Ontario Tourism and Hospitality Industries to Lose $2 Billion in Revenue With More People Staying Home on New Year Eve: Survey
Waiters, bartenders, and workers in the tourism industry are once again feeling the impact of the pandemic-related closures on New Year’s Eve, as more Ontarians plan to welcome 2021 at home.
An online survey of 1,091 adults revealed that Ontarians spend an average of $366 on New Year Eve in a typical year. But on the last day of the tumultuous 2020 year, residents in the province plan to spend an average of $170.
The Tourism Industry Association of Ontario (TIAO), a business advocacy organization which commissioned the survey, urged Ontarians to support the tourism and hospitality industry by shopping local, despite provincial lockdown measures.
Last Updated: Dec 24, 2020 1:48 PM
One of the big Owen Sound milestones of 2020 the completion of the 10th Street Bridge replacement project. (City of Owen Sound Twitter photo)
Owen Sound Mayor Ian Boddy says despite pandemic shutdowns in 2020, quite a bit still happened in the city.
Looking back at the year, Boddy says, “Business did continue, the planning department, engineering department, with site plans and things coming in didn’t really slow down. People kept working, engineers kept working so a lot of that kept going.”
Boddy says construction value in the city was about $65 million, compared to last year’s roughly $42 million. He says the last time it was this high was 2010.