Montreal motels say extra motion from authorities wanted to maintain tourism trade alive

Montreal hotels say that while they’ve never closed during the pandemic, they’re still losing big money — and that many could close if government doesn’t help.

“We run our business with credit cards,” said Marc Saunier, who runs the Hotel Monville in downtown Montreal.

He says business has been sluggish throughout the Omicron wave. On average, only 30 of the 270 rooms in the hotel are booked every day, and cancellations keep coming.

“We lost all the deals we had on our books by the end of April,” he said.

An industry survey found that 40 percent of Quebec hotels lost more than $100,000 in the last month.

And Saunier says the government isn’t doing enough to help.

“Steer [are] It’s coming in March – the city tax – and nobody has the money to pay it,” said Jean-Sebastien Boudreault, CEO of the Hotel Association of Greater Montreal (AHGM).

Aside from financial help, the hotels want the government to come up with an action plan to bring tourists back.

“We have international conferences in April and May and June and July. We want to give them the assurance that they can come and be in Montreal,” Boudreault said.

Part of the problem, hotels say, is that tourists are avoiding Montreal because restaurants are closed for indoor dining — restaurants also desperate for help.

The owners of Le Sh Moonshine BBQ in St-Henri say business is down about 70 per cent despite a renewed emphasis on takeaway.

Owner Melissa Beaver says restaurant workers “need to be able to continue the restaurant lifestyle” that Montreal is “so known for,” despite knowing the hospitalization rate is high.

A spokesman for the tourism minister said the government had allocated $1.2 billion to support the tourism industry since the pandemic began – but added that at this stage, safety must be a priority when businesses reopen.