ACITA: Detailed Plan Missing In Feds Announcement
The Association of Canadian Independent Travel Advisors (ACITA) issued a statement following the federal government’s announcement of new travel restrictions.
ACITA said: “We have been patiently waiting for his impending announcement that has been teased for weeks, initialized at the beginning of the year. While we welcome a decision, and were hoping for a detailed plan, we again find ourselves disappointed with the lack of information, as well as the thought processes that went into this decision making.”
The group notes that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau “opened his statement, recognizing that only 2% of cases has been brought about by travel, yet has again directed all his measures to protect Canadians from this virus, by restricting travel. With only a cancellation of flights to Caribbean destinations, we feel this has not addressed the seriousness of the issues with Community spread or provided additional support to the Provinces to get this spread under control, where the majority of the issues are, not to mention that the majority of critical issues with this virus are not originating in Caribbean destinations.”
And the association continued: “We are however, hopeful that this will bring the urgency of sector aid to the forefront, for all of our businesses affected by these cancellations. Airline staff and all related sectors are now in critical need for support to survive. While they recognized airlines will need aid, no announcements on that leaves us again scrambling, and concerned for the future of our businesses. Independent Advisors, as well as Travel Advisors in storefront agencies, and Travel Agency Owners are at a greater risk today of shutting their doors for good, and the work we have ahead of us is paramount to ensure we can limit those closures as much as possible.”
ACITA’s statement concludes that: “It was encouraging to hear, for the first time, from Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, travel agents mentioned, regarding sector aid. We will look at this as a positive step forward, and as an opportunity to further dialogue on the urgent need for commission protection with any bailout packages.”
Go to https://acita.ca/ for more.
