Foreign tourists who are not vaccinated against Covid-19 will not be allowed to enter Canada for quite some time because the government is unwilling to jeopardize progress made on containing the virus, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. “I can tell you right now that’s not going to happen for quite a while,” he said when asked by reporters when Canada would allow unvaccinated tourists to enter the country.

Canada, as of this week, has waived quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated citizens. But non-essential foreign travellers are still not allowed to enter despite pressure from the country’s hurting tourism sector. The United States does not have vaccine requirements for visitors. At this point talks about lifting border restrictions are focused on fully vaccinated travellers, Trudeau said.

“The next step we’ll be looking at what measures we can allow for international travellers who are fully vaccinated,” he said. “We will have more to say in the coming weeks.” Trudeau has previously said authorities are looking closely at domestic vaccination rates, the spread of variants of concern, and how the rest of the world deals with COVID-19.

Some 78% of people aged 12 years or older in Canada have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, health officials said. About 44% of people 12 years or older are fully vaccinated. Governments in Canada and the United States have faced pressure to reopen the world’s largest land border, which has been shuttered to non-essential travel since March 2020.

The current restrictions are in place at least until July 21.

The confirmation on the lifting of the remaining Covid-19 restrictions on 19 July is clearly making an immediate impact on Britons’ summer plans, as many have swapped the UK for traditional European destinations for their summer holidays.

Spain has now toppled the UK staycation from its top spot with 29% of bookings, the UK is 12% of bookings and Greece remains at 8% of all summer holiday bookings made by Travel Counsellors.

Holiday bookings were already up by 10% and are expected to rise further. The latest booking figures from leading independent travel agency, Travel Counsellors, show that 50% of all new holiday bookings and re-bookings made last week (w/c 28 June) are for summer 2021.

For bookings further down the line, USA, Spain and the Maldives are very popular for winter 2021/22; while Greece, USA and Spain are leading the bookings for summer 2022.

Kirsten Hughes, UK Managing Director at Travel Counsellors, says: “We welcome today’s announcement, which removes the quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers returning from an amber list country. This is a positive step in the right direction for both the travel industry and consumers looking to get a much-needed break away. We have been waiting for this clarity, which will certainly give Britons more confidence in booking late summer holidays to popular European destinations once again.

However, travel remains more complex than ever at the moment, with the traffic light system and latest FCDO advice to navigate. Placing travel plans in the hands of an experienced travel professional has never felt so important – a sentiment that is clearly reflected in our latest consumer survey report”, Kirsten concludes.

The release of these stats from Travel Counsellors coincide with the publication of the company’s latest consumer survey report of 1,000 customer responses in June 2021. Insights highlight there is still an appetite to travel in the current climate, with over 40% citing the fact they ‘just want to get away’ as the main reason for booking a holiday. Booking with a trusted advisor is still very important in these uncertain times, with 60% of consumers saying that ‘booking with someone you can trust’ is the most important factor when considering travel plans. Whilst some 22% are planning to travel in the autumn, clear guidelines are also needed, with 61% of respondents saying they require more clarification on individual country requirements to boost confidence.

Travel Counsellors has almost 1,500 experts across the UK who offer support, local expertise and reassurance from ‘inspiration to destination’. For more inspiration on the next destination, take a look at Travel Counsellors postcard film, written and performed by incredible poet, Tony Walsh.

Restarting business and international travel was a “top priority” of the Biden administration, according to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo. Speaking on a virtual forum conducted by the American Hotel & Lodging Association, Raimondo said the department would soon announce a package of $750 million in aid to the US travel and tourism industries.

The funds would be used by individual states in a “flexible” manner, she explained, depending on where each state sees the most need.

With the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in the US and the UK and more slowly in the rest of Europe, Raimondo said, “I’m hopeful that post-Labor Day we will see a nice uptick in business travel and international travel.” Raimondo promised to do everything she can “to revitalize domestic and international business travel through agencies that report to me.”

