Pandemic could cost city $1.4B in tourism this year

It's tourism week in Canada, but the "mood is very different this year" in one of the sectors hit hardest by the COVID-19 shutdown, says the CEO of Ottawa Tourism.

"Part of the reason tourism is so hard hit is that tourism isa perishable good," Michael Crockatt told an onlinetown hall meeting about how Ottawa's economy might recover from pandemic.

"An unsold hotel room night or an unsoldboat tour is gone forever and can't be saved up to be sold at a later date."

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The challenge will be to rebuild a sector that employed 43,000people locally and brought in $2.2 billion in spending by visitors each year. Ottawa Tourism's analysis shows the city's tourism sector could miss out ontwo-thirds of that spending this year, or $1.4 billion, with all the cancelled festivals, meetingsand other events.

Ottawa Tourism is closely watching research about how people might resume travel. Crockatt predicts "hyper-local" trips and "staycations" to come first, followed by road trips in the region and province because people are more comfortable in their own vehicles right now.

That said, Crockatt expects tourism to be an industry that is among the last to recover.

Buy local, business advocates urge

The town hall also included leaders from the Ottawa Board of Trade,theRegroupement des gens d'affaires de la capitale nationaleand theOttawa Coalition of Business Improvement Areas.

Small business is especially hurting, said MarkKaluski, chair of the BIA coalition. He noted that while small shops did their part and remained closed,grocery stores remained open, selling such items as kids' toysand dishes.

Buying local rather than from an e-commerce giant is the most important thing residents can do to help the economy recover, Kaluskisaid.

"That package on the front doorstep is easy, but your money is just evaporating out of our economy," he said.

He also urged Ottawans not to use third-party apps for delivery from restaurantsbecause they take up to one-third of the price of a food order. Better, he said, to contact the restaurant directlyand pick up a meal.

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Mayor Jim Watson noted that the hundreds of small tech companies, restaurants and retailersespecially, form the "backbone of our economy."

"We are doing whatever we can to ensure the survival of some of these businesses when they're given the green light to open up," Watson said.

While municipalities have limited tools, Ottawa has provideda toolkit for how to reopenas the pandemic wanes. The city hasdeferred taxesand isand setting its sights on projects that could create local jobs, such as the new sound stage in the Greenbelt, officials said.