How MBA students are brainstorming ideas to bolster P.E.I.'s suffering tourism industry

The Tourism Industry Association of P.E.I. and a group of 10 UPEI MBA students are collaborating on a project to come up with ideas to help P.E.I.'s struggling tourism industry during the downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Together they've launched a 47-question survey to determine how businesses have been affected and how they might be able to further adapt to the pandemic and its frequently-changing restrictions. 

"Having the students work on this will add a fresh new perspective and now more than ever our industry is looking for ways to innovate and adapt and this could be a great help to those operators," said TIAPEI executive director Corryn Clemence in an email to CBC News.

Island tourism operators have to have the survey complete by July 31. 

'Clearer portrait of what's happening'

Brooks Roche and Cassidy Doucette are two of the students in the master of business administration in global leadership program who are working on the study. 

"Growing up in Prince Edward Island, I have gotten to know a lot of small businesses who rely on tourism. My hope is that my classmates and I will be able to analyze the data to identify challenges and obstacles operators are facing," said Doucette. 

"Our goal is to provide recommendations that could lead to developing support systems to help these local businesses continue their operations throughout the uncertainty of COVID-19."

They came up with the survey questions, which ask operators things like how their businesses have been affected by COVID, what government programs they have been accessing and how long they think their businesses can survive if pandemic restrictions continue. 

"The reason this particular survey is so important is that we want to make decisions based on absolutely verifiable information — we don't want to make it a guesswork thing," Roche said. "What we are trying to do is determining a spectrum of the most realistic possibilities." 

Roche said there are a lot of variables locally and globally that are going into the problem solving, from the opening of interprovincial borders to when a vaccine could be developed and distributed, but he said the students are going on the assumption the pandemic and its restrictions could last another two to three years. 

So far more than 100 businesses have filled out the survey, which Roche said the students are pleased with. 

"Obviously the more we can collect, we'll have a clearer portrait of what's happening on P.E.I.," he said. 

The students will break into groups of two, coming up with five distinct reports by mid-August that will present multiple solutions. 

So far, most respondents to the online survey have said they weren't prepared for the disruption COVID-19 caused, it has made the future of their business unstable, and that federal and provincial governments should do more to support their businesses. Just under 40 per cent say they aren't sure their businesses will survive a second wave of COVID. Most of their concerns were financial.

'We have no guests'

Linda Larkin, co-owner of Chez Yvonne's restaurant in Cavendish, has filled out the survey and said she let the students know about her two main concerns: being able to pay staff and bills right now, and making sure her employees will have enough hours to collect employment insurance in the fall.

Judy and Gary MacDonald have been operating the historic Barachois Inn in Rustico for 36 years. Judy is also a former president of TIAPEI. 

She said she's never seen business so slow. 

MacDonald said the inn had strong bookings for the summer before COVID-19 hit in March. The last few years they've carried out major renovations "never knowing that we wouldn't have a good tourism season."

"The Barachois Inn looks terrific and we have no guests."

They've had just two stays since the Atlantic bubble opened at the beginning of the month — most of their visitors are usually from outside Atlantic Canada, and 50 per cent are international. 

"I have been pleased with the assistance provided so far but we will all have to survive until July 2021 and maybe beyond with little or no income. How do we do that?" MacDonald said. 

'Haven't given up'

Like many businesses, MacDonald has been strengthening the inn's social media and web presence and has been working on new ideas for packaging.  

"We haven't given up but I don't think we are going to have the business we will need to get to 2021," she said. 

Planning for the future has to begin as soon as possible so that we have as many businesses as possible survive.​​— Judy MacDonald

MacDonald recalls the economic downturn of 2008 — she said it took eight years for her business to get back to where it was before that. 

"That downturn seems mild compared to this situation, so it will take considerable effort to renew this industry." 

MacDonald is also on the board of the Farmers' Bank museum near her inn, and said it is able to open with the help of volunteers.

The museum has lost income from tour buses — there were 72 last year, which represents a large part of the income to pay the museum's operating expenses.  

"There needs to be some financial support to carry us through and we have to start planning a strategy to get tourism back on its feet. We will need stimulus money to re-invent ourselves," she said. 

"Where should it come from? Who should be involved in the planning? How soon should we begin?"

MacDonald said tourism operators are all so busy trying to adapt to the current situation that there has not been time to think about what is next. 

"Planning for the future has to begin as soon as possible so that we have as many businesses as possible survive this."

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