High gas prices do not appear to be keeping visitors away from Vermont this summer.
Around the state, lodging bookings are back to or exceeding levels seen in the pre-pandemic days of 2019 — a “banner year” for the lodging industry, according to Amy Spear, vice president of tourism at the Vermont Chamber of Commerce.
Vermont’s experience contrasts with nationwide numbers, which showed that, in May, hotels were 61.5% full, down from 66.5% in May 2019, according to STR, a company that analyzes the lodging industry.
“Particularly in July and August, we’re seeing very strong bookings,” Spear said. “Vermont is in a strong position to take advantage of the 80 million people that live within a day’s drive.”
Spear said travelers are booking longer trips and making plans ahead of time, which she said is a sign that Covid is no longer a top travel concern — the reason she cites for the increased bookings.
Basin Harbor also reports that its summer season is looking up.
“Things are off to a very good start,” said Sarah Morris, whose family owns the Ferrisburgh resort, which has been in operation since 1886.
Morris said bookings for the late spring, summer and fall are matching pre-pandemic levels. This spring also brought more and bigger weddings after couples either postponed their celebrations for two years or kept them small, Morris said.
Basin Harbor’s experience seems to be typical of what is happening at hotels around greater Burlington.
“Crazy busy” is how Jeff Lawson, vice president of tourism and marketing at the Lake Champlain Chamber, described hotel business. “Bookings are really strong, especially on the weekends, but midweek as well.”
Lawson said bookings in greater Burlington are exceeding 2019 levels, the year before the pandemic struck. He said tourists come mainly from Boston and New York, and this year people from Montreal are back, with the border reopened and Covid testing requirements eased by both the Canadian and the U.S. governments.
“The price of gas and our proximity to some of the major metropolitan areas in the Northeast might play to our benefit this summer,” Lawson said, as many tourists are likely to stay relatively close to home.
Americans are reporting that gas prices are affecting their travel decisions more than Covid, according to a survey by the American Hotel and Lodging Association. The American Automobile Association reported Friday that the average price of regular gasoline in Vermont was $4.50 a gallon, down from $4.94 a month ago..
At the Stoweflake resort, general manager Sheri Smith reports that summer and fall bookings are back to pre-pandemic levels. Groups are also back, Smith said, and they account for about 50% of business.
“Some of the core weekends in fall, we’re near full,” Smith said, adding that she was not authorized to cite actual numbers.
Smith also serves as chair of the Vermont Lodging Association, and she reports that members are telling her that business is back to pre-pandemic levels across the state.
“I’m hearing from everybody that demand is up,” Smith said.
In Burlington, she said, demand for rooms is so high that she regularly gets people checking into the Stowe resort telling her that they could not find a room in Burlington.
But not everyone is seeing a banner year.
Patti Pusey, who co-owns Baked Apples Shearer Hill Farm B&B in Halifax with her husband, said business has been a bit slower to rebound for their operation.
When it comes to tourists visiting Vermont, she divides the year into five seasons, and “for every season, there’s a reason,” she said.
Winter brings the skiers at Mount Snow Resort, 13 miles away, to the six-room bed-and-breakfast. In late winter and early spring, guests come to help make maple syrup.
Late spring and early summer are usually for people who just want to get away for a while, Pusey said. But this year, she said, things were “very slow for May and June.”
Last year, Pusey said, the small bed-and-breakfast took in nearly $4,400 in revenue in May and June, when guests booked a total of 32 nights. This year, she said, it collected $2,340 when guests booked a total of only 17 nights.
For July and August — the fourth season for Pusey’s bed and breakfast — people are attending the nearby Marlboro Music Festival. As with every year for the 32 years she and her husband have been in business, they are fully booked for the five weekends of the festival.
“They’re a huge return business,” Pusey said.
But, she added, foliage season is not looking nearly as good, and she said she believes higher gasoline prices may be discouraging road trips.
“My bookings for foliage are way down,” Pusey said. “It’s been tough.”