She said easing travel restrictions is a top priority of hers and the administration’s and promises that “we are collaborating across the government to do everything we can to ease travel restrictions safely,” including advocating to open key corridors for business travel internationally.

The USVI management of the COVID-19 public health crisis along with savvy marketing tactics are being credited for the confidence airlines have placed in adding and increasing service to both St. Croix and St. Thomas.

Speaking at the recent 2021 Routes Americas air service development event in Orlando, Commissioner of Tourism Joseph Boschulte said the multi-agency approach to curbing the spread of COVID-19 in the Territory has helped travelers and airline executives to select the USVI (U.S. Virgin Islands) as a leading choice for leisure travel.

“Despite the global travel lockdowns, we have had incredible winter and spring seasons, and we expect to experience one of the strongest summer months in the history of the U.S. Virgin Islands,” said Commissioner Boschulte, who reported St. Croix and St. Thomas are registering about 10,000 and 30,000 weekly seats respectively this summer.

“We have welcomed new nonstop service from places like Dallas, Miami, Orlando, New York City and Newark, New Jersey, and increased lift across several gateways,” said Commissioner Boschulte, who disclosed that plans are in the works for new service to St. Croix from the mainland United States. “We are also close to consummating a deal for new flights from Canada to St. Croix, and will continue to work on resuming seasonal flights from Denmark,” the tourism executive disclosed.

Commissioner Boschulte said the response from airline executives in Orlando was exceptional, and as the Territory moves towards the post-vaccination period, he was confident of increased business as refreshed hotels such as Divi Carina Bay Beach Resort & Casino and Renaissance St. Croix Carambola Beach Resort & Spa on St. Croix come back online in the months ahead. He was also optimistic about the eventual return of the iconic Frenchman's Reef Marriott Resort and Noni Beach, a St. Thomas Resort, Autograph Collection, to the accommodations inventory on St. Thomas.
“But what has really been remarkable throughout the pandemic is the sharing economy – Airbnbs, condos and villas – which has kept our economy ticking as we continue to safely welcome thousands of travelers to our shores every day,” he said.

Moving forward, the Commissioner said the work of an expanded sales team in the marketplace as well as the continued deployment of innovative marketing tactics, especially across digital platforms, will be critical to maintaining the momentum: “We feel good where the USVI is positioned and are heartened by the intelligence we are receiving about plans for continued growth during the 2021-2022 winter season.”

During Routes Americas, the Commissioner and his team met with representatives from Air Canada, American Airlines, Cape Air, Caribbean Airlines, Copa Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, Sun Country Airlines and WestJet Airlines in addition to representatives from data-focused aviation service companies.

The USVI team also hosted an educational travel industry luncheon to provide destination updates to meeting planners, travel agents and journalists in the Orlando area.

easyJet has today launched flights from East Midlands Airport to Belfast International Airport in Northern Ireland for the first time, providing customers in the midlands with even more domestic connections this summer, to reunite with friends and family or take a long-awaited break.

Flights to Belfast are now operating up to four times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays throughout the summer and are on sale at easyJet.com with fares available from just £34.99. Belfast is the ideal location for a city break. Travellers can step back in time at Victorian-era tourist attractions, learn about Belfast’s past on a walking tour, dive into the city's maritime history in the Titanic Quarter and sample the local food and drink scene in award-winning independent restaurants and pubs.

Holidaymakers wishing to explore the scenic countryside can take a day trip to the world-famous Giant’s Causeway. All customers booking flights with easyJet benefit from some of the most flexible policies under its ‘Protection Promise’ which means that customers can book now for later this year with the confidence that if their plans change, so can their booking. 

Ali Gayward, easyJet’s UK Country Manager, said: "We are excited to be celebrating the launch of our inaugural flight from East Midlands to Belfast today, and are confident this new route will be a popular addition for passengers in the East Midlands needing to travel for business or those wishing take a well-deserved break or to visit loved ones." 

