Thread by @lifesafeast

THREAD: the story of a small hotel trying to survive the coronavirus:

Thread from a small business owner: as countries remain closed & the future of tourism is highly uncertain, we know we risk losing our business like millions of others. We’re fighting to save it tooth and 1/

nail, spending half our waking hours every day making calls, writing letters, reading official decrees, coming up with creative solutions. But it isn’t all, or even mostly about us. We aren’t afraid of losing our business for ourselves; we aren’t scared of life. We started 33 2/

years ago with nothing but a used car, a used fridge, an old mattress, a couple of pieces of furniture scavenged from my in-laws’ attic, one part-time job between us, our educations, wanderlust & a sense of adventure. Over those 33 years, we scrimped & saved, worked our tails 3/

off, taught ourselves new skills (and languages), dared new professions, changed cities, changed countries, and kept going no matter what obstacles & setbacks - and there were so many - fell in our way. And 33 years in, were able to buy a modest, lovely, 27-room hotel. 4/

Of course we won’t be happy to lose a business we put our hearts & souls into, or lose our life savings that we sunk into buying & keeping up the hotel. We’ve done it before - started over, reinvented ourselves, created new opportunities in new cities, new countries - and 5/

we’ll do it again. We’ll pack up our car, take the cats, and go somewhere new. We’ve weathered the storm of 3 back-to-back terrorist attacks that flattened the French tourism industry, but this is different & simply tightening our belts & changing strategies might not be 6/

enough. We’ll be sorely disappointed, but not afraid.

Yes, we want to save our business for ourselves, but it isn’t only about us. In fighting to save our business, we’re trying to save the jobs of our employees - we have 5 permanent, a 6th during high season; their families 7/

count on these jobs in an area where there aren’t other jobs to be had. In fighting to save our business, we’re trying to save the local economy, to save other small businesses - our clients, up to 50 in a single day, dine at the local restaurants, drink at the cafés, buy 8/

wine from local wineries, visit the tourist sites; we serve almost exclusively local wines, beer, juices in our bar; serve products at breakfast from local artisans & buy fruit for jam from small local producers. Each local business together creates something bigger, an 9/

interwoven web, and when 1 fails, many fail.

We are a part of the life of our community, a partner in our local tourism industry. So you see, when 1 local business is saved, you do more than save that business & the owner(s) livelihood. You save the jobs of many people, you 10/

save a local economy, and you save a community.

Help your local economy, help your community, help others. Save a small business.

Thanks for listening. 11/