The pandemic has been anything but kind to Canada’s hotel industry. But a senior official at Canada’s Germain Hotels says they’re going to be okay.
“One thing for sure is we’re out of the woods,” Marie Pier Germain, vice president sales and marketing for Germain Hotels, told me in a recent Zoom chat. “The company is going to be okay.”
Germain said the company has kept communication lines open with its investors during the pandemic But it’s not been easy. And it hasn’t been a straight line.
“Everything we’re used to relying on to forecast budget is gone,” she said. “In November we had 70% of our occupancy from the same month in 2019. Everybody is forecasting that rates will go down and maybe not recover for three years. But we kept our rates.
“To me that’s really encouraging and important. You know as well as I do that dropping rates; it’s very hard to bring them back if you do that. And our costs are going through the roof; labour, food. We can’t afford to bring rates down.”
Labour shortages for the hotel industry are particularly pronounced in Quebec, where the hotel chain is based, Germain said.
“There are many issues; immigration, people retiring, the shortage in general, not just in our industry but in most industries. We have it tough because we lost most of our people. It’s harder to fill jobs.”
Germain said their Charlevoix, Quebec hotel had to close some rooms and one of their two restaurants. Their downtown Montreal hotel had to limit restaurant business hours.
“I don’t know what’s worse, not having clients or not being able to serve the ones you have. It adds a lot of stress. Not serving breakfast is not an option, but you have to choose between (operating a restaurant) say, seven days or five nights.”
Asked if the recovery has been uneven across the country (Germain operates Germain and Alt Hotels pretty much across Canada, although not in British Columbia), Germain said she would have agreed with that idea six months ago.
“But it’s evening out more now. Toronto was a nightmare but since September it has been better. We’ve seen business coming back slowly.”
Germain hotels have typically been heavy on business, which has accounted for about 65% of rooms sold in the past.
“Obviously, that’s changed. It’s very different, and it’s hard to predict. The business we’re getting back is very last minute; this week for next week.
“We’re starting to get some meetings,” mostly small to medium-sized companies. “But we’ve never been a convention hotel. The big companies are afraid of their shadows. Those aren’t the ones we’re seeing now.”
Germain said August was their best month this year. But she’s also encouraged by the November numbers.
“I feel the first quarter of 2022 will be better than anticipated. November usually slows down, but it didn’t this year.
“I do feel that people need to see each other. This is what we’re sensing from the business community. Yes, there’s Omicron. We’ve had some cancellations. But not as much as the third wave or the second wave.”
Germain said she listened in on a recent Skift travel conference and was struck by comments from the head of Southwest Airlines.
“The CEO was saying that, early on (in the pandemic), their business was down 97%. But then it was 80%, and then 50%.”
Germain said their previously announced new Calgary and Ottawa hotels are still on hold. Asked if the company is happy to just let things lie for a while, Germain laughed.
“No, I wouldn’t say we’re happy to stay where we are. But we need to find a way to make it work.”
