Following the Department of Homeland Security’s Friday announcement that the U.S. would extend the closure of its land borders for another month - until at least 21SEP, the organization representing the American travel and tourism industry pointed out the costs of the American border with Canada remaining closed.
The U.S Travel Association issued a statement late Friday criticizing the extended closure.
Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy of the USTA, Tori Emerson Barnes, said in the statement, “Travel restrictions are no longer protecting us from the virus – vaccines are.”
She pointed out that every additional day the country’s land border remains closed hampers job recovery in the U.S., especially for Americans who work in the travel and tourism industries.
“For each month the status quo continues at the Canadian border, America’s No. 1 source market of inbound arrivals, the United States loses $1.5 billion in potential travel exports, leaving countless American businesses vulnerable.
“Entry restrictions were urgently needed before effective COVID-19 vaccines were widely available, but these shutdowns carried a steep price – the loss of more than 1 million American jobs and $150 billion in export income last year alone.”
On 09 AUG, when Canada reopened its borders to fully vaccinated Americans, the USTA applauded the move - and said the same should be happening on its side of the border.
At that time, USTA President and CEO Roger Dow called the unilateral reopening of the Canadian border to Americans on 09AUG, a “wise decision will spur the kind of economic recovery for our northern neighbor that’s critically needed on this side of the border as well.
“Reopening the U.S. land border to fully vaccinated Canadians would mark a good starting point towards rebuilding our own travel economy, and the Biden administration should reciprocate this policy decision – given the high rate of vaccination across Canada – without further delay.”
“Canada is America’s largest international travel market source and accounted for 26 percent of all inbound traffic in 2019, worth $22 billion in annual export income. Even if travel from Canada returns to just half of 2019 levels for the rest of 2021, the United States will reap nearly $5 billion – if U.S. policy permits.”
