92% Of Hotel Inventory Closed, 1900 Not Working
Due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, 92% of the hotel inventory across the island is closed which means that 1,900 people in the tourism industry workforce who would have been working in those hotels are now not working, Interim BTA CEO Glenn Jones said.
Mr Jones — who was announced as the Interim CEO earlier this month one day before Covid-19 was officially declared a pandemic – told Bernews, “The global tourism industry has obviously been very hard hit by Covid-19, and of course we’re feeling it here at home as well.
“In the hotel sector alone, we have measured that 92% of the hotel inventory across the island is now closed. That means 1,900 people in the tourism industry workforce who would have been working in those hotels, are now not working.
“That’s why the unemployment benefits we heard about this week from the government are so important. We strongly support that move and we hope that it helps ease some of the pain that those tourism sector workers are going through.
“We’re in the process now of measuring what this means from an employment standpoint for the restaurant and retail sector, because we think that that data will also help the government make informed choices by going forward.
“In the meantime, we are also working with those stakeholders in the tourism industry who are still open, who have innovated their businesses so that they can honor the request of social distancing while still serving their customers.
“We have a new resource on our website, we’re very excited to release this yesterday. More businesses are coming in to register so that they can be a part of that, too.
“The onus is now on consumers, both here and in the US to patronize those businesses, if it’s a restaurant, you can get takeout or delivery here in Bermuda. If it’s an online retailer, you can still shop online, they’ll deliver the package for you, even delivering it overseas while the courier services are still running.
“These are some of the things that we’re doing to measure the impact of what’s happening, but also offer support to our industry in the meantime,” Mr Jones said.
As the island and world deals with the Covid-19 pandemic, we are doing our best to provide timely and accurate information, and you can find more information on the links below.
- Our continuously updated live blog here
- All our coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic here
- The official Bermuda Government website here
- Dashboard showing all the cases worldwide here
- Our newly launched Covid-19 website here.
Officials are urging everyone to please follow all guidance like washing your hands, adhering to self quarantine if relevant, and practicing social distancing, and they have asked that if it is not urgent, a necessity or work, to please stay home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
