Elbow Beach Hotel is to stay shuttered until the end of the year, it was confirmed yesterday.But Jacky DiMeglio, the hotel’s general manager, declined to comment further.The waterfront resort in Paget earlier announced a temporary closure until September because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.The Royal Gazette understands that staff affected by the longer shutdown, as well as representatives of the Bermuda Industrial Union, had been told of the hotel’s decision to close until December 31.Stephen Todd, the chief executive of the Bermuda Hotel Association, said: “Unfortunately, the pandemic has had a significant impact on our industry.”He added: “The ability of any property to remain open is dependent on attracting demand through future hotel guest bookings. That’s the key consideration. “You need to generate projected occupancy by future guests to enable any property to restore normal operations and the future employment of hotel workers.”Glenn Jones, the interim chief executive of the Bermuda Tourism Authority, said: “It’s tough news because it means fewer hospitality workers will be back on the job and that hurts our wider community.“But we understand that hotels need to make economically sound decisions to weather this pandemic, longer-term.“The mix of rigorous border-entry requirements, low airlift capacity and consumers pausing their travel plans makes it extremely difficult to grow demand right now.”Mr Jones added: “The BTA’s marketing focus in the short term is twofold — support our local stakeholders wherever we can and encourage overseas consumers to choose Bermuda as a safe, close option for vacation this year.” Most hotel workers have been laid off since the Covid-19 pandemic began to affect the island’s tourism industry in March.The airport was closed to commercial air traffic on March 20.Air Canada and Delta have resumed limited services to the island and British Airways will begin twice-a-week flights between London and Bermuda on Friday.The owners of the Rosedon Hotel in Pembroke last month announced that the property will stay closed until early 2021.