N.B. education minister urges families not to make March break travel plans

New Brunswick’s education minister is asking families not to book out-of-province vacations for March break this year.

“March break is the month after next and we are looking at several months before a reasonable percentage of our population is vaccinated. So, I certainly wouldn’t be recommending people book trips outside of New Brunswick,” Dominic Cardy told Global News via Zoom on Monday.

Cardy says the government is doing its best to increase its supply of vaccines in the province. But keeping the coronavirus under control depends on the actions of New Brunswickers, he said.

On Tuesday the province reported 27 new cases of COVID-19. Cardy said he is also concerned over the potential spread of the U.K. variant, which is now being found in Canada and has been linked to international travel.

“The economic damage and the lives lost and all of the tragedies that we saw over the last year are now being compressed and amplified by these new variances of COVID and we want to keep those out.”

That is why he is asking New Brunswickers to stay put for March break.

Moncton travel agent Wendy Northrup said she would typically be flooded with a “wave” of calls in January from people booking spring getaways. But she said her spring and March break tropical vacation bookings are down 90 per cent amid COVID-19.

“A lot of people are not booking, certainly not booking cruises because cruises are cancelled until the beginning of March,” she said.

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With the vaccines now trickling into the province, she said eager travellers are booking ahead and planning for travel outside of Canada this summer and fall. But most of her typical March break clients are cancelling their travel plans for this year at least.

“I get a lot of people that typically book March break every year, they are booking March break 2022 now because if they book now they are going to secure a better price,” she said.