Tourism firms see a midweek holiday as a bonus
Across Boston and much of Massachusetts, travel and tourism businesses are looking forward to a strong Fourth of July, thanks in part to a midweek special.
With Independence Day falling on a Wednesday this year, "It's like we have two Fourth of July weekends, and we love that," said Dan Wolf, who is chief executive of Cape Air and recently finished a term as chairman of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce. Bookings next week are running 10 to 15 percent over last year, Cape Air spokeswoman Michelle Haynes said, both because of a new marketing partnership with JetBlue Airways Corp. for flights connecting through Boston and because customers are arranging early summer vacations on both sides of July Fourth.
Instead of the three- or four-day spike typical a round Independence Day, many of the state's tourism-dependent businesses expect a nine-day bounce as visitors either come early to celebrate the Fourth or stay late.
"Starting Sunday night, we're in very good shape through the week, and selling out July 4," said Lucy Slosser, spokeswoman for the Marriott Copley Place and Long Wharf hotels in Boston.
Tourism is always strong in Boston during the Fourth of July week "and the fact the holiday is falling on Wednesday is helping us" by enticing people to take two days off on either side of Wednesday to create five-day vacations, said Julie Burnes , director of the Mayor's Office of Arts, Tourism, and Special Events.
But Greater Boston won't have an easy time matching last year's visitor numbers and tourism spending during the run-up to July Fourth. In 2006, 12,000 Lions Club International members were in town just before the holiday to attend the organization's annual convention at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Hurricane Katrina devastated the New Orleans venue that had originally been booked for the convention.
The city is hosting about 8,000 members of the American Optometric Association attending the group's annual meeting at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center in the Back Bay today through Saturday. Another 4,000 conventioneers are coming the following weekend for an event at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center staged by McKesson Corp. , a major healthcare-industry service and technology provider.
"There aren't any conventions scheduled between those next week, so it's really about individual tourists, but it looks good" based on booking reports from hotels, said Larry Meehan , vice president of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau.
And it looks as if there will be plenty for visitors to do. The 26th annual Harborfest, starting today, offers more than 200 activities, including the Sunday Chowderfest on City Hall Plaza. More than 1,300 sailors from the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp and guided missile destroyer USS Bulkeley will be in town, along with three tall ships from Bermuda, India, and the Netherlands docked near Rowes Wharf. And a new 500-seat Hard Rock Cafe celebrates its grand opening Monday on Clinton Street, next to Quincy Market.
Visitor statistics aren't available from the Massachusetts Port Authority, which operates Logan International Airport, but travel industry officials say they see signs of solid growth in visits this month by Europeans to Boston and Eastern Massachusetts. Exchange rates for converting Euros into dollars are near record highs -- $1.34 yesterday, just 2 cents down from the April 30 peak. That makes Boston a bargain for Europeans.
To accommodate the demand, Iberia Airlines and Scottish discount carrier flyglobespan last month launched round trips to Logan from three new destinations: Madrid, Glasgow, and Ireland West Airport in Knock, County Mayo. Boston-bound Iberia flights are operating 85 percent full, airline officials say, and flyglobespan has also reported solid ticket sales through the summer.
Nationally, domestic vacation trips -- measured by nights Americans spend at a destination 50 or more miles from home -- are expected to increase about 2.3 percent this summer compared to last year, according to a survey released this week by New York market researchers IBISWorld.
But Beth White, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism, said a spot-check by the office found that the pattern of robust week long hotel and motel bookings in Boston may not hold up statewide.
"Anecdotally, we've heard from a lot of places where the occupancy rates in the middle of the week aren't as high as either end. The weekends are filling up, but in the middle of the week, there's still availability in many places" along the coast, she said, and also in the Berkshires and Pioneer Valley.
"Boston, obviously, has a really unique package to offer for the Fourth of July," White said.
Peter J. Howe can be reached at howe@globe.com. 
