VANCOUVER, BC // Europe’s intention to reopen its 27-country bloc for Canadian tourists has the travel industry optimistic, and quickly evolving to adapt to the new challenges it’s set to face.
PM Trudeau’s remarks of a “one-dose summer” with lighter restrictions, followed by a closer-to-normality “two-dose fall” could allow for Canadians to embark for Europe in late 2021.
The Chair of the European Travel Commission (ETC), Canada Chapter, and Director of Canada for Switzerland Tourism, Pascal Prinz provided comment in a TravelWeek.ca feature:
“We’re optimistic for an exceptionally strong fall season,” he said. “Canada seems to be around 2 months behind the U.S. in terms of relaunching travelling internationally. The reopening of the Canada-US border will be a key milestone.”
Travel agents and operators agree: “Operators and agents are telling us that people are not just dreaming but also starting to look again for when the time is right and ask for more information. They might not book yet, but they’re eager to travel when the time is right.”
A major part of the preparations is the EU’s Digital Green Pass – the block’s choice of covid-19 health records for passengers. It not only covers vaccination confirmation, but also holds information on recoveries or test results.
“It is a tool that would serve all travellers,” he says. He also added that vaccination would not be a requirement for travel.
Europe’s efforts could leave Canada trailing in the international stage, as the Green Pass could be extended to cover compatible certificates issued in other countries.
“If Canada has a similar system in place, this will greatly facilitate travel of Canadian citizens to their favourite European destinations,” says Prinz.
Canadian companies have taken notice and action of this unique landscape with novel approaches – leveraging partnerships with airlines and tech start-ups. ScreenPro Security Ltd. and Empower Clinics Inc. are two of the teams spearheading Canada’s re-entry to the international travel market.
A Step Ahead of the Pack
Empower Clinics Inc. (CSE: CBDT), traditionally a cannabis clinics owner and operator, has switched its focus to the pandemic. The company runs health and wellness clinics in Canada. In them, they provide preventative, diagnostic and treatment services. They acquired Kai Medical Laboratories in late 2020 to bolster their efforts.
Kai Medical Laboratory can execute and process a RT-PCR Covid-19 test, an Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoassay, an antibody test for Covid-19 and a variety of other toxicology and hormone tests. The company recently recorded a major milestone – the halfway mark of the KAI Medical Laboratory expansion. They also announced an advertising partnership with a major national airline.
ScreenPro Security Ltd. (CSE: SCRN) is a Toronto-based full-suite coronavirus screening solutions provider. ScreenPro’s strategic partnerships with labs and providers allows the company to provide full-service testing solutions across the entire Canadian territory for the private sector.
SCRN’s lab partnerships with Canvas Labs and Integrated Exploration, in BC and ON respectively, are further leveraged by exclusivity agreements and additional testing capacity if needed through SCRN-owned lab equipment.
The company recently signed a LOI for the acquisition of CENTRED Ventures LLC, a US based travel wellness medical technology company tailored to connect travellers with emerging wellness brands across the world.
Leveraging Connections
Empower Clinics recently announced an advertising partnership with Air Canada – the country’s main operator. It will allow passengers to access Kai COVID-19 test kits under the brand name “Kai Care” directly from the airline’s website.
Kai Care is a customized five-step RT- PCR at Home Saliva Test Kit, that doesn’t need to be administered by a health care provider. Passengers can acquire their kits through www.kaitests.com and www.kaitests.ca.
When booking their flights, passengers will be offered a link to acquire the Kai Care test kits. Travellers are encouraged to acquire as many as they will need for their journey, given the test’s validity threshold.
Meanwhile, SCRN opted for a more aggressive approach. The company recently announced the signing of a LOI for the acquisition of Centred Ventures LLC – owners of the Centred App. The purchase is to be completed within 30 days from the day of signing.
The Centred app connects travelers with wellness brands across 200 cities worldwide. Their vertical integration model includes an app, website, physical locations, e-commerce, health and wellness, and loyalty programs.
Centred has also established relationships with the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) airport authorities, who will direct travelers to the Centred App to record their proof of testing before boarding a flight.
The acquisition will place SCRN in a unique position to leverage Centred’s pre-existing partnerships and agreements across the world.
Health & Lifestyle, Redefined
Centred’s partnerships put ScreenPro within arm’s length of a 57-million strong affluent client base. The tech company was built to drive volume to small niche businesses while setting a new standard for travel & wellness. Their B2B partnerships with the travel, healthcare, fitness, and beauty industries place Centred in an enviable position as the world begins to open back up post-COVID-19.
With the acquisition, SCRN will foster Centred’s vision of changing travel by giving our community the ability to curate their experiences, while putting health and wellness at the centre of their journey. The ScreenPro + CENTRED experience will bring peace of mind for travelers from home, to airport, and back
Andrew Ryu, SCRN CEO, provided comment in the press release: “As businesses and countries continue to open and global travel expands, we believe that adding this travel wellness technology component to our existing medical security business will drive significant value for all shareholders. Brian and his team have built a great integrated technology that is easy to use for travelers with the added bonus of a loyalty component with some very big value add brands.”
The travel industry is itching for a full-blown return, and solutions such as SCRN’s and CBDT’s could be major factors in accelerating the process. SCRN’s vision could bring a unique one-stop-shop solution for affluent travelers, expanding the company’s reach far beyond healthcare.
ABOUT SCREENPRO
ScreenPro (CSE: SCRN) is a Medical Screening Technology company. ScreenPro provides turnkey screening solutions with alerting software, GoStop. ScreenPro’s unique access to multiple manufacturers of high quality test kits and its strategic partnership with Labs in Vancouver and Ontario allows ScreenPro to be a nationwide provider of a full-service testing solutions across Canada. In addition, ScreenPro has its own nursing professionals, and access to high quality PPEs to ensure that its clients are protected in all aspects of their testing needs. GoStop’s passport was developed with a privacy preserving approach that will enable individuals to use the alerting software and downloadable app with authentication certificates. The alerts can be scheduled on an on-demand, daily, weekly, or monthly basis and can be used also for vaccine scheduling.
For additional information on ScreenPro and other corporate information, please visit the Company’s website at www.screenprosecurity.com
COMPARABLES
Empower (CSE: CBDT) is an integrated healthcare company that provides body and mind wellness for patients through its clinics, with digital and telemedicine care, and world-class medical diagnostics laboratories. Supported by an experienced leadership team, Empower is aggressively growing its clinical and digital presence across North America. Our Health & Wellness and Diagnostics & Technology business units are positioned to positively impact the integrated health of our patients, while simultaneously providing long term value for our shareholders.
