The local tourism industry appears to be taking the Covid-19 health scare in its stride, even though it could affect international travel and Victoria’s hospitality industry.
“We want to be measured in our response, when so many small businesses could be affected. And this is an evolving situation,” said Paul Nursey, chief executive of Destination Greater Victoria, the region’s destination marketing organization.
Nursey said given the eye of the Covid-19 storm is China, it’s important for the industry and would-be travellers to maintain perspective. “The facts are the entire Asia-Pacific marketplace only represents six per cent of the traffic to Victoria, and China is less than four per cent,” he said. “Now, that doesn’t mean there won’t be an impact … but the Chinese market, while growing, is not our bread and butter.”
This week, Nursey sent out a letter to all of Destination Greater Victoria’s members, pointing out more than 70 per cent of all visitors to the region come from regional markets like B.C., Alberta, Washington and California.
Nursey said the organization intends to focus on those markets by establishing new partnerships with Air Canada to increase Victoria’s presence on the airline’s digital platforms, as well as creating joint marketing initiatives targeted at Air Canada customers. It has also signed new deals with AAA Idaho and Washington state as well as the Alberta Motor Association, and a partnership with Destination Canada that will focus on increasing visits from Mexico.
In the letter, Nursey said his organization has cancelled partnership efforts focused on China this year, and instead will ensure it has budget left to capitalize on potential recovery efforts.
That’s key, said Dave Cowen, general manager of Butchart Gardens, the Island’s largest tourist attraction.
“Yes, this is a concern, but the industry has been through things like this before and tourism, we all realize, is cyclical so operators and agencies plan for these kinds of things,” he said. “We need to be ready for that [recovery]. It would be a big error if we weren’t ready, stumbled and missed out.”
Cowen said China wisely banned outbound group travel early in the virus outbreak, and that means there will be pent-up demand for travel, maybe as early as later this year.
“It’s about executing when that market comes back,” he said.
That’s the kind of refrain heard around the industry in Victoria, which at this point sees no need to panic. “The real concern is the hysteria,” said Ian Powell, managing partner at the Inn at Laurel Point. “We’re not seeing any concern, there’s no mention from reservations about cancellations, but the problem starts when hysteria takes over.”
More than 85,000 people worldwide have contracted the virus, with deaths topping 2,900. The vast majority of cases have been in China, where the outbreak began. However, Powell pointed out that the flu is expected to do significantly more damage in Canada alone this year.
Statistics Canada figures say the flu and pneumonia, for example, killed more than 8,500 people in 2018, and heart disease claimed more than 53,000 lives that year.
“At this stage of the game, in terms of the impact it will have [on tourism] it’s a case of wait and see,” Powell said.
Reid James, general manager of the Hotel Grand Pacific, which handles a lot of Asian business compared with its competition, said it has had some small groups from China cancel, but others have come through without incident.
He said if the coronovirus continues to spread at a quick rate, the Asian business will no doubt drop off.
“But we have to wait and see; at this point we just don’t know,” he said. “I suspect there will probably be fewer people crossing [the oceans] in both directions.”
John Wilson said at his company, Wilson’s Transportation, which offers a variety of touring products, it’s business as usual. “We expect a strong season and have no cancellations at this point. We are continuing our hiring, particularly for drivers,” he said.
On the other side of the tourism ledger — Victoria residents travelling the world — there’s a more frenetic pace to the Covid-19 reaction.
Julie Skinner, B.C. leisure manager for Vision Travel Solutions, said many travel agents are working flat out to handle client requests to re-route, postpone or cancel trips.
“We are busy accommodating people cancelling, people moving trips,” she said. “We’re not booking any new trips right now, we’re just trying to get people out of harm’s way and taking care of our customers. It’s a mess right now.”
She said the bulk of cancellations are for trips anywhere in Asia, especially cruise business.
While people know the flu will kill more people than this infection, it’s the fear of the unknown that has people worried, she said. “We can’t blame anyone for cancelling or delaying their trip.”
It’s not just the travel and tourism sectors that will feel the effects of the coronavirus. Some Victoria retailers and manufacturers are watching the situation closely as the outbreak has affected the supply chain in China.
Eric Findlay, president of Andrew Sheret Ltd, said his plumbing supply company is keeping a close eye on the situation, but so far there’s no reason to make alternative plans to source parts. “We aren’t hearing about any concrete delays coming at this point. Our biggest worry is on the manufacturing side of things downstream,” he said.
If the small parts of toilets, such as flush valves or flappers, which likely come from China, are delayed or hard to get as a result of factories being closed or curtailed, then toilet tanks don’t get manufactured, he said.
The company has a buffer of inventory in its warehouses as does its North American supplier which distributes Chinese products. “Right now, we are monitoring it fairly closely and speaking with our suppliers,” he said.
That also holds true at Viking Air, which manufactures de Havilland Twin Otter aircraft at plants in Calgary and Victoria.
Chief executive Dave Curtis said while the company doesn’t have any suppliers in China, it does have customers operating Twin Otter aircraft there.
“Our de Havilland business unit does have supply in China and we haven’t seen an impact yet but we are monitoring.”
