Anyone reading today’s News Brief is well aware the fallout of Canada’s in-destination COVID testing regulation is enormous for our industry. Tour operators, just beginning to climb out of the booking desert which began in March 2020, have fallen back into near radio silence. Travel advisors are struggling to calm distraught clients despite not having the tools to help them. Airlines such as WestJet have had to suddenly cut back capacity and laid off staff.
To top it off, consumer media is jumping on the travel shaming bandwagon and are fuelling the idea that travel is a primary COVID spreader. What evidence we do have indicates that travel accounts for a very small proportion of COVID spread - around 2%. The primary cause of community spread of the virus seems to be in-home get-togethers.
For more than 20 years, Open Jaw has strived to find a silver lining or humorous twist to difficult situations facing our industry. In that vein, we offer you a report today about Montreal playboy businessman Pierre Karl Peladeau (aka PKP) of Quebecor and his attempt to wrestle Transat away from Air Canada’s maw. We take this as a sign that despite the challenges, travel still has some meat on the bones and better days are coming.
Nina Slawek President
The visionary co-founder of Open Jaw, Nina handles everything at OJ from the purse-strings to the talented but eccentric staff. She is frequently spotted hobnobbing with industry leaders and making glamorous appearances in the Open Jaw TV Room.
