New quarantine measures won’t affect hotel industry’s bottom line, but may create more stress, say stakeholders

Hotel industry stakeholders say that Canada's new quarantine measures for incoming air travellers aren’t likely to have too much of a financial benefit on business, but may put strain on an already strained industry. Introduced Jan. 29, the new rules state that all air passengers returning from non-essential trips abroad must quarantine within a government-chosen hotel for three days upon arrival. The criteria hotels must meet to be listed as one of these facilities was released last week and includes strict cleaning guidelines, contactless meal service, transportation onto the premises, and close proximity to one of the four airports receiving international flights in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and Calgary. The new hotel quarantine requirement comes on top of pre-existing measures that include proof of a negative COVID-19 test result taken less than three days before flying back from abroad. The new system dictates that three days must be spent in a hotel while awaiting a virus test on arrival, starting Feb. 22 for air travellers. If a negative result is received, the person can continue onward to their final destination/quarantine spot for the next 11 days, whereas if a positive returns they will be moved to a designated quarantine facility or another appropriate site for quarantine. The government will also not be paying for any expenses related to these mandatory stays, with travellers expected to pay for room and food. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Papineau, Que.) previously said that the cost is estimated to be “more than $2,000.” According to Eve Paré, CEO of the Hotel Association of Greater Montreal, hotels will be the ones deciding on costs per room and per person. She said the figure cited by Mr. Trudeau was based on an assumption of a family of four spread across two rooms. The Hotel Association of Canada didn’t pin down an exact cost either, stating that the “cost of each stay will vary between hotels, with additional fees required to cover specific quarantine measures like augmented security and transportation.” The association also stated that it would continue to answer the call of public health. Sol Zia, executive director for the Calgary Hotel Association, says he's worried about the ire of guests mandated to stay within the group's hotels. Photograph courtesy of Sol Zia Sol Zia, executive director of the Calgary Hotel Association, similarly said he wanted to work with the government, but that he was worried about the potential attitude or anger of the guests being forced to quarantine. He noted that it could put hotel workers in a compromising position. He also agreed that it was putting more stress on the struggling industry, especially on the staff attending to the needs of the guests. Ms. Paré said that there is likely to be no noticeable surge in demand. Pointing towards upcoming flight cancellations at Air Canada slated for Feb. 18, she stressed that there wouldn’t be many travellers, with the government providing no guarantees in terms of visiting volume. “Already the number of travellers at the airports have dropped by 90 per cent,” she said. “Now it’s going to be close to zero.” For Michelle Travis, spokesperson for hotel and transport industry union Unite Here, the amount of people who would actually arrive in hotels is unclear, especially given the time window leading up to the new quarantine during which travellers can return and skirt the boosted restrictions. Her concern is that hotels that have been laying off staff will continue to do so. She specifically pointed towards the workers at one hotel, Pacific Gateway near the Vancouver airport, which her union represents. The building has been used as a federal quarantine for months and, critically, new worker roles, which would typically be filled by union members, were being replenished by the Red Cross. As a result, the long-term workers with higher wages were getting fired even while new staff were taken on. She said she expected the new designated hotels to be more of the same. She also noted that she doesn’t expect it to be a big boom for hotels and that it would be more a “trickle” than a wave. Noting that hotels have been dramatically affected by the pandemic, NDP MP Taylor Bachrach (Skeena–Bulkley Valley, B.C.), his party's transport critic, said the benefits of this quarantine “are going to be very localized if they exist at all," pointing towards the fact that only hotels in the vicinity of airports will be hosting these travellers. Meanwhile, Conservative transport critic Stephanie Kusie (Calgary Midnapore, Alta.) said the increased effort required in responsibility and security might be too limiting. “I don’t really see this as a benefit to hotels because of the incredible applications in logistics that would have to occur. … I would be interested to see the stats around how many hotels applied, given the criteria that the government put out,” she said. Ms. Paré said she