Montreal hotels say more action from government needed to keep tourism industry alive
Montreal hotels say that even though they never shut down during the pandemic, they’re still losing a lot of money — and that many could close if the government doesn’t help.
“We are driving our business on credit cards,” said Marc Saunier, who manages Hotel Monville in downtown Montreal.
He says business has been slow throughout the Omicron wave. Of the hotel’s 270 rooms, an average of just 30 are booked every day, and cancellations keep coming.
“We lost all of the business we had on our books until the end of April,” he said.
An industry survey found that 40 per cent of Quebec hotels lost more than $100,000 in the last month.
And Saunier says the government isn’t doing enough to help.
“Taxes [are] coming in March — the city tax — and nobody has the money to pay for it," said Jean-Sebastien Boudreault, CEO of the Hotel Association of Greater Montreal (AHGM).
Aside from financial aid, hotels want the government to come up with an action plan to bring tourists back.
“We have international conferences coming in April and May and June and July. We want them to be reassured that they can come and be in Montreal,” said Boudreault.
Part of the problem, hotels say, is that tourists are avoiding Montreal because the restaurants are closed for indoor dining — restaurants that are also desperate for help.
The owners of Le Sh Moonshine BBQ in St-Henri say that even with a renewed emphasis on takeout, business is down around 70 per cent.
Owner Melissa Beaver says that although she understands hospitalizations are high, restaurant workers “need to be able to continue the restaurant lifestyle” that Montreal is “so well-known” for.
A spokesperson for the tourism minister said that since the beginning of the pandemic, the government has allocated $1.2 billion to support the tourism industry — but adds that, at this stage, safety must be prioritized when it comes to the reopening of businesses.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.