Flashback to a little over a year ago, and being in the hotel business in B.C. seemed like a safe and likely lucrative bet.
But then — the pandemic hit.
More than a year into COVID-19 restrictions and Squamish hotels are doing well, relative to those in many other communities.
Anthony Lamb, regional general manager of Executive Suites Hotel and Resort told The Chief his hotel has done relatively well thanks to the amount of local construction underway.
"That has never really slowed down; it is more than previous years," he said, noting that Executive Suites has rooms with full-sized kitchens and balconies and washers and dryers. These are features construction companies are looking for in housing their workers during the pandemic.
"So we have a large market share there," Lamb said.
There has also been the odd movie crew that has stayed as well, but obviously, large groups are not typically coming to visit the Sea to Sky.
He said that the limited number of hotel beds in Squamish means that the town's accommodations can hang on through this period.
"With the stronger segment like construction going on right now, they're going to survive. We've always been... in the black every month through the pandemic."
Without international travel, places like Vancouver, where there are so many hotels, it is harder to survive under current conditions, he said.
Lamb said that while people breaking COVID-19 restrictions often make the news, the hotel sees firsthand that the vast majority of folks listen to the health orders.
"In November, when they were recommending people not to travel unless essential, we had so many cancellations that week," he said. "People really do react to these orders. And if things seem a little better, a little more positive — then there's ... a little bit more travel."
Lamb said what they struggle with is having enough staff. Originally, they laid some workers off, but that hasn't been the case for most of the year.
"There is no staff that has not been invited back, everyone has been offered to have their jobs back since last summer, but we did find it hard to recruit," he said, adding that for some, the government aid makes it more worthwhile to stay off work.
If the powers that be say no essential travel this summer, that would obviously have a big negative impact on the hotel business, he said. But as long as the travel orders are reasonable, it could be quite a good summer, he said.
"I think it will not be as good as it has been, but I think it will be quite reasonable."
With the new normal, "reasonable' is 70% of typical revenue, according to Lamb.
He said the hotel had seen constant growth in revenue since about 2013, until this past year.
"Every year has grown. But now, it has gone backward. But if we do have a reasonable summer again, we will be looking at like 2017."
Guests behaving
Over at Mountain Retreat Hotel and Suites, operation manager Magali Bliss greets guests with a warm hello from behind her mask in the lobby of the hotel.
On a spring break Friday, the hotel's parking lot is about three-quarters full and there are guests queued up, socially distanced, to check-in.
Guests pass by on their way either to the pool or out for the day. All are wearing masks. Hand sanitizer and social distancing cues are plentiful as they are in all local hotels.
Bliss, who has been at the hotel for a decade, says staff haven't had a problem with people following protocols. They know they have to, she said, with her voice motherly and stern.
The hotel is her second home, and she treats it as such, she said.
Mountain Retreat was initially closed for a week when the pandemic first struck, the first time that had ever happened at the hotel.
During that period, they sanitized the building from top to bottom.
Since then, the business has ebbed and flowed, but like Executive Suites, they have survived mostly due to the construction and movie crews who come to town.
The swimming pool was only available to guests on a booking basis for an hour at a time and limited to just the guests in the room.
Due to Vancouver Coastal Health requirements, the indoor hot tub has not reopened.
"It has been a challenge for everyone in the hospitality industry," Bliss told The Chief. "However, we are very fortunate that we did not have to completely shut down the operations and [are] able to serve our customers."
She said there are also not many places that offer accommodations in Squamish, and they all work together.
Bliss, more than many in town, knows the seriousness of COVID-19. She has lost three close family members who live abroad to COVID-19 — her sister, brother-in-law, and cousin.
"This has been a challenge. I can tell you that," she said. "I am glad I have my job, because otherwise, I would have had a heck of a time."
For the summer, she hopes with the vaccines, there will be more tourism allowed.
"Even though we have a pandemic, people should feel safer if they follow the rules. When you follow the rules as much as the hotel does, there should not be any problem."
Provincial perspective
"There are so many factors that are compiled on top of each other to limit travel and confidence. It has just been one thing after another," said Ingrid Jarrett, president, and CEO of the British Columbia Hotel Association.
"It has been an extremely difficult year."
She said B.C has some areas like Squamish that have weathered the storm fairly well, but they are few and far between.
"They tend to be smaller towns, more rural destinations and long-term stays, so alternative revenue sources like snowbirds."
But 34,000 workers in the hotel sector are laid off.
Almost half of hotel businesses say they will not survive unless government relief measures are extended until the end of 2021.
"We have 49% that are saying that," she said, referring to hotels, motels, and inns.
"You just think about the B.C. economy and what an incredible job we have done, building out recognition and a world brand. We have a position on the world stage that is so important that we protect it and support it."
She said there are many countries that are way ahead of Canada in terms of vaccinations and with robust restart plans.
"People want to travel, and if there isn't any certainty from the provincial and federal government about what that timeline looks like, they... are just going to book elsewhere and that is extremely concerning."
A campaign by the Coalition of Hardest Hit Businesses has been launched to lobby the federal government to continue aid to businesses like hotels.
They argue that 60% of Canada's hardest-hit businesses, including hotels, will not survive if the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) are not extended beyond the June 5 deadline. This is based on a survey of more than 1,700 respondents from across the country.
Jarrett says that if a large number of hotels fail, tourism infrastructure fails.
"Think about a travel experience. People come from somewhere and they go to somewhere. It is never about one hotel. It is often about a series of businesses that are in the tourism sector. We often refer to the accommodator as the hub in the wheel, and then there are all these other things people like to do while they book their overnight stay. Image without an accommodator or with a reduced number of accommodators in tourism communities, there are fewer people to support those other tourism businesses.... If the accommodator fails, you can be guaranteed some of those other independent businesses will fail as well."
Jarrett says that looking to this summer, for B.C. hotels, the worst-case scenario would be B.C.-only travel, which would be a mirror of last summer, "which fell seriously short for most destinations in the province."
The mid-case scenario would see Canadian domestic travel encouraged and incentivized. The best-case scenario sees everyone vaccinated by July 1 and the ability for people to travel to Canada.
If able, she encourages locals to get out and explore more of their province and country.
"Our message for the summer is, make your plans, be assured [of] all those best practices and protocols — we are experts at it, we have been at it for over a year. We have been safe housing for essential workers and supply chains and for all different industries that have never stopped.... Our hope is there is a confidence in the B.C. traveler to go and explore those places that they haven't been."
