London businesses hoping to cash in on Canadian Country Music Week
CBC
With Canadian Country Music Week in town, London hospitality businesses are gearing up for a busy weekend and a rare chance to cash in on a major event in a year marked by pandemic restrictions.
This year's event starts Friday night and wraps with the Canadian Country Music Awards on Monday night at Budweiser Gardens.
The city is closing several streets around the gardens on Saturday to accommodate the crowds, while top of mind for many local businesses is how to bring them in their front doors.
London's DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel hopes to fill its restaurant this weekend, while abiding by the province's COVID-19 regulations. While some of the staff will be decked out in cowboy hats, most of the guests will be sporting wristbands, indicating proof of vaccination status.
"We have to be a little bit creative," said general manager Sumit Bhatia. "If we keep checking every time, there will be a huge line up."
Bhatia estimates about 95 per cent of guests are complying with the wristband system so far, and the other five percent have been sharing their vaccine status with hotel staff.
Other downtown hotels are nearing capacity as the weekend approaches.
"There's people flying in from out east, from out west, there's people coming from Nashville," said Dave Bartlam, director of sales and marketing at the Delta Hotel London Armouries.
The Delta only has a handful of vacant rooms left this weekend, said Bartlam, far from the norm during the pandemic.
"It's definitely well needed in our industry," he said. "And I know they will be out in the town spending money."
Local restaurants are booking country acts and hosting special events to mark Canadian Country Music Week.
"We have lots of reservations coming up," said Alysia Lewis, community partnership manager at Shoeless Joe's Sports Grill. "We're heavily staffed ... we just want to be prepared."
Shoeless Joe's, located across from Budweiser Gardens, is planning a 250-person event for award show volunteers on Tuesday night.
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