Last week, the entire planet learned of the name of the 15e letter of the Greek alphabet. The Omicron variant is causing concern in the travel industry, which is just starting to take off. Will she have her wings cut off by the arrival of this new actor?
At Voyages Gendron, we are already feeling the effect of Omicron, the new COVID-19 mutation discovered in South Africa. Indeed, the travel agency has started to receive many calls from concerned customers, says spokesperson Marc-Olivier Gagné. “What we notice is that they are not so worried about the virus per se, but rather that the trip cannot take place,” he says. This is where people have to decide whether to take the risk or not. It becomes the usual puzzle… and no one has the answer. ”
However, the revival was indeed there, continues the spokesperson. “There has really been a big growth in the last two months, with the international clientele who were very open to travel. But here we end up with a new wave of cancellations, our fourth or our fifth. It comes in waves depending on those of the virus, unfortunately. ”
Go or stay?
The experts consulted agree on the fact that those who decide to travel are aware of taking a risk. “We’ve been in a pandemic for almost two years, so people know what they’re getting into when they choose to leave,” says Nicolas Ryan, acting director of public affairs at CAA-Quebec, which also offers services travel agency. “That said, this new variant is not yet known. So that adds an extra layer of caution. ”
Since traveling is a very personal decision, it is the traveller’s responsibility to find out about the situation in the country visited and, above all, to choose the right insurance in the event of illness or cancellation.
“At the moment, there is no real excuse: after two years, I think people are starting to understand that COVID is unpredictable, continues Nicolas Ryan. What we were already advising, for example to someone who wanted to go to the South with his small family, was to choose flexible conditions in order to be able to make an informed decision if ever we decided to postpone or cancel the trip. . ”
PHOTO PHILIPPE BOIVIN, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Meeting at the airport, Vincent Borgeat was going to Toulouse for two weeks.
According to a vox pop made Monday night at Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau airport, several travelers about to go abroad seemed to have done their homework. “I took, under the advice of a friend who was going to Martinique, specific insurance for COVID with Manulife,” said Vincent Borgeat, who was going to Toulouse for two weeks. Indeed, the insurance company offers a plan specially adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic. The cover includes in particular emergency medical expenses, and foresees costs if a quarantine were to be made during the stay.
As for the cancellation of the trip, it is above all with the airlines that customers must do business, for example by obtaining tickets with flexible cancellation conditions. This is what Gabrielle Tougas did, met at the airport on her way to Paris for work. “I did not take insurance, but the tickets are insured. We can make a change with the airline. ”
Since March 2020, several insurance companies no longer take the coronavirus into account as a reason for canceling a trip, as it is no longer an unforeseen event. This is the case of the Quebec Blue Cross, which declared a few weeks after the start of the pandemic that COVID-19 was no longer a condition of cancellation, explains Josiane Cousineau, vice-president of marketing and customer experience. . “Someone who plans to take a trip will not be able to cancel because of COVID, because it is clear that there is a risk that we already know. The arrival of a new variant should not change this instruction.
Borders that close
The World Health Organization considers the Omicron variant “of concern”. The organization has recommended people vulnerable to COVID-19, including those aged 60 and over, to avoid travel. Last week, Canada tightened border controls on seven African countries; Tuesday, he added three, for a total of ten.
Other countries have started to close or postpone their borders, including Japan, Israel and Australia.
Canada recently lifted its warning about non-essential travel. According to the experts consulted, the government site is really the reference for knowing the current situation. This is where we will have to follow the evolution of the Omicron variant and see the impact it will have – or not – on travelers.
“We will have to wait to find out how this variant will change things,” concludes Nicolas Ryan. The Delta also, at the beginning, it was said to be very contagious. But in the end, with the vaccination campaign in particular, it was quite contained. ”
with Alice Girard-Bossé