Hoteliers in Waterloo region and Guelph hurt by Canadian's fear of travelling during pandemic

Waterloo region's hospitality industry is in a "dire" situation, according to hotel owners and the region's tourism marketing corporation.

Rooms that should be filled with families and business travellers are sitting emptyand they've been that way since mid-March.

"It's like someone turned the tap off," said Vanessa Stevenson, general manager at the Homewood Suites by Hilton Cambridge-Waterloo.

Things had been slowing down at the 108 room property as the world began to talk about COVID-19, but when the World Health Organizationannounced a pandemic, there was a massive drop in business.

With no guests, the hotel began operating with a skeleton crew.

"Myself, my sales coordinator and our front office manager were all working the front desk and cleaning rooms," she said.

Business has been picking up though, according to Stevenson. She expects the hotel to finish July at somewhere near 40 per cent occupancy.

Smaller hotels feeling bigger crunch

The same can't be said for the London House Bed and Breakfast in Guelph.

"After March 7, we had 100 per cent cancellations," said owner Sheila Trask. "And that was reservations all the way into September."

With no guests staying, Trask has cut back on spending. She saidshe hasn't needed the services of her occasional housekeeper since February. She says she'sbeen working hard to keep her business open.

According to the available research, despite most of Canada lessening pandemic-related restrictions, the appetite for travel just isn't there.

"Within Canada, 22 per cent of consumers feel safe taking a flight, 28 per cent feel safe staying in a hotel, and 15 per cent are looking for travel deals," said Minto Schneider, CEO of the Waterloo Regional Tourism Marketing Corporation.

"That's a pretty small percentage of the population."