Hundreds of thousands of Canadians travel abroad despite Omicron

In December, more than 700,000 Canadian air passengers returned home from international travel.

In December, 742,400 Canadian air passengers returned from abroad, according to Statistics Canada. (Sam Nar/CBC)

Despite growing concerns around the world last fall over the new strain of COVID-19, Omicron, Sandy Long and her husband left on November 28 for a 10-day vacation in Mexico.

Long said they felt comfortable traveling because they planned to take strict security precautions. Furthermore, the couple had not been abroad for two years due to the pandemic and were looking forward to leaving.

"Life is short," said Long, 58, of Richmond, BC. "We needed to feel some warmth and we really miss Mexico."

It seems many Canadians have a similar attitude towards travel these days despite the fast and furious spread of Omicron, prompting Canada to reissue its advisory against non-essential international travel.

Statistics Canada recorded 742,417 Canadian air passenger arrivals returning home from abroad in December.

When adjusted to account for recent changes in air travel tracking, that total is almost six times the number of arrivals for the same month in 2020 and more than half the total for December 2019 before the pandemic.

The surge in international travel is likely to continue: There were 216,752 Canadian air passenger arrivals in Canada during the week of January 3-9, according to the latest data released by the Canada Border Services Agency.

Lesley Keyter, owner of The Travel Lady Agency in Calgary, said customers are booking trips despite the Omicron threat because they want to travel again.

Travel agency owner Lesley Keyter said that since October, the number of customers booking trips has increased 30 to 40 percent compared to the same period last year.

She said popular destinations for her clients, most of whom are 50 and older, include Europe, Mexico and Costa Rica.

When Omicron cases began to spike in December, Keyter said some customers canceled their trip, but most kept their travel plans.

Source: CBC