Big White

(ADAM PROSKIW / iNFOnews.ca)

Big White Ski Resort has closed its skate rental shop, reduced hotel capacity and moved some services online as staff members are reporting they’re sick.

“Our problem right now is we can’t staff down the mountain to get tested so they don’t know if they have (COVID-19) or not. They’re staying in isolation, they’re staying home,” said the resort's senior vice president Michael Ballingal.

Both the transportation and access to rapid tests have been challenging for the resort near Kelowna. Ballingall said they have asked Interior Health to provide rapid tests as they’re isolated from other communities.

Interior Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A provincial program called Safe Screen B.C. is available to businesses to receive rapid COVID-19 test kits. 

Ballingall said Big White no different than other organizations which are also experiencing staffing shortages due to Omicron.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has said everyone in B.C. will be exposed to the highly contagious variant. 

READ MORE: Everyone in B.C. will be exposed to Omicron but not everyone has to get sick

The hospitality sector has been hit particularly hard at Big White Ski Resort.

This weekend, the resort has lowered vacancy occupancy to 50% as there isn’t enough staff to cover the cleaning, Ballingall said. The skate rental shop has also closed and the sales desk for the ski school is now virtual.

Big White saw a roughly 30% decrease in business during the Christmas and New Year holidays, Ballingall said, a time that is generally the busiest time of the year for ski resorts.

“Airlines are cancelling, people are nervous to travel, Quebec is on a... 10 p.m. curfew, Ontario is on lockdown. Nothing in the travel industry is normal, nowhere near normal,” he said.

There are roughly 100 people from Australia and New Zealand, and some empty nesters are travelling from Ontario to the ski resort this month.

Those coming from out-of-province are sharing rapid COVID-19 tests with staff, Ballingall said.

“Every day’s a challenge, you don’t know whose going to show up, day after day.”

At Sun Peaks Resort near Kamloops, more staff are isolating in the last few weeks because they’ve had COVID-19 symptoms but it hasn’t had a significant impact on operations, said communications director Christina Antoniak.

“The one area where there’s been perhaps, some modifications, has been in the food and beverage sector where we’d had to alter some hours of operation and adjust some of the menu offerings based on the reductions of staff,” she said.

During the holidays, the resort saw a significant decrease in traffic from the Lower Mainland due to road closures. Overall the resort saw a 60% decrease in ski visitations than their projected numbers.

“It was a very quiet, compared to normal, holiday period unfortunately and that coupled with the cold temperatures, the cold Arctic snap that went through, that further contributed to decreased skier visitor numbers,” she said.

Sun Peaks is also working with Interior Health and the Sun Peaks Community Health Centre to have rapid tests available in specific circumstances, she said.

Arlene Schieven, president and CEO of Tourism Sun Peaks, said they haven’t had to reduce hotel occupancies due to staffing shortages as occupancy levels are already below 50%.

“There’s been maybe a little bit of operational impact on some of the restaurants… but there’s enough operating that I don’t think it will have a significant impact on visitors,” she said.

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