Advice to Canadians for Holiday Travel could be a bummer for Sunny Weather Destinations like TCI

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#Canada, December 22, 2021 – Canada has advised all of its citizens to avoid all nonessential travel out of the country.  The advisory was delivered in a statement posted on the government of Canada’s website and applies for all Canadians regardless of vaccination status.

The Government said this was because citizens may have difficulty returning to Canada if lockdowns are suddenly implemented overseas.  Several provinces in the North American country have started to push booster doses more ardently than before in a bid to stave off the omicron variant.

In addressing the new measures Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said. “To those who are planning to travel, I say very clearly: Now is not the time.”

Duclos said that the situation in other countries was ‘dire’ and likely to get worse very fast.

The travel advisory is set to last for the next four weeks and the country has specifically urged citizens to ‘avoid all Cruise ship travel outside of Canada.’

Canada is the TCI’s second largest feeder country for tourism accounting for 14 per cent of the market.  For the Turks and Caicos which recorded nearly 100,000 Canadian tourist visits by land and air in 2019, this advisory could be a serious blow.