Statement by U.S. Travel on Canadian Land Border Reopening

U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on today’s lifting of restrictions for fully vaccinated American travelers at the Canada land border:

“Today, Canada begins welcoming fully vaccinated Americans back across the land border. This wise decision will spur the kind of economic recovery for our northern neighbor that’s critically needed on this side of the border as well.

“Reopening the U.S. land border to fully vaccinated Canadians would mark a good starting point towards rebuilding our own travel economy, and the Biden administration should reciprocate this policy decision – given the high rate of vaccination across Canada – without further delay.

“Every month that travel remains stagnant, the U.S. loses $1.5 billion in potential travel exports and leaves countless American businesses vulnerable.

“Canada is America’s largest international travel market source and accounted for 26 percent of all inbound traffic in 2019, worth $22 billion in annual export income. Even if travel from Canada returns to just half of 2019 levels for the rest of 2021, the United States will reap nearly $5 billion – if U.S. policy permits.

“Emergence from this pandemic will continue to be a complex and evolving process. The best response from the White House would be to set rational policies regarding international travel to serve as a model for a world safely and responsibly reopening.”