As travel restrictions ease, people discover pent-up desire to travel again

SAINT JOHN, N.B. -

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."