Skift Take
Things change fast in a pandemic. Canada ranked first in tight Covid restrictions, then it trailed the U.S. in vaccinations. Now it's playing catch up, while asking Canadians to help by spending the bulk of their vacation savings at home this summer, and not next door. Will they listen?
A year after the pandemic shut down global travel, Canada’s borders remain restricted to the world, and closed to the U.S. by land. At the start of 2021, America’s northern neighbor further implemented draconian entry requirements for citizens and visitors in an attempt to curb the entry of Covid variants.
Further stunting recovery is Canada’s recent vaccine distribution lag. While fellow G7 nations are advancing on that front, notably the United States — its primary tourism competitor —only three out of 100 Canadians had received one dose as of two weeks ago, compared to approximately 14 in the U.S. and 21 in the UK. The delay has even prompted political rivals to lash out at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Trudeau has indicated vaccinations would reach all Canadians by September 2021, but shared days ago that distribution is moving faster, with at least one million Pfizer vaccine doses per week from March 22 to May 10.
“We're now seeing supply coming in on a much accelerated basis,” said Marsha Walden, CEO of Destination Canada. “Obviously the American rollout plan, it's very aggressive; that changes the perceptions perhaps of Americans about Canada, but it's not just the rate of vaccination rolling, it's also the rate of uptake. And we know Canadians are very willing to have vaccines.”
Still the initial vaccine misstep and any additional lag are likely to delay Canada's tourism sector recovery, which is now largely focused on the domestic market for 2021. Prior to Covid, Canada welcomed 21.1 million visitors and contributed $105 Billion to the economy.
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