Canadian hotels are tightening up their cleaning protocols and hoping to welcome some pandemic-fatigued guests desperate to get out of the house for a few days this summer.
Last Thursday, the Hotel Association of Canada and the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) released joint health and safety protocols to help the industry adapt to new pandemic standards.
“We felt it was important to have a North American guideline at a time when both of our economies are reopening,” said Susie Grynol, president of the Hotel Association of Canada.
“These enhanced protocols might include [more frequent disinfecting] of common touch surfaces like door handles, light switches, remote controls, faucets. And in a room where we have surfaces that are difficult to clean, like throw pillows, bedspreads, the pen and pad of paper, the magazines — some of these items might be removed altogether.”
250,000 layoffs
The industry is trying to find ways to reopen safely after being pummelled by cratering revenue and massive layoffs since the pandemic began.
“We had a large percentage of hotels that did shut down across the country in a matter of 10 days. We laid off 80 per cent of our workforce, which represents north of 250,000 job losses,” said Grynol.
Brookstreet is a Canadian-owned and independently-run hotel in western Ottawa. Before the pandemic started, it had 340 employees; it has since reduced its staff complement to 19. As the hotel prepares for a planned reopening on June 1, it has been slowly bringing staff members back.
“We hope to get back to about 60 employees and then we’ll continue to grow as services come back online,” said Nyle Kelly, Brookstreet’s general manager.
‘Tumbleweeds’
Brookstreet has 276 rooms and 30,000 square feet of meeting space. Its average occupancy in normal times is 75 per cent; Kelly said it’s expected to operate at less than 5 per cent capacity for at least the next two months.
“I see tumbleweeds flowing through the lobby,” he said. “It’s quiet. It’s a little eerie, I guess, to see the hotel empty like this.”
Nyle Kelly, general manager of the Brookstreet hotel in Ottawa, says he expects lasting effects from the pandemic on the hotel sector. (CBC News)
Kelly said the hotel sector has been crippled by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and will be one of the last sectors to fully recover — because many hotels rely on renting out spaces for meetings and nobody’s in a hurry to arrange meetings right now.
“We don’t expect that part of the business to come back for quite a long time. So everything from trade shows to corporate conferences, to weddings, to galas, to fundraising type events — that’s all pretty much cancelled,” he said. “It hurts us massively because that also represents a lot of our guest room bookings too, as they’re associated with the conferences and banquet business.”
Long-term effects
And not all of the pandemic’s effects on the hospitality industry will be short-term, he said.
“We are also going to see a major impact on business travel,” he said. “I think people are changing the way they do things. People will start doing more video calls and those types of things. So we’ll see less business travel moving forward.”
Brookstreet only has a handful of reservations for the month of June. It’s already making preparations for those few guests.
“Even before you arrive at the hotel, we’re going to have new technology to allow a guest to check in over their devices. They’ll have their keys emailed to them in advance,” said Kelly, adding that guests can open room locks with their phones. “They touch their lock and they can go directly to their room.”
New rules for cleaning
Rooms at Brookstreet will stay empty for 48 hours at a time, he said. While empty, they will be cleaned, disinfected and inspected before accepting another guest.
The Hotel Association of Canada is recommending that, unless a guest requests otherwise, rooms be cleaned only once per stay — when the guest checks out — to limit possible exposure for housekeeping staff.
A physical distancing marker on the floor of Brookstreet’s lobby. (Christian Patry/CBC News)
The joint health and safety protocols also recommend the installation of acrylic shields at hotel front desks, the provision of personal protective equipment to staff as required, clear social distancing markers on floors and sanitation stations in all public areas.
When restaurants in hotels are ready to open again, they’ll have to find ways to maintain physical distancing. Brookstreet is cutting the number of available tables in its restaurant by half; other facilities are spacing tables out. Some hotels will continue delivering room service by leaving the food at the guest’s door.
Many hotels, Brookstreet included, are also purchasing electrostatic sprayers for disinfectant.
Along with more frequent cleaning, mobile check in/key technology and the installation of UV lights at the entrance to disinfect keys and phones, the Novotel Toronto Centre has also purchased bedlifts to help housekeeping staff clean underneath beds.
The Hotel Association of Canada says all of these extra precautions represent a heavy cost for an already ailing industry. It’s calling on the government for financial help.
“One of our key recommendations to the government is that there would be forgivable portions of the loans that have been made available for amounts that have been paid toward capital investments to keep people safe,” Grynol said.
TORONTO – Hundreds of Taylor Swift fans lined up outside the gates of Toronto’s Rogers Centre Wednesday, with hopes of snagging some of the pop star’s merchandise on the eve of the first of her six sold-out shows in the city.
Swift is slated to perform at the venue from Thursday to Saturday, and the following week from Nov. 21 to Nov. 23, with concert merchandise available for sale on some non-show days.
