Nine predictions from Booking.com on the future of travel
There’s no doubt that the world has been and is continuing to be reshaped by the impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and in releasing its predictions for travel in 2021 and beyond, Booking.com notes that innovation within the travel industry will accelerate faster than ever to respond to marked shifts in travel expectations and behaviours.
The digital travel company observes that...
FLEMMING FRIISDAHL
Founder
The Travel Agent Next Door (TTAND)
What’s Next?
Who really knows.
If you had said to me in April that we would still be in this mess 9 months later I would have said NO WAY.
It will be like SARS or any other viral outbreak and we will be past the worst of it in 3 to 4 months, tops.
I guess this time the experts were a 100% correct and then...
LUCIE GUILLEMETTE
Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer
Air Canada
At the start of 2020, Air Canada was on a high
We had just completed a stellar year with record revenue in excess of $19 billion. We had set a record for passengers carried and record liquidity.
[caption id="attachment_145310" align="alignright" width="300"] Guillemette[/caption]There was every...
CHRISTINE JAMES, CTM
Vice President, Canada
TL Network
Best Case: What do you hope will happen in the next 12 months? Why?
Understandably, it’s difficult to make a prediction with the dynamics changing daily. That said, there has been some encouraging developments that should have a positive impact on what the future holds for our industry.
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CHARLES (CHUCK) CROWDER
Vice President, Sales & Distribution
WestJet
Best Case: What do you hope will happen in the next 12 months? Why?
[caption id="attachment_145300" align="alignright" width="220"] Crowder[/caption]
The delivery of a COVID-19 vaccine that is readily available to the general public. The vaccine would be effective and would allow quarantine restrictions to be...
WENDY PARADIS
President
ACTA
It is difficult to predict 2021 with any degree of certainty, as we are now in the early days of the colder weather and flu season in Canada – and are also in the throes of a concerning COVID-19 “second wave.”
[caption id="attachment_145295" align="alignright" width="220"] Paradis[/caption]
This is a new obstacle that we will need to manage through,...
The industry will persevere, it always does
BOB MOWAT
There have been a lot of words spent to describe the travel industry over the years. Definitely, there have been a lot more poured out during the past 9 months.
Yet the one word that resonates – whether it’s now or 40 years ago – is persevere.
Persevere: to persist in anything undertaken.
Persevere: to maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles or...
Closures loom without more government help, HAC warns
IAN STALKER
The president of the Hotel Association of Canada is calling on the federal government to step up support for this country’s beleaguered hotel industry, warning that Canada is on the brink of a rash of hotel closures brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
Susie Grynol said during a Nov. 17 Tourism Industry Association of Canada 2020 Tourism Congress talk that an HAC...
Airline executives urge government to reconsider quarantine rules
IAN STALKER
Two senior airline officials are questioning the wisdom of having those returning to this country automatically having to self-quarantine for two weeks in case they
contracted coronavirus while abroad, saying the practice is damaging to a struggling airline and travel industry and may not be particularly effective.
John Weatherill, vice-president of network and revenue...
IAN STALKER
Greg Klassen wants to introduce more vacationers to Old Man Winter.
Klassen, whose career has included tenures with the likes of the Canadian Tourism Commission and is now with tourism consulting firm Twenty31, told viewers during a Nov. 18 2020 TIAC Tourism Congress discussion that much of this country’s tourism infrastructure is often closed after summer, leading to a...