The Saskatoon airport is not seeing many travellers come or go these days due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of that, many other areas are affected, like the airport hotels.
“We do a lot of American business. We do a lot of those travellers that are headed on a vacation. They may live in a small town outside of Saskatoon, they come to stay for a night, and then they are off to Cancun or wherever it may be, the next day,” said Tony Newton, local general manager of Hampton Inn and Suites Airport.
“So that is another thing we are missing.”
At this time, the province normally sees a lot of American travellers coming to Saskatchewan for hunting and fishing trips. That business is on hold and so is all the business from sports as tournaments and competitions in the city have been cancelled or postponed.
That has some hotels operating with 80 to 90 per cent less occupancy. With fewer guests staying at the properties, hotels need less staff.
“We have definitely scaled back our employees — we’ve probably laid off about 90 per cent of our staff — but hope that is going to turn around in the near future, and we’ll call them back as quickly as we can,” said Leslie Hrchirchuk, general manager of Best Western Plus Airport Inn and Suites in Saskatoon.
“For right now we are very limited staff. Of course with everything being closed it had a definite impact on our staff as well.”
However, with hotels adopting new business practices, more business may return.
Hotels may have never been as clean and as safe as they are now. Rooms are being left for 48 to 72 hours after a guest checks out, then aggressively cleaned. If patrons to the hotel can practice safe physical distancing in the common areas, people should once again feel very safe staying in a hotel.
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“We do quite a bit of local business, which we are starting to see a little bit trickle back in now, and hopefully within the next couple of phases, we’ll start to see that ramp up again,” Newtons said.
“We want our guests to feel comfortable, and we want them to be welcomed back into the hotel,” Hrchirchuk said.
“And know that we are doing everything that we can and everything that we are supposed to be doing to keep people clean and safe. Staff and guests included.”
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Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Health officials caution against all international travel. Returning travellers are legally obligated to self-isolate for 14 days, beginning March 26, in case they develop symptoms and to prevent spreading the virus to others. Some provinces and territories have also implemented additional recommendations or enforcement measures to ensure those returning to the area self-isolate.
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out.
For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.
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