The Grand Hotel in Nanaimo is one of dozens of hospitality providers struggling to navigate the constantly changing COVID-19 pandemic. (Alex Rawnsley/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

HOSPITALITY ON HALT

‘There’s nothing to compare this to:’ tourism operators struggle to navigate COVID-19 uncertainty

Mar 21, 2020 | 6:33 AM

NANAIMO — Local hospitality providers are being forced into survival mode as social distancing and self-isolation become common practices to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Several area restaurants have temporarily closed or drastically altered service in Nanaimo, while a majority of hotel rooms in the city are empty as people stay home to ride out the pandemic.

Dan Brady, Nanaimo Hospitality Association chair, told NanaimoNewsNOW the COVID-19 situation for the hospitality industry drew initial comparisons to 9/11, a time when Brady worked at a hotel in Victoria.

“We were a recipient of all the WestJet crews that were on the ground,” Brady said. “Within four or five days, business returned to normal as skies opened up. Now there’s nothing to compare this to and the long term is that we’re going to be in this for at least two or three more months.”

For many Nanaimo hotels, occupancy is a fraction of usual spring break levels.

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Odai Sirri, director of asset management for The Grand Hotel, said they had one group in the past week conducting meetings under proper social distancing protocols.

“After that it’ll be very quiet…we’ll be in the low teens or single digit occupancy levels moving forward,” Sirri said. “We’ve seen significant declines in the last few weeks and that’s only accelerated on a day-to-day basis.”

Sirri added the uncertainty of the situation makes navigating a path out of the crisis very difficult.

“You’re trying to make the best decisions on the information you have at the time,” Sirri said. “We’ve implemented some changes to our operations….however we’ve been meeting on a daily basis to discuss how we need to adapt to the changing dynamic and scenarios.”

Brady said many larger, chain hotels will weather the storm of COVID-19 but local tourism and hospitality industries extend beyond hotels and franchise restaurants.

“The big flag, corporate entities…they need those mom and pop, small owner operated businesses because that’s what their customers are coming for,” Brady said. “They want to do those whale watching tours, go do a wine or food tour…we need that product to be available so we need to support those guys.”

Brady believed the promised money from the federal government is a positive step forward and will help many struggling business operators.

The positive news is summer tourism has yet to be drastically impacted by COVID-19. Both Brady and Sirri noted few cancellations for July and August as of yet.

“There is an expectation that things will improve but we don’t know yet,” Sirri said. “Our clients and guests are thinking the same thing, taking a wait and see approach and seeing what the stats look like in the coming days.”

alex.rawnsley@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley