Jim Evans introduced Ken Cretney, CEO & President of PavCo & Vancouver Convention Centre.
Speaking on behalf of industry, Ken is happy to see 2020 in the rear view mirror. He has been involved in tourism for over 40 years. In that time never seen anything like this – COVID. The tourism sector has been impacted more than most others.
Leading up to COVID, the industry was on a tremendous trajectory of success in Vancouver. EXPO was a significant event, as was the 2010 Olympics. Since then there has been very significant growth in tourism in our city. Business has tripled, e.g., the convention centre was doing 500 meetings/events a year.
The weekend prior to March 13th they had hosted over 70K people for rugby sevens. Also had ~15K for a dental conference. At the time they were still uncertain re COVID, but there were no mandated orders in place yet. By the Wednesday of that week, Ken was at an event at the Hyatt. During dinner they found out that the US gov’t put an embargo on air travel out of Europe. Cancellations started coming in quickly starting the following day.
Such a time of uncertainty. What was our future? There were and continue to be hotels shutting down. Occupancy dropped radically. Uncertainty is the most difficult aspect of this whole thing. Normally they see bookings completed years in advance for bigger conventions. They had to manage cancellations, postponements, etc., very quickly. They had to downsize. Fortunately, they did not need to lay off, as a lot are contracted through external vendors. It’s a 20 billion revenue to Vancouver, the drop is guessed at 60% for 2020.
When needed to downsize, they went to about 30-35% temp layoffs, 30% workshare program, and the balance took reduced salary & hours. Some of the government top ups were beneficial. Overall it has been challenging for the broader tourism industry as some have not been able to take advantage of the programs offered and will not be able to make it through. In Ken’s position, there are $2B in assets they need to protect.
Big part of the recovery going forward will be on tourism’s shoulders. Dealt with real time issues. Going into 2021 he has a sense that with vaccines they are on a beginning of the runway to recovery. Ken talks weekly to colleagues around the continent. It is agreed that its probably looking most likely 2022 before seeing any real growth.
They are able to generate some revenues through this. For example:
- Have alternative care site hospital on site, on standby for potential need.
- Had testing, sorting, distribution site, which is still operating.
- Vancouver Coastal Health has a call centre on site.
- A lot of filming is still happening with strict protocols in place, on site.
- Certification of programs for ITA on site, allowed to do examinations for certifications.
This represents less than 5% of what they would normally do in any given year. Smaller conventions will probably come in first. The airlines are relied on, as well as other partner supports, to host large events.
There is a lot of pent of demand for tourism. If vaccines are rolled out and have a good efficacy then looking for people travelling/flying. Looking at a slower turnover for 2021, maybe a stronger return in late 2021 into 2022. If all goes well through 2021, confident of a somewhat normal return to business in 2022 onwards.
Most business has been postponed not cancelled., e.g. Rolling Stones. Live events going to be planned, don’t know yet what it will look like. Still positive that once we resume somewhat normal business will see a steady state of improvement.
