IS TOURISM SECTOR HEADING FOR FINANCIAL REBOUND?

Steve Ricalis hasn't felt the momentum quite yet.

The restaurateur, who coowns downtown Barrie establishments Donaleigh's Irish Public House, North Country and Dunlop Street Diner, says business is still down about 30 per cent when compared to pre-COVID-19 numbers.

While most public-health mandates related to the pandemic have been dropped at this point, a combination of rising inflation and cost-of-living rates, resident hesitancy to eat indoors,

the work-from-home model and this spring's frequent rainfall and cool temperatures have kept people away.

"Summer's there, you can taste it," Ricalis said. "We're trying to do more bands and stuff like that. We're looking forward to (Open Air Dunlop). There was a great turnout for (Barrie) Pride. We have to draw (people) in doing live events — there's so much potential for the downtown. I'm definitely optimistic, but I don't believe it'll be like it was in 2019. I don't see that."

Ricalis said there were so many things in place pre-COVID that took years to build up. "A lot of people are working from home now; the core people going out after work doesn't exist anymore. We're trying to get people comfortable going out again."

However, he's hopeful a rebound is coming for his restaurants and the hundreds of other businesses in Barrie that rely on tourism revenue.

For the first time since 2019, the city will have an extensive list of in-person

summertime events — with the Troubadour Festival, Canada Day activities and Kempenfest among the

highlights.

People have missed live music, Chas Hay, one of Troubadour's founders,

said. "We're just the two nights outside this year; in the past, we were in multiple venues in the downtown. We're really excited," Hay said. "There's nothing else like Meridian Place in Ontario, with that beautiful bay as the backdrop. We launched in 2018, felt great about 2019, and were really hitting our stride. Then the world came to a stop. We lost our momentum, as did everyone."

A show was held under the Troubadour banner earlier this year. But the event happening at Meridian Place in the downtown June 24 and 25 will be the first, full, festival lineup since the start of the pandemic. It'll feature Dwayne Gretzky, Natalie MacMaster, Dylan Sinclair, PONY and Josh Bogert, as well as vendors.

"The best way to listen to music is live," Hay said. "People think of the artists making a living, but there's a whole trickle-down effect for everyone attached to the industry."

And there is reason to believe the city's tourism sector will boom again. Ontario is offering a staycation tax credit of up to $400 per family, gas is expensive and Tourism Barrie has designed a marketing plan aimed at COVID-19 recovery, executive director

Kathleen Trainor said.

The city's hotel occupancy rate is 56.5 per cent so far this year, down slightly from 2021 (57 per cent), but up from 2020 (47.5). Occupancy sat at 68.7 and 68.9 per cent in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

"Definitely there's going to be a rebound," Trainor said.

"There is pent-up demand for holidays and Canada is trending very high. Canadians are still travelling within Canada. For June, almost every hotel room is booked in Barrie for weddings and visiting friends and family."

There are more than 1,000 tourism-related businesses in the Barrie area, employing almost 12,000 people.

Overall, 475,751 visitors stayed in a Barrie commercial accommodation in 2021, with 1,303 people travelling to the city daily. The sector contributed $38.4 million in economic impact to the municipality.

"Our operators have been in crisis mode for two years, so the whole shop local (initiative) is very important for recovery," Trainor said. "They're still in recovery — restaurants and hotels. People really need to have a great summer and see that revenue coming in."

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: With so many events slated to return this summer, Simcoe.com decided to ask whether tourismindustry leaders see a rebound coming.