Tourism Kamloops thinks hoteliers in the area will be ready to hit the ground running when people are finally able to travel freely.

CEO Beverly DeSantis is encouraging people to book far in advance so hotel owners know what they’re dealing with.

She was asked on the NL Morning News if we can expect the hotel industry to be more consumer friendly than airlines have been when it comes to cancellations and refunds. “Ya, they have done all the way through and I think that’s the only way you can get consumer confidence in pre-booking and booking in advance in these longer terms for planning.”

She’s encouraging people to book as far in advance as possible so the hotels know how to prepare. “Quite a few of them have closed off floors, laid off staff and are running pretty bare bones. While if all of a sudden the province opens up and they need to ramp up, they have no idea who’s coming and how many are coming, it’s kind of a new world out there.”

“You know we really want to encourage folks to plan and book so we can plan and book and get HR resources and resources that we need to function when that light is turned on again.”

DeSantis is hopeful things open up soon and kick into high gear. “It’s going to be hyper competitive when the markets open up. We need to have our HR resouces in place and we need to have all the services up and ready to go”