The Tourism Industry Association of Canada admits it was not expecting this week’s announcement by the U.S. State Department that it was upgrading the risk advisory for travel to Canada.
“This was not on our radar,” said Beth Potter, President and CEO of TIAC.
“It’s like businesses got kicked again while they’re already down.”
The Globe & Mail reveals Canada’s tourism and hotel associations are “disappointed” by the Monday announcement.
Based on changes to the CDC’s risk level assessment, the U.S. government urged Americans to “reconsider” travel to Canada.
The CDC said Canada has “high” levels of COVID infections, even though “only about 61 per cent of eligible Americans are fully vaccinated, compared with nearly 75 per cent of Canadians over the age of 12.”
However, following Monday’s announcement, the CDC appears to be walking back its advice for Americans to “reconsider” travel to Canada.
According to CTV News, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says that advice is mainly targeting unvaccinated Americans.
Walensky reiterated that, under the Level 3 risk assessment where the CDC now currently has Canada pegged, "People who are fully vaccinated and who are wearing masks can travel, although given where we are with disease transmission right now, we would say that people need to take these risks into their own consideration."
She added that those who are unvaccinated should avoid travel altogether. And in any case, unvaccinated Americans are unable to enter Canada under current Canadian border restrictions without quarantine.
It’s unclear whether the CDC’s softened messaging will affect Americans’ travel plans to Canada, or alleviate the worst fears of Canada’s tourism industry.
Meanwhile, the U.S. land border to Canada remains closed. The American government unilaterally extended the closure to 21SEP, citing risks due to the Delta variant, and has given no indication when it may open its land borders for non-essential travel.
