This post is purely based on my anecdotal experience as a Canadian tourist, student, and entrepreneur. I think I’m a fairly “low risk” Canadian tourist. Based on my experiences, I find certain countries to be much better to travel to than others where you are treated reasonably by border security.
The following is a list of countries that are friendly to travel to as a Canadian:
- Canada
- Thailand
- Hong Kong
- Macau
- Singapore
- Spain
- Panama
- Switzerland
- United Arab Emirates
- France
- Netherlands
I’m neutral on the following countries:
- Colombia – While my experience was fine, it appears that it may have become less friendly to Canadians. (Effective December 1st, 2014, Colombia will begin charging a reciprocity fee to citizens of Canada arriving at an airport in Colombia. The fee of approximately $88 CAD (or 160.000 Colombian pesos) per person is valid for a single entry into the country, and is payable by international credit card or debit card.).
- Israel (While my experiences have been fine, I’ve heard stories from others)
The following are some countries that may need improvement:
- United Kingdom (eg. aggressive questioning to a low risk tourist who has a Youth Mobility Visa)
- United States (eg. second rounds of questions to low risk tourist who has a Visa)
Note: Some of my experiences with the above countries have been fine and I completely understand their rationale behind screenings but I think that having to wait an extra 10 minutes-1 hour is a significant inconvenience.
While I like the countries visited above, I’d feel like a more comfortable travelling to them as a tourist if they were friendlier. Further, investors and entrepreneurs who create jobs want to feel comfortable travelling to their desired country and will be a lot more hesitant to create opportunities in a country that are unfriendly.
I think countries most countries want to attract tourists and entrepreneurs. I was particularly impressed by a few Asian countries where you can use a tablet display to rate your travel experience through border security and your overall airport experience.
