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It may still be difficult for foreign tourists to visit Canada, but our hard-hit tourism industry is showing signs of “green shoots” as the economy begins to reopen and more Canadians plan domestic vacations.
As of late June, travel spending on car rentals, airlines, travel agencies and other related expenses is down 43.5 per cent from 2019 pre-shock levels, according to a recent note from Royal Bank of Canada economists Nathan Janzen and Claire Fan. That sounds rough, but it’s a significant improvement from early January, when that spending was down 87.5 per cent.
“Early data is already pointing to green shoots emerging with spending on hotels, restaurants, and even travel moving up as vaccinations accelerate, case counts plummet and restrictions continue to ease country-wide,” they wrote.
Posthaste: Hard-hit tourism industry showing signs of life with Canadians eager to travel
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Brandon Sun By: Sidhartha Banerjee, The Canadian Press Posted:
Last Modified: 5:25 PM CDT Monday, Jun. 28, 2021 Save to Read Later
MONTREAL - Fans looking to secure tickets to a Montreal Canadiens game during the Stanley Cup finals should be ready to fork over a small fortune.
Montreal Canadiens fans cheer during warm-up for Game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup semifinal against the Vegas Golden Knights in Montreal on June 18, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
MONTREAL - Fans looking to secure tickets to a Montreal Canadiens game during the Stanley Cup finals should be ready to fork over a small fortune.
Only 3,500 tickets per game were available as of Monday, dispersed through a lottery system by the hockey club among its season ticket holders.
Ticket prices for those lucky few are $1,500 each for red premium seats for Games 3 and 4 and $1,875 for a possible Game 6. The cheapest seats in the upper bowl range cost $600 for the first two home contests on July 2 and July 5, rising to $750 for Game 6.
But some resale sites, such as StubHub, were already posting speculative ticket listings ranging from $5,300 to $30,672 per ticket over the weekend after the club reached the finals for the first time since 1993.
A 28-year Stanley Cup drought coupled with the pandemic-induced cap of 3,500 fans inside the Bell Centre means those cherished tickets are even harder to get than usual. Under normal circumstances, attendance for hockey at the Bell Centre is 21,302.