The coronavirus pandemic is delivering a hard hit on outfitters who make their livings in national parks/Patrick Cone file

The tourism and recreation industries have taken a big hit from the COVID-19 closures. The repercussions impact everyone from hotels to ski resorts to airlines to cruise lines. In our national parks and protected places, outfitters have not been exempt either, and have faced some drastic decisions as to their future leading rafting trips downriver. 

Steve Markel is the head of sales and marketing for O.A.R.S., a large river outfitter, with operations worldwide, and has seen their business basically put on hold.

“It seemed briefly in March like we might be able to retain somewhat of a normal season, but then it came to a screeching halt,” he says. “As parks and river operations started to shut down, it became a moot point. We had to cancel all of our trips through April and early May. Only time will tell.

"We will make the call on our May trips in mid-April, but very few people are calling to inquire about trips we’re offering this year. People are willing to wait it out, and we do have people making final payments for trips this summer. The toughest part of this is our employees. Our guides were expecting to be working in May and that work is now gone.” 

Karen Johnson, is with Holiday River Expeditions based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and says, “It’s a wait-and-see game. Both Dinosaur and Canyonlands national parks are now closed to boaters. We’re still hopeful to have a season, but it depends upon what unfolds.” 

While larger outfitters may have the resources to weather this “storm,” other smaller businesses are feeling threatened. Aaron Bannon is the executive director for America Outdoors, a trade organization withmore than 500 members, and is hearing from many of them.

“Last week we polled about 200 folks on a call, and 38 percent of them thought their businesses would fail if this went on for three months,” he said. “And another 25 percent if it lasted six months. It’s really a hard situation because of the seasonality of it all. There are a million hard decisions that have to made.” 

The economic impact is real and affects everyone connected to these trips. Many companies are offering full refunds, giving credit for future trips, and basically working with their clients.

“We’re certainly feeling he financial impact of reduced sales," says Markel. “It’s unprecedented, across all industries. We’ve experience periods of crisis before, but this is on a whole other level. We are encouraged by the number of the people who let O.A.R.S. retain our payments as credits. 

“We’re also super encouraged by the latest stimulus package, which does appear to have some support for small businesses like ours," he went on. "There does seem to be some relief in the pipeline. This will pass and we’ll get through it.” 

Johnson agrees.

“People still want to go, and we’re being more flexible," she said. "We want to do what’s in the best interest of our guests and employees. We’ve been around a long time. We’ll weather this storm.”