COVID-19 has been devastating for the tourism industry across the region and that’s no different for Pelee Island.
Mayor Ray Durocher says it's been especially bad on the island with restrictions placed on the Pelee Islander ferry, few flights being offered and many would-be tourists are too nervous to travel anyway.
He says the ban on non-essential travel has made things especially tough as about a third of the cottages on the island are owned by Americans.
"That's unfortunate because that's some of our most loyal residents on the island,” says Durocher. “They support everything that we do, all the fundraisers, and they're a great bunch of people. It's just unfortunate that the borders are closed and the marina is also closed to American boats."
He says the island is open and welcoming visitors but businesses are hurting.
"There's challenges, but people seem to be in good spirits,” says Durocher. “Hopefully the bed and breakfasts will get more guests and make up some of the lost income that they've experienced so far, but they're not going to recover everything they've lost up to this point."
The pandemic has also forced the closure of one of the biggest tourist draws, which Durocher says is a shame.
"Unfortunately, the winery is not open,” he says. “We have limited washroom facilities on the island. We need an electrician to come and wire up the washroom on the west side and we haven't been able to get one yet. That's probably the biggest inconvenience right now, the lack of public washrooms."
On a positive note, Durocher says businesses are slowly opening and a few restaurants have began offering takeout and dine in options on outdoor patios.
According to Durocher, there are currently no cases of COVID-19 on Pelee Island.
— With files from AM800's Patty Handysides