is less wary of the requirements and that they should be relatively easy to meet, minus preparing food, which may require outside suppliers rather than hiring the staff needed to produce meals in-house. Mr. Zia also brought up the unique requirement that food must be prepared according to the Canada Food Guide as an added complexity alongside the fact the guests are involuntary and may have different needs. Overall, though, many of the measures that have to be put in place are not too different from what already exists, Ms. Paré said, with hotels taking precautions to curb virus spread since the beginning of the pandemic. A quick look at the requirements didn’t set off any concerns for Ms. Travis, who said it’s “not clear to me how is more onerous.” She emphasized that while it wouldn’t be a big shift for pre-existing staff, pulling in brand new people may be “a different story.” Hotel associations seeking more support to weather the storm Conservative MP Stephanie Kusie says new quarantine measures might give more responsibility to airport hotels. Photograph courtesy of Stephanie Kusie's office Asked about what more the government should be doing, Ms. Travis pointed towards issues with current implementation. While it has become increasingly easy for funds and support to be accessed, she said that there is little in place to guarantee workers' employment, with no requirements to recall fired workers or put all workers back on the payroll for the wage subsidy program. The stats, at least for Ms. Paré and Mr. Zia, are grim. More than $700-million has been lost in revenues, said Ms. Paré, with 90 per cent of staff laid off. According to Mr. Zia, who did not have figures on revenues, of the approximately 4,000 people employed across Calgary hotels prior to the pandemic, less than 1,000 are still working. Occupancy rates, meanwhile, are 7.5 per cent in downtown Montreal and below 20 per cent on average in Calgary. Ms. Paré said they’ve been asking for support for fixed costs like municipal taxes, which are high in Montreal, energy costs, and mortgage payments. “The different programs, whether it’s the provincial loan program or the federal wage and rent subsidy, certainly helped businesses to stay alive, but it’s like a marathon and we’re in the middle of it,” she said. Mr. Zia said he doesn’t expect business to return to typical levels until the first quarter of 2022, while also acknowledging funding and loan efforts from the federal government, like its Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program. What he said he wants more of is clarity on regulation—for example, whether or not a desk clerk at a hotel is considered a front-line worker. The current struggle with the hotel industry can be attributed to the government’s inaction in supporting the airline sector, Ms. Kusie said. Mr. Bachrach said the NDP has been pushing for the support programs that provide the help Canadians need, from the very beginning. Civil liberties lawyer wants more consideration, clarity Canadian Civil Liberties Association lawyer Cara Zwibel says that exemptions should be made for the new quarantine rules. Photograph courtesy of Cara Zwibel For Cara Zwibel, a lawyer at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the new quarantine rules raise the concern of catching the wrong things. “I think this is a measure to try and deter leisure travel … we think there needs to be exceptions—if not exceptions then waivers of fees, associated for those people for whom there would be a hardship.” She highlighted the example of students abroad or people who might have to attend to a family emergency in another country. While Ms. Zwibel acknowledged that the government has the right to exercise these powers, she raised the question of whether they have the evidence that these changes are necessary. On the topic of balancing freedoms and virus mitigation, she said she was grateful not to have the responsibility for making those decisions. “Governments really do have to pay attention to the evidence as it evolves. I think they have to be aware of the fact that their obligations are not just to protect people from the virus, they have obligations to protect people from other things, too,” she said. “People who are isolated and facing mental health crises, those are things that all need be factored in.” achen@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

New quarantine measures won’t affect hotel industry’s bottom line, but may create more stress, say stakeholders

'I don’t really see this as a benefit to hotels because of the incredible applications in logistics that would have to occur,' says Conservative transport critic Stephanie Kusie.

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New quarantine measures won’t affect hotel industry’s bottom line, but may create more stress, say stakeholders

'I don’t really see this as a benefit to hotels because of the incredible applications in logistics that would have to occur,' says Conservative transport critic Stephanie Kusie.

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