CANADA. The first signs are emerging this week that travellers are starting to feel better about visiting Toronto in the wake of the biggest outbreak of SARS outside of Asia. There was more evidence the SARS outbreak there has been brought under control, with the number of active probable cases continuing to drop. There remain 16 patients classified as active suspect SARS cases in Toronto hospitals. A total of 178 SARS cases have been discharged from hospital.
Toronto and Ontario are spending heavily to promote the city as the key tourist season approaches, and travel companies are slashing rates. Passengers across the country are taking advantage of huge discounts and according to reports ticket sales are soaring as airlines vie to recover amid a bitter price war. Last week low-cost carrier Westjet was advertising flights from Vancouver to Toronto for C$136 (US$98) for the 15 to 20 May period. Air Canada offered a special price of C$198 (US$142) return for Vancouver to Toronto for the same period. Other airlines are also offering cheaper flights from Vancouver to Toronto such as Jetsgo, Air Transat and Sky Service.
The airport and the entire tourism sector in Canada’s biggest city began to suffer from the 23 April travel warning by the World Health Organization. On 30 April, the health body lifted its travel advisory on Toronto, where most of Canada’s SARS cases have been reported, but tourism officials are still concerned about the residual impact on the normally busy summer tourist season.
Traffic into Toronto has been “up a little bit” in recent days, but exact figures aren’t yet available, said a spokesman for Toronto’s Lester Pearson International airport speaking to The Wall Street Journal. April as a whole “was a bad month,” with fears of SARS, the war in Iraq and an ice storm early in the month hurting air travel, he said. There has been a “noticeable decline on Asian flights,” he said.
