.Nicole Grigorov and her husband moved to Mattawa from the Niagara Falls area to start up a new resort business in the area two years ago.
Mattawa River Resort and Cardinal Lodge is located in Papineau-Cameron Township and has not received any flood damage to their cottages or boat launch located on the Mattawa River.
They have even opened up some of their cottages for Mattawa residents impacted by the flooding.
See related: Mattawa residents bracing themselves for the worst
While there is no physical damage from the flooding, the economic damage that is occurring is just as bad.
“I am getting online cancellations like crazy,” Nicole Grigorov told BayToday while trying to hold back tears.
“I just lost about $100,000 in the last month probably, it is just surreal.”
She says tourists are being scared away by the news that Mattawa is in a State of Emergency.
“I got an email today from a man who had the whole resort booked for his wife’s 40th birthday and because it is coming up to the 30-day cancellation policy he called and cancelled because of the state of emergency in Mattawa. All of those friends do not want to come. They did not want to lose thousands of dollars so they cancelled,” she said.
“They think we are affected by all the flooding so we are getting one email after another of cancellations and this last one just killed me.”
Grigorov has been using social media as a tool to try and settle down the panic, but so far it is not working.
“I am devastated, I can’t tell you how shocked I am,” she said.
“I could tell by the phone, because when we were open for the February Family Day long weekend I had a wait list of 20 or 30 people that wanted to get in. Now it is the May long weekend and I only have three cabins rented. Everyone has cancelled and we have 12.
“I should have people on a waitlist, that is how busy we typically are, but they are all cancelling.”
Grigorov also relies on a lot of summer wedding business at her resort and already future brides are calling concerned, believing they may need to move their wedding to a safer spot.
Grigorov believes they are not the only non-flooded Mattawa area business feeling the pinch.
“That whole misconception is filtering through all the businesses that are not affected by the floods too,” she said.
Visit the resort's website here.
