Southern Whiteshell businesses weren't flooded, but bookings, visits took a hit as people thought they were

Businesses in southern Whiteshell Provincial Park say their customers cancelled visits while the northern area of the Manitoba park was flooded and under a state of emergency in May and June — even though their businesses weren't hit by the flood.

Sacha Harder, owner of Tallpine Lodges near West Hawk Lake in southern Whiteshell, says people thought the entire region was flooded, while she and other businesses in the south were still open.

"It was about 22 nights we had lost specifically related to those cancellations," said Harder.

"It wasn't a major amount, but still it was enough. It was annoying. And we found it harder to fill cancellation spots again because of the negative news around the Whiteshell."

A portion of the customer bookings that Tallpine Lodges lost were from Alberta, Saskatchewan and the United States, says Harder.

Whiteshell Provincial Park, in southeastern Manitoba, is larger than most people realize, and different parts of the park were affected differently by the floods, according to Harder. She says the whole park was lumped into the province's state of emergency when the problem was mainly in its north.

Harder says the biggest challenge in June was high water and public misunderstanding of which areas were flooded. Now, the worst part is the amount of phone calls her business has been receiving.

"My husband just informed me yesterday that we actually had a call with someone asking if they could even drive [here]."

Beach closure woes

Shaun Harbottle, owner of Crescent Beach Cottages by West Hawk Lake, says confusion about the extend of the floods caused "huge" hurt for businesses in southern Whiteshell.

The beach was closed to fix a seawall, according to Harbottle, which caused his business to lose 20 per cent of their bookings.

He says the fence put up around the beach made it look like a war camp, creating an eyesore for people who just wanted to get back to normal after two years of the pandemic.

"It's been really like banging your head against the wall through this whole thing," he said.

"You stock up for a busy weekend when it was a hot weekend. And the next thing you know, nobody's coming."

The seawall still has yet to be fixed, but Harbottle says business owners were able to persuade the opening of half of the beach.

Now the biggest problem is that people still don't think the beach is open, and Harbottle says he'd like to see more transparency and partnership from the government.

"You can't paint us all with the same brush and say we're all closed," he said.

People who cancel their trips to southern Whiteshell because of the beach are missing out on other attractions, such as hiking trails, a horse ranch and golf course, said Harder.

Both Harder and Harbottle say the pandemic boosted their business, and that they're happy to see customer traffic begin to increase again as the weather heats up.

Misunderstanding around flooding, heavy rains and gas prices created the perfect storm to drive away customers in June, says Harder, but she's optimistic for what looks like a busy summer season.

"I don't think it will be the same as 2020 and 2021, but, you know, it's definitely going to be different," said Harder.