Paul Nursey says he’s disappointed the U.S. has issued a travel advisory urging its citizens to reconsider travel to Canada. But the head of Destination Greater Victoria says it’s unlikely to make much difference to this year’s tourism season, given the timing at the end of summer.
This week, the U.S. State Department urged Americans to reconsider travel to Canada, though it did not impose any new restrictions on movement between the two countries.
The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. told media outlets the escalation of the travel advisory to Level 3 — reconsider travel — from Level 2 — exercise increased caution — was to protect those who have not been vaccinated.
Nursey said the battered and bruised tourism industry, which has been subsisting on domestic tourism dollars again this year, will take it in stride, as it was already anticipating that it would be months before there is any kind of return to normalcy where U.S. travellers are concerned.
Nursey said that as expected, only a trickle of vehicles has been coming through U.S.-Canada land crossings since they reopened to American leisure travel Aug. 9.
He compared it to the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the U.S., when it wasn’t until February 2002 that Americans began travelling to Canada again. “Virtually nothing moved until February 2002 and then it came back hard,” he said. “Everyone will need an adjustment period.”
That adjustment period will likely involve Americans with close ties to Canada making the trip and starting to tell their friends about the process, he said.
“It takes time to get used to it, it takes time for trust to build again,” Nursey said. “But hopefully by next spring we have a critical mass.”
Nursey said the industry has been well-supported by the Canadian domestic traveller, but after this weekend, it’s back to school and work for most.
“We expect demand to drop off considerably after that,” he said, noting that’s when they will miss the higher-spending U.S. and international traveller.
