The COVID pandemic has had devastating effects on the travel and tourism industry.
In London, before COVID, the tourism industry brought in quite a lot of money.
“Tourism has been recognized as a major economic driver for the city… Last year according to our statistics, we are responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact. That is a total of overnight stays, of purchases through accommodations, and restaurants, and food services but also things like gas purchases, things like retail, shopping, we’re very well known for that. So yes, we as London, although we don’t have a Niagara Falls or a CN Tower, we do heavily rely on tourism,” said Cheryl Finn, general manager at Tourism London.
Due to the pandemic, a lot of the tourism opportunities had to be put on hold. Things like London Knights games, post-secondary sports, shows at the Grand Theatre, and concerts. And instead, the focus on tourism shifted with the changes in the pandemic.
Finn highlighted how at the beginning of the pandemic everything shut down including tourism. But as we moved into the summer/fall months the focus shifted towards “a hyper local marketing campaign in support of tourism. So very much be a visitor in your own city.” But as we hit the second wave, tourism had to pivot again when everything shut down.
And while the shift to local tourism might not sound appealing to everyone, Alison Klages, the public programming coordinator at Fanshawe Pioneer Village, pointed out that it is not a bad thing.
“With COVID this will actually change people’s perspectives and get people thinking more locally about tourist options and vacations options for them long-term as we do see changes in people’s perspectives as well as people’s purchasing habits changing long-term.. and perhaps will actually be of benefit to the local community going forward,” said Klages.
And with regards to travel worldwide, Haley Whitelaw, a part-time professor at Fanshawe College in the travel and tourism program as well as a group travel planner for a tour operator in London, said that people will need to be more responsible with their travel.
“People need to be I think thoughtful about where they’re going to travel. So, I hope that people will slowly start to return but in a more responsible way because there are certain areas in the world that don’t have the same access to medical infrastructure that we do. There’s going to be certain areas of the world that don’t have access to vaccinations as soon as we do,” said Whitelaw.
But in the end Klages, Whitelaw and Finn all agree that COVID has severely impacted tourism but that we need to support our local businesses and tourist attractions. So, be a visitor in your own city and explore the possibilities that London has to offer.
