Too many tourists, too few masks in sight in Gaspé's vacation hot spots

Lisa Bond opened her craft and gift shop on Gaspé's main street just one month ago, selling jewelry and T-shirts she designs herself.

Only about half of the customers who walk into her boutique wear a mask these days, and when they do, they are usually locals, Bond said.

"The locals seem to be following it much more carefully, and it's a good thing: we have to protect ourselves."

Bond isn't personally a fan of wearing a mask, but she says she'll enforce the rule that face coverings must be worn in indoor public spaces as of Saturday.

Like many business owners in Gaspé, she's had to walk the line between the desire to welcome tourists and protecting her community from COVID-19.

There have been only nine deaths from COVID in her region, nearly all of them linked to a single outbreak in a nursing home in the town of Maria. Many tourists are coming from Montreal, Canada's epicentre of the disease, where more than 3,400 people have died since the start of the pandemic.

Jean-François Gavioli, the owner of Marché de Saveurs Gaspésiennes, made masks mandatory in his small grocery store months ago, because he knew there wasn't enough space to respect the two-metre distancing rule.

He said most people — both locals and tourists — have been understanding, but some have thrown him "all the insults you can think of," he said. He's even been called an "imbecile."

"They can gladly shop elsewhere."

'Hostility' in certain shops

The narrow sidewalks of Percé, one of Gaspé's top tourist destinations, are filled with visitors anxious to get a glimpse of the iconic Percé Rock.

Frédéric Garant and his family, visiting from Terrebonne, stood out from the crowd with their colourful masks, as they entered a small souvenir shop on Percé's main drag.

"We've been told by people in the boutiques and everywhere that we're one of the few that wear masks," said Garant.

"It's a bit unfortunate, but there's not really anything we can do, other than what we're doing now."

Percé Mayor Cathy Poirier said she's frustrated that so many visitors are ignoring the hygiene rules, such as hand-washing before entering a business.

"Right now there is a lot of hostility inside the shops," Poirier told Radio-Canada. "It's unfortunate and harmful. There are rules and these are individual responsibilities."

So much so that municipalities in the Gaspé region are sending public health employees to crowded tourist attractions to ask visitors to respect COVID-19 measures.

Visitors nonetheless welcome

The tourist season in Gaspé normally reaches its peak during the two-week construction holiday that starts this weekend.

But with travel to the United States off limits, the region is already seeing a steady flow of tourists.

Tracy Major, the co-ordinator of the Kempffer Cultural Interpretation Centre in New Carlisle, said tourists from other parts of the province have been coming earlier than usual this year.

The cultural centre also serves as a gathering place for the local English-speaking community, and Major has been hearing from older members who are concerned that tourists could bring the virus with them.

"It is worrisome because we are a small place," said Major. "We are far from the bigger centres with the larger capacity hospitals."

"But the show must go on," said Major. The centre is giving out masks to people at the entrance and has set up hand-washing stations.

The region's public health director, Dr. Yv Bonnier-Viger, said respecting those rules is the key to being able to welcome tourists this year.

His team did a mathematical simulation to explore what could be the potential impact of opening the region to tourism.

"Visitors are not really a threat," he said. However, if people abandon the measures they've learned over the past few months "they can push the virus to come again."