It has been five years since the COVID-19 pandemic started to change the world forever and those in Saskatchewan’s hospitality industry say its early days caused much stress for business owners and workers.
“It was total upheaval. I think that the whole universe really became unstitched,” said Jim Bence, president and CEO of Hospitality Saskatchewan. “It was catastrophic in many senses for many of our employers, and particularly with complete shutdowns.
“We had to stay at home. And it really meant that revenues evaporated overnight. So, it was a real tough time for sure.”
Shawna Nelson, the Downtown Saskatoon Business Improvement District executive director, adds that having a lot of foot traffic as a business downtown is essential and COVID-19 essentially stopped that completely.
When things were allowed to start opening up, staffing was reduced due to the dip in business and there were guidelines to deal with.
“There was restrictions in regards to putting up barriers. That was a cost to a lot of our cafe and restaurant owners, and understanding the space between each booth, each seat. And that impacted the business.”
Bence says the hospitality industry took the biggest impact from the pandemic.
“We were the first to get hit. We were the hardest hit, and it would take us the longest to recover of any industries. And that really has really proven to be true,” Bence said.
Nelson says business owners had to learn to adapt on the fly.
“They had to be creative and innovative and pivot a lot of time,” Nelson said.
Bence says that ability to pivot is helping businesses continue to thrive.
“I think that the positives were that those operators that were out there and actually made it through were our most resilient. They were our most adaptive,” Bence said.
“They pivoted in such a way that they were able to not just survive but then start to thrive coming out of the pandemic. So, I think that that was one of the real sort of silver linings.”
Both add that with the pandemic mostly behind us, many business owners are still facing uncertainty.
Bence said numbers are “finally getting back” to where they were before the pandemic but possible tariffs have made for a “long stretch” of uncertainty.
“We still have some interesting times ahead of us in regards to what’s happening with our neighbours and the tariffs,” Nelson said. “So here we are again, having to be creative and innovative in how we are going to get through this as well.”
Bence says this is just the new normal.
“The one thing we’ve grown accustomed to is uncertainty,” Bence said.
“We know that we’ve got to be prepared for change. And that some things will happen to us that’s beyond our control, outside of our influence.”
Bence reminds people that the best way to help small businesses is by supporting local.
“Let’s make sure we’re buying local and let’s get out and let’s enjoy the things that we always have.”