Trends in Travel- July 2020 Newsletter
Life is slowly returning to the travel and tourism industry.
Air Canada service to Barbados has re-started as of July 12th, with bi-weekly service from Toronto Pearson International on Thursdays and Saturdays.
Jamaica has taken its first steps on the path to post-COVID tourism. Since re-opening on June 15th, it has established new protocols: mandatory COVID-19 expert on staff at hotels, and individuals coming from high-risk countries will have to get a COVID-19 PCR test, conducted by the public health department at the airport, after passing through immigration and customs.
The Turks and Caicos Islands will be re-opening to international tourists on July 23rd. They have introduced new protocols, now requiring a COVID-19 test performed within 5 days of travelling to the island.
France and other European Union countries have re-opened their external borders effective July 1st to a list of 14 countries, including Canada. In 2019, 1.2 million Canadians visited France. Surgical type masks are required on all Air France flights (and have been since May 31st). Beginning the week of July 9th, Air France has started its new schedule with 3 flights per week between Toronto and Paris, and 10 weekly flights between Montreal and Paris.
The Louvre Museum in Paris has re-opened. It has put new safety measures in place. You must book a time-slot for your visit and wear a face mask, and you must use hand sanitizer before entering. Prior to COVID, as many as 50,000 tourists visited the Louvre every day. However, at the museum’s recent re-opening, only 7,000 visitors showed up.
WestJet has released its updated August schedule. It features more than 200 daily flights to a total of 48 destinations, including 39 Canadian destinations, two destinations in Europe (London and Paris) and one in the Caribbean (Montego Bay, Jamaica).
Canada and the U.S.A. have extended border restrictions until August 21, 2020, continuing the prohibition on non-essential travel.