Ontario's hard hit hotel industry hopes for recovery amid pandemic
The hotel industry was one of the hardest hit during the COVID-19 pandemic and this past spring, 80 per cent of hotel rooms in the Greater Toronto Area sat empty and 65 hotels were completely closed.
As more people are vaccinated and travel restrictions are lifted, visitors are slowly returning to hotels for business and tourism purposes.
“Most of the hotels that were closed in the past have re-opened,” Terry Mundell, CEO of the Greater Toronto Hotel Association, said.
Mundell said while the hotels have been missing out on conventions and major events, as the border re-opens to American visitors and international travel restrictions are lifted, some business travel is starting to return.
“We are getting meetings and events coming back, but it's slow and generally smaller groups,” Mundell said. “We are in better shape than we were last year, but clearly we have a long way to go."
As hotels get ready to welcome back visitors, it's also dealing with a severe staff shortage.
“We lost a significant amount of workers when travel ground to a halt and many of the workers did transition into other sectors and we are aggressively trying to recruit them back, but the demand (for hotel stays) just hasn't been there," Susie Grynol, CEO of the Hotel Association of Canada, said.
Grynol said she believes the hotel sector will begin a more robust recovery starting in the spring of next year. The group says nationally occupancy rates are down about 50 per cent from 2019 pre-pandemic levels and believes vaccine passports will give visitors more confidence to travel.
“Vaccine passports are going to allow for the movement of people and allow people to feel safe so we do support them. We do hope there is not a different system in every province that makes it difficult for people to move around," Grynol said.
The return of sporting events, festivals and concerts will also help the hotel industry return to pre-pandemic occupancy rates.
Both associations feel the fall and winter months will continue to be difficult for the hotel industry, but they're hopeful early 2022 will see the sector start on the road to recovery.
A study by the Destination Toronto in March of this year found the previous 12 months cost the tourism sector in the GTA about $14 billion in lost tourism revenue.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
It's no secret that spring can be a tumultuous time for Canadian weather, and as an unseasonably mild El Nino winter gives way to summer, there's bound to be a few swings in temperature that seem out of the ordinary. From Ontario to the Atlantic, though, this week is about to feel a little erratic.