Normally busy businesses brace for quiet year end
Bars to take hit with few people planning to celebrate last of 2020
With barrooms dark and dance floors quiet, there will be little to celebrate Thursday for long-suffering business owners who normally count on New Year's Eve to get through the lean months that follow.
A study from the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO) suggests the province's tourism and hospitality industry, already reeling from a year of COVID-19 closures and restrictions, will lose out on $2 billion in revenues during the new year's holiday.
Nick Puim, owner of The Dugout Sports Bar in downtown Windsor, has pivoted to takeout and delivery services. But he expects that will only bring in five or 10 per cent of the business he'd see on a normal New Year's Eve.
“New year's is obviously our big bang to get through the winter,” said Puim. “Then being a sports bar I have (the) Super Bowl that kind of helps me get through the second half of the winter. But new year's is my January nest egg, usually.”
The TIAO study, conducted from Dec. 11-16, found that 70 per cent of Ontarians aren't even planning to celebrate New Year's Eve at home. About 50 per cent of people said they'll just be on the couch watching TV.
The association said study respondents spent an average of $366 on New Year's Eve celebrations before the pandemic. This year, those people plan to spend less than half that amount, for an average of $170.
This could translate into $2 billion in losses across the province, according to the association.
“As we come to the end of a long and difficult year for our industry, these latest numbers underscore the imperative of supporting local businesses,” said Beth Potter, president and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario. “We encourage all Ontarians who are able to consider takeout and delivery or take advantage of curbside pickup from your favourite local businesses during this new year's holiday.”
Gordon Orr, CEO of Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island, also stressed the importance of buying local.
“Our message has been all along to try and support local as much as you can, and support an industry that employs your neighbours, your families and your friends,” he said.
The tourism and hospitality industry was the first and hardest hit during the pandemic, he said, and it will take the longest to recover.
“We have been amazed since the start of the pandemic how the tourism and hospitality operators, entrepreneurs, have pivoted to change their business models to try and suffer through the pandemic and continue to be in operation,” said Orr. “We applaud their innovation and their creativity and their resiliency to continue on operations hoping for better days ahead.”
But just as retailers count on Christmas to carry them through the slow months that follow, Orr said many hospitality businesses need New Year's Eve to survive the first quarter lull.
“Without question they count on that time, Christmas and new year's, very much as a social time where you're celebrating with family and friends in large numbers and you're out and about and enjoying all the new year potentially has to bring,” said Orr.
“January is typically the slowest month for restaurants to begin with. So when they haven't had that sort of boost from the December and New Year's Eve rush to carry them through, it's going to make it that much longer of a winter for them the recover.”
Puim said a new year's lockdown is just the latest in a series of body blows for struggling bar and restaurant owners during the pandemic.
“I have five big days of the year, which are New Year's Eve, Tigers opener, American Thanksgiving, St. Patty's Day and Super Bowl,” he said. “We're going to get a COVID restriction on all of them. It's crazy.”
He said he's just been focused on getting his business through each day as it comes.
“I know if the bar does fail and it goes under, it's not my fault,” said Puim. “What am I supposed to do? You've got a year worth of unrealistic restrictions. I understand. It just is what it is. I feel like I use that term way too much right now, but there's nothing you can do about it. You try to make the best of the situation and keep your head afloat until this all passes.”