It’s been a long year since I first posted about COVID-19 and what a year it’s been since then. We’ve gone through two “lockdowns” here in Toronto with most white-collar workers still working from home about a year later. Although it’s been a tough year for many, we’re starting to see the new normal emerge on the horizon with vaccine rollout picking up with the approval of two new vaccines after the slow start. That being said, as hopeful as I am for a return to normal travel this summer, personally, I don’t see the borders opening up fully (with no or 1-day quarantine) until Labour Day 2021. Regardless, as most Canadians will have access to the vaccine before the end of the traditional school year in late June, I’m declaring this is the summer of domestic travel. 

Vaccination Progress

Vaccination didn’t start off well in Canada, falling behind most of Europe and dropping to the second quintile of vaccinated nations. The good news, and what the governing Liberals likely banked on, was the availability of numerous different vaccinations to spread out their supply risk. It looks like the diversity of orders is paying off and even the Ontario government is predicting that residents will be able to have the first shot by June 20th, 2020. Although there is some contention over delaying the second dose, ultimately Public Health believes it will save the most lives. 

If the pharmaceuticals come through and continue to ramp up production (which I believe they will) and the provincial governments are able to roll out a few hundred thousand doses a day (mostly believable) we're going to eventually have a demand problem instead of a supply problem. Ultimately, the government is going to have to support the vaccine roll out with incentives, paid sick days, and bringing vaccines to traditionally left behind BIPOC and lower SES populations. It’s important to know, if we don’t get the vaccine to everyone, we won’t hit herd immunity, and that’s going to bring us back to normal life.

Canadian Tourism and the Recovery

While Canada isn’t entirely reliant on tourism, it still employs a significant proportion of Canadians. A report released by Destination Canada on March 8th, 2021 talks about the sad state of tourism in the country right now. The report, written by the crown agency, states that about half a million people in the tourism industry lost their jobs in 2020, a crippling statistic. In addition, hotels in major cities Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver suffered, with CTV quoting that revenues for hotels in those three cities fell 79 per cent in the last year for a total loss of $2.3B. (Side note, look at the RevPAR in Vancouver in summer, that’s certainly a ridiculously lucrative market, no wonder the hotels like the Sheraton Wall Centre and the Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle are so expensive)

As I’ve covered on this blog numerous times, the aviation industry has suffered throughout the pandemic. Destination Canada believes that revenue has been reduced by 71% year over year, a truly devastating blow. 

The good news is that most people are eager to get back to travel, key for the economy. Even more important, one of the key highlights in the report is that if Canadians shift two-thirds of their planned spend on international leisure travel towards domestic tourism, it will make up for the estimated $19 billion shortfalls currently facing our visitor economy and help sustain 150,000 jobs. Furthermore, this recovery is also critical to smaller, tourist economy towns (like Prince Edward County) that don’t typically have the type of jobs that did well during the “K” shaped recovery that we’re experiencing. 

The Point

Recovery is coming, but more important than ever it’s going to start taking place domestically. Now that vaccines are rolling out and death rates are plummeting due to targeted vaccination, now’s the time to plan summer trips in Canada to spend your dollars within the country, helping fellow Canadians. 

Personally, I don’t expect at this point to be leaving the country before the fall, even if I have planned to attend both the Olympics in Japan and the European Soccer Championships. Instead, I will be exploring this great country, as I have in the past. Over the next few months, I will be highlighting some of my favourite destinations and showing how you can explore them with miles and points, all while supporting fellow Canadians.