Tourism businesses across the country are bracing for the impact of coronavirus on sales.
Smaller operators and those that rely heavily on visitors from abroad may be especially vulnerable to lost revenue, say industry experts.
The federal government announced Friday it will restrict the number of airports that can receive international flights. It is also evaluating whether entry rules may need to be tightened at the American border.
Before that news, iconic tourist site the CN Tower in Toronto had already announced it was closing temporarily. The landmark Toronto building is suspending operations until April 14.
In Niagara Falls, one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations, there’s an acute level of anxiety about the coronavirus pandemic.
“To be honest with you, I think SARS and H1N1 were dress rehearsals for this,” says Anna Pierce, vice president of Niagara Helicopters. “They were literally not anywhere near the impact that COVID-19 is going to have on our industry.”
A sudden shutdown for Niagara Parks
On Friday night the Niagara Parks Commission, an agency of the Ontario government, announced that all Niagara Parks attractions are temporarily closing.
The commission’s restaurants, retail stores and golf courses, as well as the Falls Incline Railway are affected. Public programming and events are also being suspended until April 6.
The Parks Commission is responsible for many of the attractions, restaurants and facilities in the falls region, including the Table Rock area beside Horseshoe Falls.
Niagara Parks outdoor areas and public washroom facilities like those at Table Rock, the popular spot at the lip of the falls, will remain open and be regularly cleaned. People will still be able to visit the falls and snap pictures, but many of the attractions will be closed.
Niagara Falls welcomes 12 million visitors a year, making it the most popular single site natural attraction in Canada. Another two million visitors visit the Niagara region, well known for its vineyards, wineries and theatre festival.
Relying on international visitors
A third of the falls’ guests are international tourists, with most visitors coming from the U.S., but a large number also from Britain, China, Japan and South Korea.
One of Niagara Helicopters’ four Airbus H130 choppers. The company’s vice president is worried COVID-19 will have a much worse impact on Canadian tourism than SARS or H1 N1. (Niagara Helicopters )
At Niagara Helicopters, the ratio of international tourists is even higher.
They make up more than half of customers who pay for a sight-seeing flight over the falls and surrounding area.
Pierce says foreign tourists are willing to spend more money for a special memory after coming a long way. “They want to do something that is the wow factor kind of experience. And we fit that bill very, very well.”
While the company’s advance bookings for May and June are holding solid, cancellations are coming in for April.
With business already down 15 to 20 per cent, Pierce is predicting weak demand from Asian visitors this summer, and is concerned about losing European tourists. After this week, the prospect of losing U.S. visitors is adding to the worry.
Earlier this week Niagara Parks Commission CEO David Adames was optimistic the area would still attract its normal crowds from within driving distance for the March school break in Ontario.
Ahead of the shutdown, his organization’s response to the pandemic was to step up janitorial practices and provide hand sanitization in a bid to inspire public confidence.
Approximately 33 000 people work in the Niagara region’s hospitality and tourism industry, and in the peak of summer Niagara Parks employs 1,800 workers. Adames admits that may change.
“Because we are reliant in revenue producing operations, we do make adjustments based on sales levels,” he said.
It normally hires roughly 800 students a year, but says the situation with COVID-19 is evolving so rapidly it can’t speculate on future staffing levels.
Not a pretty picture for the industry
At a Hospitality and Tourism Management class at Ryerson University in Toronto this week, undergraduate students were learning a real life lesson about how quickly business can go bad with a crisis.
Some were worried whether places like Niagara Parks would have jobs for them.
For 2nd year student Jonny Braun, there’s too much uncertainty. “It makes us think that ‘oh we have internships in the summer and jobs, will we still have those if this continues?'”
“I definitely think there’s going to be a big hit to the industry,” said classmate Jad Abboud. “Companies won’t be making as much money as projected a month or two ago.”
Professor Frederic Dimanche teaching a Hospitality and Tourism Management class at Ryerson University’s Ted Rogers School of Management this week. The coronavirus pandemic is creating uncertainty for students training to work in the tourism sector. (Michael Cole/CBC )
Professor Frederic Dimanche outlined for his students the many aspects of the industry that will be affected by coronavirus.
Small tourism operators like Niagara Helicopters are particularly vulnerable, he said.
Unlike international companies, they don’t have reserve budgets or the ability to borrow from banks. Plus,”it’s going to be that much harder for them because they’re focusing also on one particular market in one particular destination,” he said.
There might be some comfort for small operators focused on domestic attractions in that Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam has advised all Canadians to avoid non-essential travel outside the country.
That means those people stir crazy to go somewhere may end up taking in more local sites and experiences.
At Niagara Helicopters, marketing efforts have already shifted to focus on markets closer to the company’s home base. earlier this month.
“We don’t know what is going to happen next,” says Pearce.
If the pandemic is prolonged into the summer, she’ll have a hard time keeping her 10 pilots up in the air.
She’s still looking skyward though for help. “My number one prayer is that it peters out very quickly.”
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
