol. "A hotel can’t be repurposed for anything else. You can’t switch to online services, you can’t do curbside pickup, our inventory expires every single night. And we have big assets that we have to maintain where those fixed costs are there whether you have people coming to your hotel or not."
There is an extra sense of urgency in the Canadian tourism industry as the summer travel season approaches. "The tourist season in Canada, 75 percent of it in the summer are international visitors. Of that 75 percent, 50 percent are Americans," said Grynol. "And if we have the majority of Americans already now double vaccinated, there is no scientific reason why they can’t be coming and spending those dollars in Canada."
The Expert Advisory Panel also recommended that a system to validate proof of vaccination be available to travelers. "I personally don’t think that the practical challenges of the verification and proof of immunity is a reason to continue to ask the tourism sector to sacrifice," said Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, a Member of Parliament and the Canadian Liberal Party. "Government officials on both sides are more than capable of establishing what documents will be required for proof of immunity from different jurisdictions."
Barnes noted that the border needs to reopen not only for leisure travel, but also business travel. "Two things that we’re really focused on right now, in addition to opening up international travel is bringing back business meetings and events," she said. "We are seeing here in the U.S. an uptick of domestic leisure, but we know that that can’t make up for all of the losses that we are seeing on the international business front."
If the border doesn’t reopen soon, the U.S. travel industry may not fully recover until 2024 or 2025. "Let’s get the border open. Let’s do it in a safe way," said Potter. "If we have to do it in a phased way, that’s okay. But we need some clarity, and we need it now."
