The rejigging of the public health response to the pandemic has enabled many businesses in Alberta and around the world to reopen. When it comes to the economy, things are not back to normal by any means, but at least they are moving in that direction.

One of the big exceptions to this is international travel and the array of businesses that rely on it.

Whereas things like oil production, employment, and manufacturing sales have bounced back (at least relative to the lows reached during the lockdown), international travel is yet to experience a similar rebound.

As of July, ongoing travel restrictions and people choosing to stay home have kept the number of seasonally adjusted international travellers entering or returning to Canada 95 per cent below where it was in February. Only 351,069 people travelled to Canada from abroad in July compared to almost 7.5 million in February.

July’s total is an improvement of 28 per cent over April when there were only 275,340 international entries, but the growth has barely made a dent in the decrease since February.

With the number of international entries into Canada between April and July down by 28.3 million compared to the same four month period last year, it is no wonder that transportation, accommodation, tourist and other services linked to the international movement of people continue to struggle.