On Friday, June 18 Albertans found out that the province will be moving to Step 3 of Open for Summer as of July 1.  That means that virtually all health protocol restrictions will be lifted in the province.

So, what does that mean for the travel industry? Karen Fournier Owner of Four Stories Travel in Cochrane says, “All these little baby steps that are starting to be taken now, I think, will end up at our new normal which is where we need to get. So, I think it’s really exciting that Alberta is like okay we’re in our two-week waiting period we’re ready to go. Saskatchewan the same thing, we’re ready to go and all the other provinces are going to be following suit.”

Fournier believes that there will be a lot more caution taken when it comes to travel and that will be part of the new norm too. There will be more documents required. There is the ArrivecCAN app that is already in use and Fournier believes that it will be expanded upon even further. “So, what will end up happening is people will download the app and then they will upload pictures of their proof of vaccine from the pharmacies to the app and this what they are going to start showing at the airport so that they can travel freely throughout Canada and likely internationally as well.”

For an industry that was hit devastatingly hard over the past 15 months, Fournier is happy to report that there has been a renewed interest in travel particularly since the beginning of June. “A crazy uptick since June 1. I have had multiple calls every single day for people booking in for winter vacations. People wanting to get going to secure their place to make sure they have a room before someone snatches it. This is what we are going to run into now is the supply and demand is going to be out of control this year.” predicts Fournier.  It only makes sense to see the rise in demand because you have all the people who were forced to cancel their bookings in March of 2020 and then you have all the people that have been cooped up for 15 months wanting to go right away, which will create a high demand.  Fournier also believes that the supply and demand will drive prices up she says, “We are going to see prices slowly rising as space diminishes.”

The other reason that travel bookings are showing a marked increase is that the two main carriers out of Calgary, West Jet and Air Canada are offering free travel protection until the end of June at no cost to the traveler. That is a savings of 75-99 dollars per person and allows you to cancel with no charge and receive a full refund up to 25 days before departure. A week before departure if you cancel you will receive a full credit from the carrier for a later date. The industry is bending over backward to allow for travel flexibility during the fluid times of the pandemic. It appears that people are taking advantage of the incentive and are booking because it is worth the risk.

There are so many aspects of travel that are subject to change including documentation, rules, borders closures, health protocols, federal rules, provincial rules that it will be vitally important for travelers to do their homework and be up to speed on all the changing scenarios. 

Like Fournier says, baby steps but there is a renewed optimism and excitement that domestic and international travel will resume soon. There may be a new normal on the horizon but the hope is you will be able to reach your destination soon.