People seem anxious to travel right now, says North Bay travel agent

Chris Mayne says he remembers when Toronto's airport was virtually a ghost town during SARS. And he remembers how business travel froze right after 911.

But "unprecedented" is the word he uses when describing what he's seeing as a reaction to COVID-19.

Mayne has been a travel agent in North Bay for 40 years. He's also a city councillor.

"The scope of the change, how it's progressed from Air Canada cancelling flights into Beijing and Shanghai and then gradually it's been expanding and all of a sudden Italy — the entire country is under quarantine," said Mayne. "People seem to be anxious right now travelling almost anywhere."

As for cancellations, Mayne says that four or five weeks ago, cruise lines were not waiving their change fees and normal penalties for people travelling anywhere outside Asia where the cruises were being cancelled. 

"But that has changed in the last two and three weeks and especially since the national government has said as of Friday that people really should be reconsidering cruises," said Mayne.

"We've seen people cancel sailings for this weekend receiving significant refunds whereas even a week ago we saw one couple cancel in spite of a $2,000 penalty. They just were not comfortable travelling."

Mayne says that in the last five to 10 years, cruise lines have been improving their infection control measures.

"If you go for dinner or into the buffet areas the Purell stations are right there," said Mayne. "You have to wash your hands beforehand." Mayne added that those measures have increased again with coronavirus.

"No one is shaking hands on board the ship. If you meet the captain he might bump elbows with you or probably just give you a polite nod," said Mayne.

Mayne says that he hasn't booked anyone on new cruises in the last few weeks."People are still considering it for summer, fall, even a year away, and a lot of people who've been cancelled in the last few weeks have been rebooking," he said.

Mayne explained that for someone coming to his travel agency in the next week, a cruise probably isn't the best recommendation unless they're looking at six to nine months away.

"Meantime, if you're just trying to get away into the warm weather, somewhere hot, I would probably pick a Caribbean destination and, you know, some of those destinations like the Dominican Republic, Cuba even Mexico," said Mayne.

As for travel to Italy, Mayne says that up until two weeks ago, he was confirming and arranging itineraries all through Italy. 

"All of a sudden," said Mayne, "Italy is a hot spot for Coronavirus and it's gone . . . in less than a week from localized control to the entire tired country being quarantined basically."

Mayne says his biggest fear is the uncertainty of it all. 

"You want to have a sense of personal safety no matter where you travel, what you do. And that just isn't there yet," said Mayne. 

"It's something, I think, we all have to be patient and work towards. But in the meantime take the best precautions we can."