As travel restrictions ease, people discover pent-up desire to travel again
The cruise industry has gotten the green light to set sail again starting next November, after two seasons were suspended back-to-back because of the pandemic.
"Individuals that were going to be doing vacations by cruise in 2020, that flipped into 2021, and then again flipped to 2022," says Andrew Dixon, senior vice-president of trade and business development at the Port of Saint John.
"That pent-up demand, everybody thinks in the industry is going to serve us very well."
It's a sign of the travel industry getting back on track – but whatever your mode of transportation, many globetrotters will have more than just their passport and luggage in tow with a pre-travel checklist that isn't quite what it used to be.
"From now on, masks will always be something that I'll have with me and travel with," says Nova Scotia-based travel blogger Cailin O'Neill of Nova Scotia Explorer.
"Especially when on planes and crowded areas, just as a comfort to know that I can feel a bit safer with it."
Crystal Richard of Dieppe, New Brunswick, who is behind the travel blog, the East Coast Mermaid, says she still plans to keep a mask around when she travels as well.
"As much as I'm excited to ditch the mask in situations that I'm comfortable in – I think travelling it's definitely going to be something I'm still going to consider and bring along for the ride."
She also believes that booking trips will mean having to do so much less in-depth booking than before.
"I think travel is going to be very much less of a 'let's just book the trip' and more of a, 'before we book this, what are the cancellation policies, what's going on in that city, that country – what are their COVID numbers looking like?'"
According to CAA Atlantic, research shows that 63 per cent of all Canadians do intend to travel this summer or this fall, and it's important for those who do, to bring along all of the paperwork.
"You need to make sure to make copies of photo ID, vaccination records if you have them," says Julia Kent, director of public & government affairs with CAA Atlantic. "And be prepared with all of the necessary documentation anytime you're leaving your home province."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.