The Voice of Business in Saskatoon

Event venue and venue user group roundtable follow-up

The Chamber recently hosted a roundtable of the City’s event venues and regular venue users to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on their businesses. As we are all aware our members in the hospitality and tourism-based industries have taken a significant hit as a result of the global pandemic. Participants shared their current situations, points of frustration and hopes for the future. Some key considerations and notable areas include:

• Over 80% of Saskatchewan jobs lost from August 2019 to August 2020 were in the Hospitality and Tourism Sector with about -20,900 jobs less than last year.
• Thousands of bookings and over 700 events have been cancelled in 2020.
• A potential loss of between -$750 million to -$1.5 billion is anticipated according to Tourism Saskatchewan.
• A critical deadline is looming with significant further job losses and business closures as support programs for the industry like CEWS run out later this year.
• Businesses in the Hospitality and Tourism Sector would rather rely on their own sales to recover instead of depending on Government support programs to survive.
• Access to a well-defined provincial re-opening plan that ensures public safety, instills consumer confidence, and provides clear business guidelines and timelines is critical.

The Chamber is working closely with our provincial government to address these important factors and will continue to consult with our event venues and venue user groups to forge a path forward that is both safe and sustainable.

Click here for the correspondence around the Proposed “Taking Care of Business & People” Re-Open Saskatchewan Strategy Collaboration.