Swifties were all smiles as they left the merch shop, their arms full of sweaters and posters bearing pictures of the star and her Eras Tour logo.
Among them was Zoe Haronitis, 22, who said she waited in line for about two hours to get $300 worth of merchandise, including some apparel for her friends.
Haronitis endured the autumn cold and the hefty price tag even though she hasn’t secured a concert ticket. She said she’s hunting down a resale ticket and plans to spend up to $600.
“I haven’t really budgeted anything,” Haronitis said. “I don’t care how much money I spent. That was kind of my mindset.”
The megastar’s merchandise costs up to $115 for a sweater, and $30 for tote bags and other accessories.
Rachel Renwick, 28, also waited a couple of hours in line for merchandise, but only spent about $70 after learning that a coveted blue sweater and a crewneck had been snatched up by other eager fans before she got to the shop. She had been prepared to spend much more, she said.
“The two prized items sold out. I think a lot more damage would have been done,” Renwick said, adding she’s still determined to buy a sweater at a later date.
Renwick estimated she’s spent about $500 in total on “all-things Eras Tour,” including her concert outfit and merchandise.
The long queue for Swift merch is just a snapshot of what the city will see in the coming days. It’s estimated that up to 500,000 visitors from outside Toronto will be in town during the concert period.
Tens of thousands more are also expected to attend Taylgate’24, an unofficial Swiftie fan event scheduled to be held at the nearby Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Meanwhile, Destination Toronto has said it anticipates the economic impact of the Eras Tour could grow to $282 million as the money continues to circulate.
But for fans like Haronitis, the experience in Toronto comes down to the Swiftie community. Knowing that Swift is going to be in the city for six shows and seeing hundreds gather just for merchandise is “awesome,” she said.
Even though Haronitis hasn’t officially bought her ticket yet, she said she’s excited to see the megastar.
“It’s literally incredible.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Via Rail is asking for a judicial review on the reasons why Canadian National Railway Co. has imposed speed restrictions on its new passenger trains.
The Crown corporation says it is seeking the review from the Federal Court after many attempts at dialogue with the company did not yield valid reasoning for the change.
It says the restrictions imposed last month are causing daily delays on Via Rail’s Québec City-Windsor corridor, affecting thousands of passengers and damaging Via Rail’s reputation with travellers.
CN says in a statement that it imposed the restrictions at rail crossings given the industry’s experience and known risks associated with similar trains.
The company says Via has asked the courts to weigh in even though Via has agreed to buy the equipment needed to permanently fix the issues.
Via said in October that no incidents at level crossings have been reported in the two years since it put 16 Siemens Venture trains into operation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
LAVAL, Que. – The Japanese owner of 7-Eleven says it has received a new management buyout proposal from a member of the family that helped found the company, offering an alternative to the takeover bid from Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.
The proposal for Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd. is being made by Junro Ito, who is a vice-president and director of the company, and Ito-Kogyo Co. Ltd., a private company affiliated with him.
Terms of the non-binding offer by Ito were not disclosed.
In a statement Wednesday, Seven & i said its special committee has been reviewing the proposal with its financial advisers.
Stephen Hayes Dacus, chair of the special committee and board of directors of the company, said the company is committed to an objective review of all alternatives as it considers the proposals from Ito and Couche-Tard as well as the company’s stand-alone opportunities.
“The special committee and the company board will continue to engage with all parties in a manner designed to maximize value and will continue to act in the best interests of the company’s shareholders and other stakeholders,” he said in a statement.
The company noted that Ito has been excluded from all discussions within the company related to the offer and the bid by Couche-Tard.
Quebec-based Couche-Tard made a revised offer for Seven & i last month after an earlier proposal was rebuffed by the Japanese firm because it was too low and did not fully address U.S. regulatory concerns.
It did not respond to a request for comment about Ito’s offer.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Irene Nattel said the latest development underscored her belief that a Couche-Tard deal with Seven & i is a “low probability event.”
“Assuming attractive pricing and a fully-funded transaction, the potential privatization from a friendly Japanese group would seemingly provide investors with the value creation event they seek,” said Nattel, adding that it would skirt potential competition issues in the U.S. and concerns around the foreign takeover of a core local entity for Japanese regulators.
Couche-Tard has argued its proposal offers clear strategic and financial benefits and has said it believes the two companies can reach a mutually agreeable transaction.
However, the Japanese company has said there are multiple and significant challenges such a transaction would face from U.S. competition regulators.
Couche-Tard operates across 31 countries, with more than 16,800 stores. A successful deal with Seven & i could add 85,800 stores to its network.
Seven & i owns not only the 7-Eleven chain, but also supermarkets, food producers, household goods retailers and financial services companies.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
