It’s an industry that’s said to be among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic: The hotel sector. “There’s a very somber feeling out there right now,” said Ingrid Jarrett, president and CEO of the B.C.
Hotel Association. According to the association, about 40 per cent of hotels across the province chose to close their doors at the onset of the pandemic, while 60 per cent have remained open.
But the ones which kept their doors open have been experiencing the kind of hotel occupancies never seen before, in many cases in the single digits. “The situation is dire,” Jarrett told Global News.
According to the association, up to 40 per cent of the province’s 800 hotels could close permanently if locals don’t help fill the void left by visitors.