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.ASSOCIATION NEWS
We need your help by May 28th
OMCA
We need your help to get the support that all Canadian OMCA members need. On May 18th, the Ontario Motor Coach Assn. wrote the a letter to Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance encouraging the further extension of the CEWS and CERS programs for the hardest hit industries as well as a clear plan to reopen borders. Since 2021’s peak tourism season will continue to be hindered by public health restrictions, this hardest hit sector will rely on the assistance of the government supports to get them through to a more fruitful 2022 season. Please join us by sending your own letter to your local MP and posting our pre-created posts to your social media. Go to our website to find out how!
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A Message From the OMCA President: Week 5
OMCA
OMCA has sent a letter to Minister Freeland, our Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, outlining the need for the extension of the Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and the Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) plus to ask for a clear reopening plan for Canada’s borders. These policy priorities are aligned with the Coalition of Hardest Hit Businesses which OMCA is participating in. Yesterday the coalition had the opportunity to present to the Federal Finance Committee to outline the need for these extension until a time that revenues can replace these subsidies. I’m thankful to the members who have used our template to sent a letter to their MP to align our asks. The OMCA team has prepared a few social media shareables which you can use to connect with your MP via social. These grassroots advocacy tactics work, they unite our membership and align our messaging, so please keep it up. Next week is Canada’s Tourism week. I am encouraging you and your network to take the 2021 Tourism Pledge to Travel In Canada when restrictions are lifted. To get involved, please visit TourismCounts.ca, take the pledge and post your commitment through social media channels.
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Celebrate Tourism Week — OMCA Style!
OMCA
Next week is Tourism Week in Canada and we want to promote the funnest, awesomest, greenest and safest way to travel — by motor coach! Use our #TourismWeek posts on your social media to help us spread the word on the best way to travel this summer!
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Marketplace Planning Survey: Responses Due Today
OMCA
If you haven’t already submitted your response to the Marketplace planning survey, please do so today. Whether you are able to attend or not, we would love to get your feedback as it will help us plan the most appropriate format for our upcoming event.
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.INDUSTRY NEWS
Trudeau: Border reopening depends on 75 per cent of Canadians being vaxxed
iPolitics
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested on Tuesday that the Canada-U.S. border will stay closed until life returns to “normal,” meaning 75 per cent of Canadians have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Canada and the U.S. share the world’s longest border. It’s been closed to most travel since shortly after the pandemic began in March 2020. Since then, most people who’ve crossed it to enter Canada have had to quarantine for two weeks. The closure has lasted 14 months — the longest in the two countries’ histories.
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WORLD WATCH: Global pandemic update
Travel Industry Today
While the COVID-19 infections are decreasing in Canada and the US, and some destinations — like Greece — are un-battening the hatches to welcome tourists again, much of the world is cautiously preparing for, or fighting, the worst as variants multiply and, in some cases, past poor judgement comes back to haunt. Global cases as of May 16 totalled more than 162.5 million with over 3.36 million deaths.
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Province launches new Ontario Tourism and Travel Small Business Support Grant
Government of Ontario
The Ontario government is providing one‐time payments of $10,000 to $20,000 to support eligible small tourism and travel businesses struggling to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic through the new $100-million Ontario Tourism and Travel Small Business Support Grant.
The launch of the program was announced by Lisa MacLeod, Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries.
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WTTC Safe Travels stamp list surpasses 275 destinations
Travel Pulse
The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has announced that more than 275 destinations around the world have received its coveted Safe Travels stamp since the world's first-ever global safety and hygiene label was introduced just one year ago in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Friday, WTTC revealed that Thailand, Barbados, Cyprus, Abu Dhabi, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan are among the latest to receive the WTTC's Safe Travels stamp, which takes into account health and safety guidelines established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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All major summer events, including CNE, cancelled again this year, Toronto officials say
CTV News
The city has confirmed that all major events in Toronto this summer, including the Caribbean Carnival and the Canadian National Exhibition, will once again be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In March, the city cancelled all events and permits through to June 30 and the recent announcement means events typically held in Toronto in July, August, and over the Labour Day weekend will also not proceed in person.
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MEET THE NEW BOSS: WTTC names new president
Travel Industry Today
The global tourism industry has a new leader to continue the battle to emerge from its worst crisis ever. Julia Simpson will take the reins Aug. 15 as President and CEO of the World Travel and Travel Tourism Council, replacing Gloria Guevara, who has led the WTTC for the past four years.
Simpson has extensive experience in the travel and tourism sector, having served on the boards of British Airways, Iberia, and most recently as chief of staff at International Airlines Group. She previously worked at senior levels in the UK government including advisor for the prime minister.
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What you can do and when under Ontario's new 3-phase COVID-19 reopening plan
Global News
The Ontario government has unveiled a three-phase COVID-19 reopening plan that will gradually guide the province as it emerges from a weeks-long stay-at-home order imposed on all regions.
Premier Doug Ford, Health Minister Christine Elliott and Ontario’s chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams revealed the long-awaited blueprint at Queen’s Park on May 20.
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Canadian bus companies have plans to fill the gap left by Greyhound
CBC News
Almost every Canadian of a certain age can remember the first long bus ride that took them off on a youthful adventure.
In the case of your correspondent, part of that journey as a tender 17-year-old was on the exotically named Grey Goose Lines, which dropped me on a lonely highway somewhere east of Atikokan, ON, for a summer job as a junior forest ranger.
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