Tourism sector waits on federal plans to lift travel restrictions

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

There are few more anticipated announcements by Alberta’s tourism sector than what may be coming later this week from the federal health minister.


On Friday, Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said that changes at the border will be coming very soon.



Dave Kaiser, president and CEO of the Alberta Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA), was trying to be positive about the outlook for the sector on Monday, but admitted it was difficult to do so.

The potential lifting of travel restrictions was music to his ears, even if it was not known what those changes will be as of yet.




Kaiser said the hotel industry has been hit on multiple levels throughout the pandemic and was still trying to recover from the 2015 recession, induced by the energy sector hitting a bust cycle.

But even with energy rebounding, occupancy rates are still among the worst in the country.

At the end of 2021, Alberta had a 36.5 per cent occupancy rate, lowest in the country, but it dug even deeper in Calgary’s downtown with an occupancy of 24 per cent lowest in the country.

It hits even harder at the revenue per room rate.

The travel restrictions have effectively wiped out international travel for both business and leisure. Calgary’s downtown hotels have, in particular, been impacted through the conference schedule being erased and companies shifting doing business from in-person to remote meeting platforms.

Restrictions have also hit the recreation end of it with sports tournaments that normally attract international teams and participation being cancelled.

Out-of-Canada travellers also account for a larger portion of the economic tourism pie.

According to the AHLA, prior to border restrictions due to COVID-19, international visitors made up only six per cent of arrivals to Alberta, but they contributed 28 per cent of tourism expenditures.

Kaiser said 19 hotels have shut down over the pandemic, but that stat does not speak to the greater financial challenges they are seeing.

Many have remained in operation on the back of federal and provincial supports and lenders that are willing to work with them. But a deep hole has been dug.

The best case scenario on recovery for the sector Kaiser has seen is two years, but that’s assuming the pandemic ends, restrictions are lifted and they can close the gap on the 20-25 per cent staffing shortage that he says has been permanently lost.

The airline industry has also been hammered by the restrictions.

While the fourth quarter and year-end data for 2021 are still being finalized, Calgary International Airport Authority (CIAA) was still in recovery mode when the federal government inserted new restrictions and requirements for international travel.

As of November 2021, arrivals and departures were at about half of 2019 levels and this was prior to Omicron hitting. The biggest drop in numbers was from international travellers with 282,695 passengers through the end of November.

In 2020, there were 518,117 through the same period ostensibly many of those before the pandemic and in 2019 there were 1,916,562.

In a statement, Carmelle Hunka, vice-president of People, Risk and General Counsel for the CIAA, said it was time for the federal government to remove restrictions as many other countries have done.


Medical experts have said that less than one per cent of COVID-19 cases across Canada have been associated with international travel.

Numerous organizations and businesses across the country have been calling for the lifting of these restrictions in recent weeks, including the Air Lines Pilots Associations and WestJet.


They point to the severity of the restrictions in comparison to much of the rest of the world and the impacts they are having on the sector.

Angela Anderson, director of media and communications for Banff and Lake Louise Tourism, identified the requirement for random testing and quarantining for airline passengers coming into Canada as needing to go first.

It’s basically caused a lot of cancellations, said Anderson, noting they have been aided by their ability to pivot and focus on regional markets closer to home. It’s the biggest issue that we are looking at, especially as people start to plan their trip for the summer season which is the absolute, most important season for our businesses here in Banff.

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