The canoes are coming off the racks and going back into the barns for the winter. For small outfitters, it is the end of a second pandemic summer, and their situations vary considerably.
Some have just had the two busiest years in their history: every canoe rented, every shuttle booked, and a phone ringing all day, often with city residents who had never paddled before. Others are struggling to stay afloat. Sometimes these two realities involve businesses only a few lakes apart.
How did the pandemic affect outfitters in Quebec?
Unevenly. The outdoor rush is very real. People who could not fly turned to the lakes and forests instead. Canoe and kayak rentals, guided trips, cabins, campgrounds: every outdoor activity close to home has been in high demand since last summer.
That demand, however, was not evenly distributed.
Many outfitters in Quebec and Ontario depend partly on American visitors, particularly for fishing and hunting. The land border has been closed to non-essential travel since March of last year. Fully vaccinated Americans have only been allowed back for leisure since August 9. For a business built around American clients, that represents a season and a half of severe disruption. In addition, the United States will only reopen its border to vaccinated Canadians on November 8, so the recovery of travel in both directions will take time.
Costs must also be considered: cleaning rules, fewer people per cabin or per van, and gear that has become hard to buy because demand for canoes has surged across Canada. Some operators have been busier than ever while ending the season with lower net income.
Finally, staffing. Seasonal positions are hard to fill even in a normal year, and this year was even more difficult.
Why does the local outfitter matter?
Our experience running a dive centre in Indonesia quickly showed that the best local operators are those who know every current, every season and every particularity of a reef. No app replaces that expertise. The same is true of a good outfitter on a lake system.
They know which portage floods in spring, where the wind funnels down a large lake after two in the afternoon, which campsite has a good landing and which one, despite how it looks on the map, hides a rock shelf likely to damage canoes. They also know who to call when something goes wrong.
For a small community, these businesses play an important role: local jobs, economic benefits that stay in the village, and informal stewardship, such as picking up garbage at the put-in or reporting a tree that has fallen across the trail. When one of them closes, the region loses more than a business, and this type of business rarely returns.
What can a community do to support its outfitters?
Most of the measures are simple, and none requires a grant.
Buy local gear and services
Rent from the local outfitter rather than the large store in the city. Buy your maps, fuel and bug repellent at the local shop, even if they cost a little more. Book the guided trip and use the shuttle. For a group trip, ask the outfitter to put the package together. The price difference is usually small, while for the business, this revenue makes the season.
For paddlers who want to improve, courses from certified instructors in the region are an excellent option. Paddle Canada, the national body for recreational paddling instruction, is a good starting point. Local outfitters often teach these courses, or know who does.
Share their posts and leave reviews
This gesture is free and often underestimated. Small operators have no marketing budget. A share in a local Facebook group, a photo with their business tagged or an honest Google review after the trip has a reach for them that it would never have for a large chain.
Be specific in your review, for example: "Good canoes, the owner helped us plan around the wind, shuttle was on time." A review like this helps the next paddler decide, and helps the outfitter appear in search results.
Help them offer simple online booking
This is the most important aspect, because it is where many small outfitters struggle.
Many still operate with a phone, a paper calendar and a Facebook page. This system works until it reaches its limits. With the sharp rise in demand over the last two summers, businesses with even a basic online booking system could accept reservations at midnight while they slept. The others were returning some twenty voicemails after a long day on the water, and losing the customers who grew tired of waiting.
The solution does not need to be complex:
- A clear page showing what you rent, the prices and the available dates.
- A booking form or simple booking tool that takes a deposit.
- A complete Google My Business listing, with the right hours, the right season dates and a few real photos.
These elements cover the essentials. A simple landing page with a booking button is often enough to start.
When should these tools be set up?
During the winter. The worst time to revise a booking system is June, when the phone rings constantly and the team spends twelve hours a day on the water. The best time is now, during the quieter winter period.
If you run an outfitter, a campground or cabin rentals, we recommend choosing a single measure this winter: complete the Google listing properly, put a one-page site online with prices and a form, or simply write down the ten questions you answer on the phone every day and publish the answers online. Any one of these measures will save you hours next July.
Finally, paddlers who had a good trip this year thanks to a local business can leave a review tonight. It takes two minutes, and its effects will be felt next season.