In Jasper, a ‘devastating’ slowdown
COVID-19 leaves tourist town with empty beds, little hope for season
JASPER There’s an eerie feeling when you walk the streets of downtown Jasper now.
The serenity of the nearby rivers, lakes and waterfalls is unchanged.
The mountains are still as pristine as ever, unaffected by the COVID -19 pandemic that has rocked the small town nestled below.
“It’s been devastating for this community,” said Jasper Mayor Richard Ireland Thursday.
“Every business has been affected in one way or another, some more than others, but everyone has been deeply impacted.
“The hope is that there will be enough to survive and next year people can look to regain some of what they had before, but it will be a multi-year project to get back to balance.”
When the gates to Jasper National Park closed March 25, many business owners were left shaken to the core. As the gates reopened last Monday and the community began welcoming visitors once again, uncertainty remained.
“On the issue of non-essential travel there has been some decided uncertainty from our perspective,” said Ireland. “We understand that the province is certainly comfortable with in-province travel … but there are still so many unknowns with respect to travel restrictions from other provinces.”
HOTELS FACING
30 TO 40% OCCUPANCY
While Jasper is popularly known as a ski town, the summer season is where it really makes money, with close to 80 per cent of the overall commerce in the town being done through the summer months.
Hotels typically enjoy 90 per cent occupancy May through September but projections estimate they’re looking at 30 per cent to 40 per cent occupancy this year, Ireland said.
With the Canadian borders closed due to the pandemic, the loss of the international travellers is expected to hit Jasper the hardest.
“The international visitor usually spends at a ratio of something like two-to-one, if not more, than the domestic traveller,” said James Jackson, president and CEO of Jasper Tourism.
“So even if we hit 50 per cent occupancy, that does not necessarily equate to 50 per cent in revenues.”
International travellers make up close to 50 per cent of visitors in the summer months and a large chunk of the staff, too. Typically at this time, the Jasper employment centre has about 600 job postings — as of last week, there were just 26.
“Employment will continue to be an issue throughout the summer,” said Jackson.
The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge (JPL) officially closed its doors April 7. Upon arrival today, guests quickly find out how things have changed. After undergoing “a significant amount” of pre-arrival communication, guests are greeted at the main gate of the hotel with a short questionnaire and a temperature check. They are then handed personal protective equipment kits with a disposable facemask, vinyl gloves, antiseptic wipes and hand sanitizer.
“We are actually trying to checkin everyone right at the gate so that guests who are not feeling comfortable actually coming to the main lodge, they can go right away to our many cabins,” said JPL general manager Marc Wawrin.
Under Phase 1 of Alberta’s COVID -19 relaunch strategy, outdoor gatherings were increased to a maximum of up to 50 people.
While the JPL hasn’t hosted any large events like weddings just yet, Wawrin says they have a number of smaller weddings — 10 to 15 people — on the books.
During a typical June month, the hotel would be ramping up for the summer season and be fully booked on a daily basis by midjune. Today, Wawrin says the hotel is operating “not even close” to the same levels, with projections for the summer predicting one-fifth occupancy from the previous year.
“This weekend will be the first real test.”
EXTENDED WINTER SEASON
When the pandemic hit Alberta, restaurant owner Mike Day found himself looking into the abyss of 18 months of winter, so to speak.
In a typical March, Evil Dave’s Grill, just off the main street in Jasper, would be ramping up for the summer season where they make 50 per cent of their total revenues.
Instead, revenues have dropped 95 per cent.
“There’s always concerns that we may have to close, definitely,” said Day, who has owned Evil Dave’s Grill since 2017. “We have a lease coming up at the end of October and we have to make some really hard decisions about what we commit to on that next five-year lease.”
The restaurant initially paused for about three weeks before offering take-out services.
The menu was slashed to lower food costs and the number of staff was dramatically reduced. In a normal season, Day says he would have around 18 full-time employees but today they have just five.
“Instead of three servers and a bartender on tonight, we have one person on. Instead of three people in the kitchen and one dishwasher, there is one,” said Day.
“And that’s a real impact on real people’s lives and real people’s ability to earn an income.”
On May 14, restaurants began reopening for dine-in service in the province, except for those in Calgary and Brooks.
Day says he was officially given the green light by the province just the day prior, with less than 24 hours notice.
“We thought that they would give us far more than 3 o’clock in the afternoon on the 13th that we can open on the 14th — that’s when we found out about it,” said Day.
“I really felt very unfortunate for those restaurants in Calgary that literally on the 13th found out it was actually the 25th.”
Day believes a lot of the decisions pertaining to restaurants made by the province and AHS were done without consulting owners.
“If you say to me ‘24 hours you can open up’, I would say, ‘Yeah, but my food order day is Monday for Tuesday and we don’t get to just go out and change the parameters of our suppliers … we need lead time,’ ” said Day.
In the beginning, Day expected AHS to be leading the charge and increasing its presence at local restaurants, but he says that was not the case.
“They have been absolutely silent,” he said. “I’m calling them to get information — it seems like the reverse way as I would have anticipated it.”
REALISTIC OPTIMISM
Despite the gloomy projections, Ireland says people in Jasper remain optimistic and are holding out hope.
He says it’s too early to say how many businesses will wind up shuttering for good and they may not know until the end of the summer who has been able to survive and who has not.
But one thing he expects will remain unchanged is the sense of community and the spirit of Jasper.
“It will be changed, and there will be more than just superficial changes as well,” Ireland said. “It will be really hurtful for some businesses and some individuals, and we regret that that’s the fact, but as a community we will survive and we’ll carry on, and we’ll be here to welcome guests for years to come.”