‘We are getting there:’ Hospitality Saskatchewan CEO talks post-COVID recovery

People in the hospitality industry are feeling optimistic about 2023.

Hospitality Saskatchewan CEO Jim Bence told Gormley guest host Taylor MacPherson the industry is still in recovery mode from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We have some parts of our industry that are doing fantastic. There’s a couple of pieces that actually surpassed 2019,” Bence said.

Bence added that with that being said, there are still some lags in other parts of the industry.

“We are getting there. We’re excited about 2023,” he said.

According to Bence, staffing has not only been a challenge in Saskatchewan but across the country.

He said Saskatchewan is looking at the challenge with a different perspective and to hire domestically first.

“Our priority is to have every person that wants to work in Saskatchewan working,” Bence said.

He added a campaign has been launched to attract people to Saskatchewan’s hospitality industry from across the country.

According to Bence, a website called Belong Saskatchewan has seen more than 1,000 resumes submitted so far.

He said there’s an appetite from people in other provinces to move to Saskatchewan.

“We need to tell that story and as that grows organically, there’s going to be more and more resumes and people that want to come to our province,” Bence said.

He also touched base on the new drinking guidelines that were introduced earlier this week.

Bence said people will do their own research on the guidelines, which should not have a large impact on restaurants and bars.

“Saskatchewan people are really going to make their own decisions on this when it comes to all of those types of things that are bad for us,” Bence said.

The new guidelines issued earlier this week now recommend people have a maximum of two drinks a week compared to recommendations from 2011 when it was 10 to 15 drinks a week.