B.C. tourism operators cautiously optimistic as clock ticks down to U.S. border reopening

The organization representing B.C.’s tourism operators says it’s cautiously optimistic as the clock counts down to the reopening of the border to U.S. tourists.

As of midnight Sunday night, fully-vaccinated Americans who show a negative COVID-19 test will be able to enter the country for non-essential reasons, 15 months after the border was shuttered.

“It’s a long time coming,” Walt Judas, CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of B.C., told Global News on Sunday.

“A lot of operators are barely hanging on by a thread.”

Virtually no industry in the province has been hit as hard by the pandemic as tourism, while others, such as the hospitality industry, have suffered serious knock-on effects.

Canadian governments have worked to promote domestic tourism during the pandemic, but Judas said data shows U.S. visitors spend three to five times as much as their local counterparts.

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“Two-thirds of the international visitors to British Columbia who spend at least one night in the city or in the province are from the United States, and that represents billions of dollars in revenue.”

But while Judas said businesses are hopeful to see more American dollars flowing into their coffers, he believes it will be months before the effects are truly felt.

“Even though we’re opening the border to Americans and ultimately internationals next month, it’s too late to really salvage a lot of the tourism season, and recovery won’t begin in earnest probably until midway through next year,” he said.

Another potential setback for B.C. business hoping for a boost from visitors to the south is that the first wave of Americans may not actually be tourists, according to Laurie Trautman, director of Western Washington University’s Border Policy Research Institute.

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According to Trautman, pent-up demand for border access is largely coming from two groups: Families separated by the closure, and people who own property on the opposite side of the border.

“There’s a certain contingent of people who are going to really jump at the gun to enter Canada without having to quarantine tomorrow,” she said.

“But in terms of casual tourism or the typical cross-border movements we see in some reasons, I think that’s going to take a while to come back.”

Trautman said many Americans remain confused about the specific details around reopening, including how it applies to unvaccinated children and the use of the mandatory ArriveCAN app, which could slow the return to usual cross-border travel.

Anticipating it could be some time before relaxed border rules revive tourism in the province, Judas said he’s pushing the federal government to renew federal rent and wage subsidies for the sector — which are currently set to expire in October — into 2022.