B.C.'s 'beaten up' tourism industry wants to know when international tourists can return
Last summer Ian MacPhee had his worst season ever.
And while the Business Development Manager for Prince of Whales whale watching tours is pretty confident this year won’t hit rock bottom, bookings that should be like a raging river are more like a trickle.
“We’re all feeling pretty low and pretty beaten up at this point,” MacPhee said.
On Monday, as Ottawa officially announced its first step to reopen the Canada-U.S. border since March 2020, MacPhee couldn’t help noticing what was missing.
“We’re really happy with the first step, but we need the second step to be quick on the heels of the first step,” he said.
That second step would be a plan to allow Americans and other international tourists to return, bringing a much needed boost to B.C.'s economy.
Typically, MacPhee said, Prince of Whales would be running up to 21 trips a week on its three high-speed catamarans.
So far this season, they’re lucky if they get six per week.
“It’s a very very very very slow start,” he said.
Walt Judas, the CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of B.C., said while he wasn’t surprised by the federal announcement, he too, thought it was lacking.
“We don’t have a sense of the timelines, we don’t know what other criteria (other than the 75 per cent fully vaccinated metric) they might be using,” Judas said.
Federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu said Monday she understood the frustration “of people who want certainty” and promised Ottawa would be transparent about the next steps, while giving few details.
Judas added: “Our fear is if the border doesn’t open until the fall or at the very least late summer, we will have missed a second straight year. And that’s going to hurt more operators.”
According to the association, tourism generated $22.3 billion in 2019. Last year’s final number, according to Judas, was less than $7 billion.
And Judas pointed out intra-provincial travel and domestic travel within Canada doesn’t make up for the 6 million Americans that visit B.C. every year.
Back on the dock, MacPhee pointed out the relaxing of travel restrictions for Metro Vancouverites which allows them to venture to Vancouver Island and the Okanagan, represented a sort of double whammy for his business, because so far there are few tourists coming in their wake.
Still, he said he’s choosing to be optimistic that Monday’s announcement will be followed by step two, three, then eventually, the finish line.
“I think we’ll have a modestly successful summer,” MacPhee predicted. “It won’t be like a normal year by any means.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.