Pandemic may force hand of P.E.I. business

BRACKLEY BEACH, P.E.I. — The economically punishing pandemic may spell the end for Prince Edward Island's oldest business.

Shaw's Hotel and Cottages in Brackley Beach has been a family-run operation for 160 years.

It is a remarkable success story that has survived two world wars, the Spanish flu pandemic and the Great Depression of the early 1930s that left millions of Canadians unemployed, hungry and often homeless.

The crippling coronavirus pandemic, however, may prove a fatal blow to this historic establishment that opened in 1860, on farmland originally settled in 1793, to provide relaxing seaside lodging for visitors.

Owner Robbie Shaw is feeling more than a bit of concern as he prepares for a season that is showing far more sign of bust than promise.

Cancellations have been piling up fast and furiously.

A couple of large weddings: cancelled.

A big convention: scrapped. Family reunion: plug pulled.

Another 50 or so reservations rescinded, too.

And not a single reservation has been made since March 15.

“This is going to be my 41st year of running Shaw's and this is going to be my biggest challenge I've faced yet,'' says Shaw.

“I keep on saying to friends and colleagues that I haven't seen the light at the end of the tunnel.''

Shaw is no quitter, though. He has had challenges with his business over the years. He has persevered. He has stayed open, one tourism season after another.

He hopes this year can be salvaged, perhaps with tourists starting to stay at Shaw's Hotel and Cottages by the middle of July.

Still, Shaw notes a lot of people in the industry believe not many tourists will make their way to P.E.I. this summer to vacation. Currently, visitors are prohibited from coming to the province due to strict restrictions put in place by chief public health officer Dr. Heather Morrison to help curb the spread of the deadly virus.

If the season is one of increasing despair for Shaw, he would consider calling it quits.

“How far do you dig into your savings at my stage in my life to hold on,'' he says.

“I don't want to incur any more debt.''

Steven Dowling believes Islanders can come to the aid of tourism operators like Shaw. He is urging fellow residents of P.E.I. to buy into staycations like never before.

“I think we are going to need to do this. I'm calling on people to consider planning a staycation,'' says Dowling, who worked at Shaw's Hotel and Cottages in the 1990s when he was a student.

He describes the Shaws as “great employers and a great family."

Dowling, who is a lawyer with the province's Department of Justice and Public Safety, is hoping to lead by example. He has rallied support to put together a summer vacation at Shaw's valued at $1,500 to be drawn for and awarded to a front-line care worker with P.E.I. Seniors Homes.

P.E.I. Seniors Homes CEO Jason Lee has bought into Dowling's initiative.

“It just seemed like a winwin scenario when Steve presented the idea,'' he says.

“The tourism sector is really going to need our help this year. To put this unique twist on it and have it actually go to a front-line health-care worker is just a real nice way to tie it together.''

Shaw certainly welcomes the idea of locals filling his rooms. He said staycations could help ease financial hardship for the tourism sector.

“I think it's very, very important,'' he says.

“I think that is where we are going to see a good part of our business . ... I would rather have an Islander in my room in July than nobody in my room — and I am ready to make that affordable to them.''

Still, Shaw fears this year may be the last one not only for his business but for other tourism operators on Prince Edward Island.

“There definitely will be casualties,'' he says. “I think it is inevitable.''

JIM DAY • THE GUARDIAN Robbie Shaw says the COVID-19 pandemic is presenting the biggest challenge he has faced in his four decades of running Shaw's Hotel and Cottages, a business that has been in operation in Brackley Beach for 160 years.