It’s been getting more and more difficult for the Bakers Narrows Lodge in Flin Flon to do business.
The northern Manitoba fishing lodge has already lost $100,000 in revenue over the past 6 weeks of cancellations, according to office manager Heather Joy Baynton.
She says the loss of their American customers was tough. Not long after that, the lodge started losing customers from Saskatchewan and Alberta.
Now complicating things even further, the Manitoba government has banned all non-essential travel to northern communities above the 53rd parallel, until May 1st.
Our chief provincial public health officer says the travel ban to northern Manitoba has a few exceptions; residents of northern and remote communities may continue to move within the north; delivery of goods and services may continue; and exceptions include those who travel to the north for employment, medical treatment or to facilitate child-custody agreements.
Heather says she’s beginning to worry about what the Flin Flon fishing retreat will do if these restrictions carry on any longer.
“I just hope it doesn’t start affecting our June market. We’re normally sold out for June every year.”
In the meantime, the staff at Bakers Narrows Lodge have been taking a number of precautions; putting plexiglass in the office, and increasing cleaning protocols to make sure all points of contact are regularly disinfected.
Heather explains the lodge has made an effort to accommodate customers who were forced to cancel their reservations. Affected customers have a chance to keep their deposit on file, and use it anytime within the next 12 months.
For the latest information on how COVID-19 is impacting the fishing lodge in Flin Flon, visit the Bakers Narrows Lodge website.
