Niagara Falls, N.Y. (WBEN) - With travel at the United States-Canada border remaining below pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, Congressman Brian Higgins was joined by representatives from Visit Buffalo Niagara and Destination Niagara USA on Wednesday for a roundtable discussion led by the U.S. Travel Association.
The goal of Wednesday's discussions surrounded the economic impact of travel and tourism currently in Western New York.
"We have organizations that were represented here that play a very, very important role in maximizing the experience that people have, whether it's on this side of the border or the other side of the border, and we are stronger as a region when that access is eased," said Higgins just outside the Aquarium of Niagara.
Along with Wednesday's roundtable discussion, Congressman Higgins took the liberties to, once again, call for the U.S.-Canadian border restrictions to be lifted, which will better allow for the economy in Western New York and Canada to flow easier as it did before the pandemic in 2019.
"This is not East Asia, this is not North Africa, this is not the Middle East, where there is nothing but conflict within the region. We're surrounded by friends and fish, and we have coexisted for many, many decades, and it's accrued to the benefit of both the United States and Canada," Higgins said. "Every aspect of the Western New York economy - professional sports, arts and culture, health care - is tied to reliable, predictable ease of access to-and-from Western New York to Ontario."
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For the leaders of tourism organizations in both Erie and Niagara County, they could not be more appreciative of the efforts that Congressman Higgins is putting up in Washington, D.C.
"Two things that really stood out for me today is simple things, but the Congressman's like, 'We need to speak with one voice,' and I am a true believer in that," said John Percy, President and CEP of Destination Niagara USA. "We need to do it in this region, but we learned today we need to do that across all the northern borders. Sometimes we get so in our bubbles and forget that we have colleagues all across the Northern Borders that we can work with, and have that one voice. He said we need to speak in that one voice. We all collectively can do that, and Congress hears better, I think, sometimes when they're more of us speaking on the same issue, because we're all impacted by this greatly, not just Western New York."
"[Higgins] has done so much for us prior to the pandemic, during the pandemic, and now as we are in our recovery phase," echoed Patrick Kaler, President and CEO of Visit Buffalo Niagara. "So many infrastructure projects within Western New York are really due to the efforts that the Congressman has brought to our benefit, as well as many of the grant programs for many of our businesses, the not-for-profit sector during the pandemic. And now, again, as we come out of it, taking on many of the issues that are related to are getting back to and exceeding those 2019 levels."
According to the U.S. Travel Association, domestic and international travelers spent $2.9 billion while visiting NY-26 in 2019 and supported 22,126 jobs. After the northern border closed in March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, travel-related spending dropped by 54% and job numbers dropped by 35%. In 2021, when the border began to re-open, spending by domestic and international travelers increased by over 76% in Erie County and 109% in Niagara County.
Despite more travelers coming over the border and returning to Western New York, the workforce is still feeling the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Restaurants were not open, hotels were not open, and to save the bottom line, many had to do layoffs and permanent layoffs," Percy said. "Rebounding from that and getting that workforce back, how do we do that? So again, we worked with Congress and others to find solutions to bring back that workforce strongly."
One way that the workforce issue could be addressed is with the J-1 visas that students and youth can obtain and come to the United States so they can work in many U.S.-based establishments. However, that won't be as simple to accomplish unless the restrictions in place are eased or lifted.
Another hope for the near future is for a return of business travel and getting meetings back in convention centers and other facilities to pre-pandemic levels. According to the U.S. Travel Association, in NY-26 alone, the region suffered a 56% loss in revenue from business travel spending compared to 2019.
"Just in Erie County alone, the Convention Center always generated about $47 million in economic impact. We want to get back to those numbers and exceed those numbers, because meeting in person is vitally important. And meetings have to take place, and attendees do want that face-to-face opportunity," Kaler said.
"We know it's going to take a little bit longer. We just heard from Eric Hanson at U.S. Travel that said it will take until 2024 to get back to those levels, as far as meetings and conventions. But we know that they will happen and we're patient."
When assessing the stats from the U.S. Travel Association, it says the numbers regarding domestic leisure travel spending actually were up from those before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019. While 2021 saw a total of $751 billion spent compared to $722 billion in 2019, the numbers have been skewed a bit.
"You had an increase in hotel rates, far exceeded 2019," Percy said. "We heard from some of the attraction today that were off slightly in visitation. We were impacted greatly by international here, but I think that travel spend has a lot to do with hotel spend, and hotel rates were significantly higher than they were in 2019."
In late June, the Canadian government announced it was extending current border restrictions until, at least, Sept. 30, 2022. Travelers must be vaccinated, and both Americans and Canadians are required to submit their health information and travel plans using the ArriveCAN app within 72 hours before arrival.
Higgins sees the ArriveCAN app as a complete hinderance to travel between borders, and believes it serves no purpose anymore.
"Get it out of the way," Higgins exclaimed. "It excludes segments of the American and Canadian population that's older. Some people that are technologically literate are going to have no problem whatsoever, they can do with ease, but there's a generational divide still and this poses a major problem on people that, otherwise, would make a day trip and they're just they can't be bothered.
"This is behavioral economics. People, we're all economic actors. When we're confident, we move. When we're not, we don't. The economy, as individuals and collectively, does not respond well to uncertainty and instability. That poses an unnecessary point of uncertainty for people that are not as comfortable using that as a way to traverse the border."
In the end, when it comes down to lifting some of the restrictions in place and getting back to the sense of normalcy, Higgins says it's going to have to take a team effort from the Canadian and U.S. side of things to use common sense and evaluate the science behind how far we've come since the pandemic.
"With vaccines that are 85%, 90%, 95% [effective]; you have over 80% of Canadian citizens that are fully vaccinated, those who are eligible. The numbers are not quite as high in the United States, but that is very, very significant," he said. "This virus is not going away. This is SARS-CoV-2, because there was a SARS-CoV-1, but these vaccines keep people from getting sick and hospitalized. So people need to be cautious, but to get on with their lives, and all of us need to do that. The sooner, the better. Somebody from the United States going to their cottage in Canada is not going to put anybody's life or health in jeopardy. Those who, I think, have been fully vaccinated are going to take additional precautions to ensure that they and their families remain safe. We just need to get to a point where we manage this, and not just keep imposing restrictions on people that don't follow the signs, that don't follow the facts."
Hear more from Wednesday's press conference available in the player below: