NOTL’s tourism industry will “follow the lead of the provincial government” and will need to act quickly once tourist-focused businesses have the green light to resume operations, Coun. Wendy Cheropita says.

Cheropita has been in close contact with the NOTL Chamber of Commerce, she told councillors Monday night, and the organization wants the town to “go with the flow” when it comes to reopening the town for tourism.

There are no long-term strategic moves or plans in place yet because there is a lot of uncertainty, Cheropita said, but “once we sort of get through to the point where more of the communities are opening up and see if there is a second bout of infection, I think we’ll have a better feeling, and then I think that’ll be a great time to be focused on the strategy, understanding then what the whole new landscape is for tourism.”

Businesses reliant on tourism have been badly hurt by the lockdown caused by the pandemic, she said.

“The tourism sector, aside from oil and gas, has been the hardest hit sector during this COVID crisis,” she said.

“Niagara-on-the-Lake has strong tourism assets as we all know and a well-established and highly popular wine industry, but many of the businesses, for the most part, are small and will find it very difficult to recover. And some will not be able to be a part of recovery at all,” Cheropita told council.