Tourism Calgary temporarily lays off 60 per cent of staff

Tourism Calgary announced Thursday that 60 per cent of its staff will be temporarily laid off, while the remaining staff will receive a pay cut.

Tourism has effectively come to a halt due to the international spread of COVID-19, and Tourism Calgary said in a news release Thursday the city is not immune. With a drop in funding, the organization made the decision to temporarily lay off 31 of its 52 full-time employees, effective early April.the remaining staff will work on a game plan for when the industry picks up again, which CEO Cindy Ady said could be a slow process.

“We’re going to lean into what recovery looks like because I do think there will be a recovery and a rebuild,” she said. “It will take time to rebuild … when we get Calgarians out of isolation, we get them to enjoy Calgary again. Then we move to reach regional, national and international tourists.”

The Calgary Hotel Association is one of Tourism Calgary’s primary funders, but as hotel stays plummet the group cannot provide the same level of funding. Downtown’s Fairmont Palliser announced Thursday it would shut its doors on Friday until further notice in an effort to halt the spread of COVID-19.

As of March 25, Banff National Park was closed to visitors, affecting the operation of both the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and the Fairmont Banff Springs.

According to a survey of industry leaders conducted by Tourism Calgary, 85 per cent of businesses related to the tourism industry have already been affected through temporary closures, reduced sales and temporary layoffs. It showed that approximately 66 per cent of workers in Calgary’s tourism industry have been temporarily laid off.

Calgary-based airline Westjet announced Tuesday that 6,900 employees out of a total of 14,000 are receiving notices of voluntary and involuntary leaves. It was reported last week that Air Canada would lay off more than 5,100 flight attendants as the country’s largest airline cuts routes and parks planes.

Tourism Calgary’s survey results showed 54 per cent of the tourism-related businesses that haven’t laid off staff will need to if the global tourism stop lasts longer than another three weeks.

“There’s a resilience to this industry and we want to be ready for when that time comes,” said Ady. “After the flood in 2013, we were able to show that Calgary was open again. There’s a natural hunger to get out and connect with people in social environments. By the time we finish with isolation, people will have a strong desire to gather again, as long as it’s safe and the timing is right.”