Canada's travel industry is bracing for a rise in customer concerns after the identification of a new COVID-19 variant.
Travel agents and industry associations say customers are starting to ask about cancellation policies after the Omicron variant was detected in southern Africa on Friday and confirmed in Canada, with two cases found in Ottawa on Sunday.
Kristin Hoogendoorn of KMH Travels in Mississauga, Ont. says her clients aren't scrambling to cancel vacations yet, but a few have asked about money-back policies.
With little known about the new variant and how vaccines will fare against it, Hoogendoorn worries people will panic and cancel their travel plans, even if public health advice around vacations doesn't change.
That could be devastating for the travel and hospitality industry, which has experienced a massive drop in customers since COVID-19 emerged.
Companies in the sector started to rebound earlier this year, when cases of the virus decreased, but if the new variant winds up to be more virulent or deadly, Hoogendoorn believes that recovery will be further delayed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2021.
Devastating winds are expected along portions of Florida's west coast within the hurricane warning area, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) states.
A Turkish Airlines jetliner headed from Seattle to Istanbul made an emergency landing in New York on Wednesday after the captain died on board, an airline official said.
Hundreds of thousands of vehicles are being recalled in Canada due to a steering-related issue that could increase a driver's risk of crash.
Dozens of cars were pulled out of the Detroit River in west Windsor on Tuesday, causing many questions for Windsorites.
Former CIA Director and retired Gen. David Petraeus says it is 'unlikely' Israel will target Iranian nuclear sites in retaliation for last week's ballistic missile attack.
The leader of the Bloc Quebecois says his party 'might play a role' in helping the Liberals get House of Commons business rolling again — after days of Conservative-led debate on a privilege matter — but that his assistance would come at a cost.
A Claude Monet pastel painting stolen by Nazis during World War II, which vanished for decades only to show up with a Louisiana art dealer, was returned Wednesday in New Orleans to the descendants of its original owners.
Two Orange County women are speaking out after they say they were kicked off of a Spirit Airlines flight because of what they were wearing.
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American actor and environmental activist Mark Ruffalo is weighing in on British Columbia politics, lauding the B.C. Green Party's stance on fossil fuels ahead of the Oct. 19 election.
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Liberal MP Yvan Baker says there should not have been different punishments doled out to him and to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre for comments each of them made in the House of Commons.
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Ratan Tata, a former chairman of India’s oldest conglomerate Tata Sons, died at a Mumbai hospital on Wednesday night. He was 86.
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An Israeli airstrike hit a Lebanese Civil Defence centre Wednesday in the town of Dardghaya in southern Lebanon, killing five members who were stationed there, civil defence spokesperson Elie Khairallah told The Associated Press.
A new book's assertion that former U.S. president Donald Trump may have had as many as seven private phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin since leaving the White House has refocused attention on their politically fraught relationship and on Trump's sustained dialogue with world leaders as he seeks a return to power.
Two Orange County women are speaking out after they say they were kicked off of a Spirit Airlines flight because of what they were wearing.
Canada is adding another $15 million to its humanitarian aid package for Lebanon after an escalation in the conflict between Israel and the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah.
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The Ontario Ministry of Health says four people have been sickened after consuming beef tongue believed to be contaminated with listeria.
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Boy band legend Nick Carter made a stop at a local salon on Tuesday to get his hair performance ready.
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Siskinds LLP says a $70.25 million class-action settlement has been reached with TD Asset Management over commissions paid to discount brokers.
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An elevator mechanic mistakenly threw out a piece of artwork, made to look like empty beer cans, assuming it was litter, a Dutch museum revealed earlier this month.
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Toronto goalie Anthony Stolarz will get the start in place of injured Joseph Woll when the Maple Leafs visit the Montreal Canadiens to open their NHL season on Wednesday night.
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Bernie Hicks, known as the ‘Batman of Amherst,’ always wanted to sit in a Batmobile until a kind stranger made it happen.
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Provincial police are investigating reports of an armed robbery in Amaranth Township that sent one person to the hospital in critical condition.
The jury reached a verdict on Wednesday in the 1994 Katherine Janeiro murder case, finding her former boyfriend, Bruce Ellis, not guilty.
Dozens of cars were pulled out of the Detroit River in west Windsor on Tuesday, causing many questions for Windsorites.
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British Columbia New Democrat Leader David Eby says he was "wired" and had trouble falling asleep after the televised election debate, adding that he would see his performance as successful if those watching at home felt he was focused on their priorities.
A U.S. District Court judge in Montana has sentenced a 27-year-old man from Kelowna, B.C., to 18 months in prison for using fake names to buy guns with the aim of selling them in Canada.
Nearly two years after a man was stabbed to death in downtown Kelowna, RCMP have made an arrest in the case.
NDP Leader David Eby is promising to offer a $75-million loan forgiveness program to entice doctors, nurses and heath professionals to expand health-care services in rural British Columbia.
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Jeff Warner from Aidie Creek Gardens in the northern Ontario community of Englehart has a passion for growing big pumpkins and his effort is paying off in more ways than one.
A woman in Greater Sudbury, Ont., said "It doesn't get more Canadian than this" when she spotted a black bear dumpster diving at a Tim Hortons last month.
A Conservative MP from Newfoundland and Labrador says some small towns in his rural riding are overrun with crime, but police say they haven't received reports to that effect.
As millions in federal funding flow into a Labrador group whose claims of Inuit identity have been rejected by Indigenous organizations across Canada, a national Inuit leader worries the Liberal government is putting the rights of Indigenous Peoples at risk.
He may not have logged the fastest time or even gone the full distance, but residents of a Newfoundland town agree the goat who unexpectedly joined the local weekend half marathon was the event's undisputed champion.
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