East Midlands Airport’s Managing Director, Clare James, says: “After one of the most difficult years in the history of aviation, it’s great to be announcing some positive news and waving off passengers on board an easyJet flight from this airport for the first time in 11 years. Domestic connectivity to other parts of the UK is an important part of our offer and I’m confident that this route to Belfast will be popular with travellers across the East Midlands region and beyond. We look forward to continuing to work with easyJet to explore further opportunities in the future.”

All customers booking flights with easyJet benefit from industry leading flexible booking policies under its ‘Protection Promise’ which means that customers can book now with confidence that if their plans change, so can their booking. All easyJet customers will now be able to change their flights this summer without a change fee at any time up to two hours before departure, providing even more last-minute flexibility. Unlike other airlines, there are no restrictions on dates or destination; customers can transfer to any flights currently on sale up to the end of September 2022, and to any other destination on the airline’s network which spans 35 countries across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

This means that if some travel restrictions are impacting their destination country, such as self-isolation in destination or on return to the UK, customers can easily change their trip to another country on easyJet’s network. Plus, should a mandatory hotel quarantine impact a customer’s travel destination this summer, customers can now request a refund for their flight within four weeks before departure if the restriction is still in place, even if their flights are still operating.

The safety and wellbeing of all customers and crew remains easyJet’s highest priority and the airline continues to have a number of biological safety measures in place onboard in line with guidance from the relevant authorities. This includes daily enhanced cabin disinfection effective in protecting against coronavirus for at least 24 hours and mandatory mask wearing for customers and crew.

All easyJet aircraft are already fitted with HEPA filters, similar to those used in hospitals, which filter 99.97% of airborne contaminants in the cabin, including viruses and bacteria.

The Pavilions Hotels & Resorts has enhanced its guest experiences by becoming the first international boutique hotel group to accept cryptocurrencies from any country for hotel bookings, leading the tourism industry into the future of secure online payments. Partnering with UK-based, world-leading global crypto-payment gateway, Coindirect, all of The Pavilions’ hotels and resorts can now be booked confidently and securely with digital assets including Bitcoin, Ethereum and 40 other virtual currencies.

"We pride ourselves on providing partners a platform for instant secure payments with over 40 Cryptocurrencies; this was a critical factor for The Pavilions Hotels & Resorts to ensure the end-to-end payment service is safe, flexible and easy for guests, when booking their next experience at any of The Pavilions Hotels & Resorts' across the globe." said Jesse Hemson-Struthers, CEO and Co-founder of Coindirect. 

"Guests can take advantage of paying in the Cryptocurrency of their choice, based on the currency and location they are situated in at the time of booking, offering more freedom and a contemporary, personalised service." he continued.

"Personalised experiences are at the core of our DNA; allowing this flexibility in payments combined with security and peace of mind for our guests is the next step in personalised and bespoke services. We are proud to lead the industry and enhance ourselves in the digital world with this exciting new crypto payment method available at all of our unique and distinct Hotels and Resorts across the globe." said Gordon Oldham, Founder & Owner, The Pavilions Hotels & Resorts. 

The Pavilions Residences, which are available for sale at the group’s Phuket and Niseko resorts, will also accept cryptocurrencies for property sales. 

The Pavilions Hotels & Resorts recently announced several new hotels, most recently The Pavilions Anana Krabi in Thailand, and The Pavilions El Nido, Palawan Island in the Philippines, expanding its portfolio to 14 locations across the globe including Phuket, Bali, Himalayas, Mongolia and Niseko in Asia, and Amsterdam, Madrid, Lisbon and Rome in Europe.

Unique to the luxury hotel group are ‘Curated Journeys’, which immerse the guest in the discovery of the very essence of the destination; a Pavilions Spa brand that delivers locally inspired treatments with locally sourced products to ensure authenticity; F&B concepts derived through destination research which offer an authentic, local experience, and comprehensive focus on CSR initiatives.

Payments using cryptocurrencies will be available for direct bookings through each hotel's reservations centre from today (July 7). In the near future, it will be available on website booking engines as well.