Time For All Of Us To Dream Again
When will borders open?
When will quarantine rules be revised?
Will airport testing programs be used to reduce the length of quarantines?
What about travel advisories – when will they be removed?
And the big one, what’s the plan, the timeline that the travel and tourism industry can use to guide their planning as it tries to move forward?
What’s next?
That’s the question we asked a dozen industry executives to answer – in their own words and in their own way – in Canadian Travel Press’ FORECAST 2021: What’s Next?
This year’s Forecast was spread over two issues.
Last week, ACTA’s Wendy Paradis; Air Canada’s Lucie Guillemette; TL Network’s Christine James; WestJet’s Charles Crowder; and TTAND’s Flemming Friisdahl looked ahead and offer their take on what 2021 would offer.
This week, CTP’s FORECAST 2021 features:
Eric Barber, VP National Sales, Realstar Hospitality writes: “As the Moderna, Oxford and Pfizer vaccines start to roll out, agency customers are going to start making their dreams come true again, they will want to travel and with a complex reality becoming the norm in travel, they will need agents more Ladies and gentlemen, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, we are almost through this.”
Rebecca Cregan, Director, Market Management, Expedia Group, told CTP that: “Generation Z and Millennials will be the first to book travel with two out of three indicating they intend to travel within the first six months following the pandemic, and more than two in five will take a trip in the first three months.”
Richard Vanderlubbe, President, tripcentral.ca, observed: “If the 14-day quarantine were reduced, I feel there would be a 20% to 30% return of demand. Of course, this will not happen – it is more likely to be replaced with testing on return to Canada as in the Calgary Pilot. Our survey showed strong support for that.”
Louise Fecteau, General Manager, Transat Distribution Canada, made it perfectly clear that: “I am optimistic in nature. I prefer to believe that it is in adversity that one grows, that one evolves. I continue to believe that this crisis will allow the entire tourism industry to be even stronger in the months and years to come.”
Brett Walker, General Manager, International Business Operations Collette, points out that: “The culmination of a best-case scenario would entail government celebrating our industry’s past and its future, thereby bolstering a robust recovery — not just propping it up.”
Joel Ostrov, President, Canada East Region, Direct Travel, believes that: “The next 12 months are an opportunity to apply our learnings from this experience and re-instill the spirit of travel that motivates so many of us and drives the work we do each and every day.”
And CTP’s executive editor, Bob Mowat also offers his two cents … seems only fair, considering he asked the question …
So, What’s Next?
Well, hopefully, you’ll find some answers in this week’s issue of CANADIAN TRAVEL PRESS.
