You may have noticed an greater number of transport trucks parked at area hotels and Inns, including the Valhalla.
General manager Scott Mawhinney tells us they decided to reach out to the drivers as they keep certain goods flowing across the country.
“Sales and marketing department reached out to the trucking community, and a lot of people on Facebook responded to that outreach, and in turn, truckers are actually coming and staying in the hotel,” says the general manager.
He notes, though, the Valhalla is not only offering space to truck drivers, but also people that were re-locating from city to city before this pandemic started.
“Well, there are people who are travelling from Winnipeg, or moving back to Thunder Bay, and people who are in transit moving from one place to another,” points out Mawhinney.
The Inn’s general manager tells us he has reasons why he thinks the idea has been successful.
“It’s two fold… we launched it on Facebook, and of course, the social media aspect is quite widespread. And second of all, Thunder Bay is a great destination,” says the general manager.
Mawhinney also believes strongly Thunder Bay will bounce back from this pandemic, as before the city was doing very well.
Thunder Bay’s manager of tourism adds about 59-percent of the hospitality industry province-wide is shutdown, with the possibility many will not recover.
