Pasadena Hospitality Industry Braces for Economic Impact of Rose Parade Cancellation

Already struggling through difficult times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions, Pasadena’s hotels and restaurants were just dealt another large, if not expected, blow on Wednesday when the Tournament of Roses soberly announced that the 2021 Rose Parade was cancelled.

There will be no sea of spectators lining the streets. Thousands of hotel rooms and restaurant tables that would have otherwise been occupied by parade fans, as well as industries supporting the parade and its media coverage, may well go empty.

For decades without fail, the Rose Parade has represented “a big gift to the hospitality industry,” Pasadena Convention Center, Civic Auditorium and Convention & Visitors Bureau Michael Ross said.

“All of our hotels will be seriously impacted, and our restaurants, because we aren’t going to have the parade,” he said.

But Ross said there was still reason to be optimistic in the prospect that the Rose Bowl college football game may still take place.

“We’re still very hopeful that there’ll be a game. And because this year is a play-off game, that means the two teams are going to come from far and wide,” Ross said.

Depending on the course the pandemic takes, however, it is possible the game could be canceled, or held without fans in attendance.

“If that happens, obviously, that’s going to be another tremendous hit, but we have to be hopeful,” Ross said.

At the Pasadena Convention Center, itself, it was unclear whether the annual “Live on Green” festival, coinciding with the Rose Parade and Rose Bowl, would be held this year.

The entire pandemic has posed a massive challenge to the city’s hospitality industry, even before the announcement of the Rose Parade’s cancellation, Ross said. And the cancellation of the parade was already widely expected.

“In mid-March, we know that travel and the hospitality industry changed basically forever,” he said. “It’s been a very difficult time with the openings and the closings, and the starts and the stops, and we don’t know where this pandemic is going to end,” he said.

“The Tournament of Roses did the right thing,” Ross said. “I’m sure it was a very difficult decision, but it’s one that had to be made well in advance.”

Hilton Pasadena General Manager Joe Titizian said the hotel industry has been going through a “big adjustment” in recent months.

“No room service. No in-hotel dining options. Everything is completely closed right now,” he said.

“In normal business conditions, we run about 80%-85% occupancy. Right now, we’re running about 20%,” he said.

The absence of the Rose Parade will almost certainly hurt Pasadena hotels immensely, he said.

“The parade brings in a whole different type of clientele, families that have been saving out for years just to make the trip to Pasadena,” according to Titizian. “And when they come out, it’s not just for one night or two nights. They usually come out and they want to make a week out of it. So it’s a big, significant hit to the city of Pasadena’s hotels.”

The pandemic is creating difficulties for the hotels’ employees, as well, he said.

“This downturn in business also has a major negative effect on all of our team members,” Titizian said. “Without business, we don’t have the opportunity to provide enough hours for them. And they’re the ones that I feel are going to get the worst end of it.”

“We want our business levels to come back primarily so that we can, of course, do good business, but also be able to have our local community team members that have been working here for years have the ability to keep working,” he added.

Restaurants are also expecting lost business as a result of the parade cancellation, said El Cholo owner Blair Salisbury.

“We’re doing about 35% of what we used to do,” he said. “It’s not enough to pay the bills, but we’re hanging in there.”

His restaurant’s traditionally biggest day of the year, Cinco de Mayo, has already passed amid the pandemic, he said.

“But also, the days before the Rose Parade and days after, we’re busy,” Salisbury said. “Not having it hurts us tremendously. That week, we do double the sales we normally do.”

There was no doubt challenging times await the restaurant industry, he said.

“I’m a very positive guy, but I think this one’s going to be very difficult,” he said.

Large chains and corporations will likely weather the storm, but Salisbury said he worried about smaller “mom and pop” businesses.

“A lot of them right now have got the PPP loan and that’s what they’re living on, he said. “A lot of people are only surviving because they got the government loan. But when that runs out in six months it can be a different story.”

But the pandemic will one day pass, and the hospitality industry will recover, Titizian said.

“We’re optimistic that there’s still going to be a need for travel eventually, once we find a safe way to do it, and business levels will eventually come back,” he said. “It might take a little bit longer than what people expect, but we are optimistic.”

Ross said he also saw light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

“I think there’s going to be somewhat of a new normal, obviously —  cleanliness and washing your hands and perhaps wearing a mask… But I do think that our restaurants will bounce back because people will want to get out,” he said.

“I think it’s going to be a slow recovery,” Ross added. “I think that people will be cautious, which they should be, but we’re a resilient bunch here in Pasadena, and we’ve always had a wonderful hospitality community, whether that be hotels, restaurants, our shopping (or) all of our museums.”

“But I think we will bounce back, just as we got through the Great Recession in 2009,” he said.