Christiane Germain Groupe Germain is one of the signatories of the letter calling for more coherence in the governments.
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June 9, 2020 15h38
Updated at 23h13
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Travel inter-provincial: the tourism industry wants consistency
Julien Arsenault
The canadian Press
MONTREAL — open Borders or closed? Mandatory quarantine or not? At the dawn of the summer season, the rules governing the travel interprovincial remain unclear, cites the tourist industry, which is urging Ottawa and the provinces, including Quebec, to clarify the rules of the game and open the borders.
Otherwise, scars may be bright for this sector completely paralyzed by the pandemic COVID-19, highlights of the collection the round Table on tourism in a letter of six pages sent to the prime minister, François Legault, as well as its counterparts in other provinces.
“Urgent measures are therefore necessary in order to prevent effects on the economy and the jobs that will be permanent if the situation is not corrected,” explained the grouping in his missive.
The 30 signatories, among which are the leaders of air carriers such as Air Canada, the tour operator Transat A. T., hotel chains Marriott and Germain, as well as employers ‘ associations and tourist as Tourism Montreal, have also challenged the Trudeau government last week.
Since the international tourists as well as business customers and are not expected to be at the rendezvous this year, the industry wants a clear framework in respect of interprovincial movement in the hope of being able to enjoy the months of July and August in order to prepare for a fall that is already difficult.
“It is necessary that one is able to go searching for any possible customer. This is going to be crucial,” explained during a telephone interview Tuesday, the co-founder and co-chair of the string Germain Hotels, Christiane Germain, who is among the signatories of the letter.
According to the most recent data from the Alliance of the tourism industry in Québec, the sector had 402 000 workers and about 30 160 companies. At the same time to the letter sent to Mr. Legault, the industry is also seeking an assistance plan of the part of the quebec State.
“Urgent measures are therefore necessary in order to prevent effects on the economy and the jobs that will be permanent if the situation is not corrected. ”
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The collection the round Table on tourism
Through the crisis
Greater “consistency” could both help to save the tourist season and give the industry time to prepare in order to ensure that the security protocols will be respected, argues the letter.
“Tourism has been significantly under-estimated in the economic recovery,” said president and ceo of Tourisme Montréal, Yves Lalumière, at the end of the wire. Every day counts for the industry. Today, it is not clear if you can go to Toronto. We are not talking about tourism and we are made in mid-June.”
Currently, some provinces have very strict rules. Even if the border controls will be relaxed in New Brunswick from June 19 to let the owners and those who have family in the province, a quarantine of 14 days will be required.
At Groupe Germain, the activities continued in 13 of the 18 hotels in the chain in spite of the pandemic. Slowly, the occupancy rate is approaching 10 %, according to Ms. Germain. It is not therefore not of rooms to accommodate visitors from other provinces.
In regards to health issues, Ms. Germain has argued that, given that cleanliness is part of the “visiting cards” of the sector, hotels are already well prepared.
“There are new health procedures, but this is not the chinese for us, has launched the leader of the Groupe Germain. In normal times, we already have staff dedicated to the maintenance in our institutions.”
Last year, Montreal has attracted over 11 million tourists, according to data from Tourism Montreal, which provides that the pandemic will deprive the metropolis of approximately 10 million visitors. The absence of a clear framework could also continue to have effects on the tourism business until 2021, since many companies will be reluctant to make reservations in advance, prevents the grouping.
At the end of April, 70 of the approximately 140 conferences to be held in Montreal by the end of the month had been cancelled due to the pandemic, had been informed by Tourism Montreal.
The business tourism takes a broad approach, as it includes, for example, the congress brings together professionals as well as appointment as the last chance of the national hockey League (NHL), which was to be held later this month in the metropolis, but that was postponed.
