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Windsor is one of thousands of hotel, restaurant and tourism operators across the country distressed by the pandemic and uncertain whether travel will resume in time to salvage the summer season where many earn most of their money. The tourism industry is calling for additional government measures for fear that the emergency government programs introduced so far, while helpful, won’t be enough to keep them afloat if the pandemic results in months of zero to little revenue.

Since the shutdown, hotels have laid off more than 250,000 workers and reported a 90 per cent drop in revenue as occupancy plummeted to less than 5 per cent, according to Hotel Association of Canada president Susie Grynol.

“It’s been devastating,” she said in an interview. “This crisis could not have come at a worse time from a cash flow perspective.”

This crisis could not have come at a worse time from a cash flow perspective Susie Grynol

Most Canadian hotels have closed unless they’re providing rooms for humanitarian purposes such as quarantine or accommodation for health-care workers, said Grynol, whose organization represents 8,200 hotels, 87 per cent owned independently.

The federal wage subsidy program provides some relief for the sector, but expires in three months. Considering many hotels won’t re-open by at least June, the industry is calling on the government to extend the subsidy until revenue losses are below 30 per cent.

Liquidity is the main program across the tourism sector as operators try to cover fixed costs including mortgages and property taxes that didn’t disappear along with the guests.