After 15 months of restrictions, quarantines and travel bans that saw air travel plummet to only 10 percent of 2019 levels, we are finally seeing some reason for cautious optimism.Beginning in July, Canadians who have received their double dose of vaccines will be able to travel internationally without having to submit to a 3-day hotel quarantine or a 14-day quarantine at home when they return. This is a good first step, but without knowing what the government is planning next, or when, travel and tourism are still in limbo.We need to take the additional step to open the border to discretionary travel and eliminate the hotel quarantine for foreign visitors, or our tourism sector may have an even more brutal summer this year than last. Even though Canadians will be able to travel internationally more easily this summer, none of the foreign visitors that our tourism sector relies on will be able to visit Canada's thousands of exciting destinations, attractions and events.This is a matter of urgency: many of our trading partners, including the U.S., U.K. and Europe are also our tourism competitors and way ahead of Canada in their reopening plans.  If we do not open our borders in a safe but timely manner, vaccinated international tourists won't wait; they will happily travel to countries that are ready to welcome them.Since the start of the pandemic, the government has simply reacted to events, rather than proactively anticipating and planning for different scenarios.   That might have been understandable in the early days of COVID, but not anymore.  We have a good handle on the most effective testing protocols, how and when Canadians will receive the first and second vaccines and how to manage the risk of new variants.  This is more than enough information to develop a comprehensive air sector restart plan that will allow us to drop the most onerous restrictions, such as the three-day hotel stay and 14-day quarantine for foreign travellers, safely but without unnecessary delays.An excellent start would be for the government to adopt the recommendations of its own expert panel on screening and testing, which laid out a comprehensive road map, including eliminating the quarantines for all vaccinated travellers, and shifting arrivals testing away from airport terminals to at home tests, which would alleviate crowding while supporting growing traveller volumes.Two other areas of concern for airports beyond the panel's scope, are 1) the two-metre physical distancing requirement within terminals, which should be reduced to one metre, as is already being done in Europe, and 2) removing the requirement to funnel foreign travellers to just four airports. Even with international traveller volumes at just five per cent of pre-pandemic levels at the four airports, managing capacity has been a challenge.  Allowing all vaccinated travellers to fly directly to their destination would allow for a more manageable traffic flow as volumes increase.Government also needs to engage with  industry to flesh out exactly how travellers will be treated based on vaccination levels in future phases, in order for airports and our industry partners to properly plan, and progress on digital health certificates.A proper restart plan, which would include measurable milestones and timelines for how and when Canada would lift travel restrictions is needed urgently. Many parts of the world, including the U.S., are opening up more quickly than Canada, and we must be sure we are not left behind.Canada's airports are eager to engage quickly with the government on developing a comprehensive restart plan that is informed by the industry's operational insights on the most effective ways to reopen our borders and welcome back travellers safely.Daniel-Robert Gooch is president of the Canadian Airports Council, a division of Airports Council International - North America.