BROCKVILLE -- Many eastern Ontario boat tours would normally be gearing up for the upcoming tourist season.
Instead, operators are in a holding pattern, forced to wait until at least July 1 to begin the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Andrew Neeteson is the owner of 1000 Island Cruise & Seaway Tours, and his boats aren’t even in the water.
“We’ve lost two months already, which is pretty severe in a business that only has a six month operating season at best. So there’s a third of our season gone,” said Neeteson.
The Federal Government recently banned all commercial boats with 12 or more people from non-essential activities until June 30 because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ll be ready to go, but the question remains will that deadline be pushed back prior to June 30 or will things be more return to normal by then?” asked Neeteson.
It’s the same issue up river at Gananoque Boat Lines, according to general manager Neil McCartney.
“We’re ready to go July 1 if Transport Canada stays with that date and allows us to operate. Everybody is just holding their breath and hoping this passes sooner rather than later.”
Many boat lines along the St. Lawrence River attract hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, including locals and tourists from all over the world.
Small towns along the seaway like Gananoque that depend heavily on tourism will feel the brunt of this delay.
“Usually people plan out their trips … they’ll spend a couple days in Gananoque exploring, they’ll stay at the local hotels, eat in the restaurants and then they’ll travel on to possibly Niagara Falls, Toronto or maybe the other direction like Ottawa, Montreal or Quebec City,” said McCartney.
It’s the same situation in Ottawa, where more than 10 cruise lines operate on the historic Rideau Canal and Ottawa River.
Even when the season does get underway, operators are wondering what the “new normal” is going to look like and if physical distancing rules are still in effect, how that will work on a boat.
“On a boat the capacities are, generally speaking, one square metre per passenger. So when you are talking about two metres social distancing, you’re talking about reducing the capacity of these boats by at least half and that itself would be a challenge to maintain,” Neeteson said.
At Gananoque Boat Lines, McCartney said “we’re looking at removing tables, removing chairs to ensure that people have adequate room.”
“Normally our boats hold between 350 to 500 people. Obviously we don’t anticipate that we are going to be allowed to have that many on board so we’re looking at hopefully maybe halving that number and still being able to operate,” McCartney added.
Both men agree that if travel restrictions are still in effect this summer, it will be up to Canadians to help get the local economy back on track.
“We’re hoping that there will be some bent up demand just from Canadians who are saying, I’ve been stuck in the house and I want to get out and travel around and look at islands and get out in the fresh air and the sunshine,” McCartney said.
Neeteson adds “if we are able to salvage a season here we’ll really be dependant on the local market to help come out and support our local businesses who will all be struggling whatever comes out the balance of this year.”
