Wet summer putting a damper on 'stay-cation' business
Gasoline prices giveth, and the rain taketh away.
That's how it looks, anyway, at this point in the tourism season on the North Shore.
At the beginning of the summer, officials and businesses hoped for a burst of "stay-cation" business from area daytrippers who didn't want to burn too much $4-a-gallon gas. But near-daily thunderstorms in July dented business in many locations, especially for those dependent on spur-of-the-moment customers.
"They look up, and then they decide," said Paul Aziz, captain of the Yankee Clipper harbor tours boat on the Newburyport boardwalk.
"Weather is the topic of conversation in Newburyport," said Ann Ormond, president of the Greater Newburyport Chamber of Commerce & Industry. "A couple of restaurants that have outdoor seating have talked about doing a yeoman's job of quickly putting the sides down and moving people inside. Those are the folks lucky enough to be on the water. Those that aren't are just, 'Ugh, another rainstorm.' "
"I think that's been frustrating for a lot of people," Ormond said. "If it's good weather, like when I was just uptown, uptown is busy. People are in and out of shops, having lunch, browsing. And if it's not nice, you're a lone man walking uptown in a slicker."
The weather is definitely affecting attendance at the House of Seven Gables in Salem, said Amy Waywell, director of visitor services and marketing. "Not just ours, but Salem in general this summer has been a little slower than we would like to see. The combination of the poor weather and the high gas prices are making people a little choosy, a little 'think twice' before they get in their car and drive somewhere."
July was "disappointing," down 3 to 5 percent at the historic attraction, "but I think August is starting to turn around," Waywell said.
Others were more sanguine, despite the bad weather.
"The season's going very well. We're seeing a lot of people, which is great," said Kate Fox, executive director of the Destination Salem marketing group. "The numbers are averaging out to be flat for the year . . . which I think is just fine, given the economy and gas prices."
"I can't help thinking the gate receipts at the beaches are down, but the inns and attractions are holding their own," said Beth Morris, economic development manager for the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce. "I think the more local you are, the easier it is to be put off by the weather forecast."
Visits to the National Park Visitors Center in Salem have been down significantly. In July, 32,883 people dropped by the center, compared with 38,898 in July 2007, a 15 percent drop. And the figures for the first half of August show an even larger difference. But National Park Service staffers said some of that may be offset by return visitors who don't come to the center on their second trip.
"We have been inundated with foreign visitors," especially Canadians and Europeans," said Peter LaChapelle, the center's chief of Interpretive Operations. Interestingly, many of them ask for commuter rail or ferry schedules, rather than driving directions, to get to other Massachusetts destinations, he said.
Numbers are difficult to come by at this point in the season, and some business are reluctant to share.
Ormond said business at the chamber's information booth near Newburyport's Market Square has notched a small increase in July despite the weather.
"I am definitely hearing people saying they are staying close to home," said Ormond, noting that 49 percent of information booth visitors were from Massachusetts, a little higher than usual.
The more upscale clientele at The Inn at Castle Hill in Ipswich hasn't been bothered by prices at the pump, said innkeeper Bob Chok. His business is up as much as 16 percent from last year, he said, which surprised him, given the weather. The increase, he speculated, may in part be because all the problems of the airline industry are putting people back on the roads.
"A lot of our business is fairly local," he said. "We're seeing Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. Maybe people are not traveling great distances because of [the difficulty with] flights."
One market segment that's doing better is foreign travelers, thanks to the strong euro versus the dollar.
"The US is kind of on sale," said Waywell, of the House of Seven Gables. "They can spend very little and have a terrific vacation, and they're staying longer - and they're spending, which is the good news for us.
"The gas prices in Canada are still higher than they are here," she added, bringing an increase in north-of-the-border visitors.
Others looked at the long-term. Aziz is adjusting to the gas prices.
"I am out the same time or even longer,.I'm just not going as fast, which is good for the environment," he said. "My fuel bill overall will probably be less this year. I can putt around a five-mile loop instead of a six-mile loop. I've tightened my belt that way."
And Ormond wondered if this rainy summer is a sign of changing global weather patterns.
"For me the other question is, moving forward, if all those pundits out there are saying this is because of the climate changes, how do we adjust? I don't know the answer to that," Ormond said. "We had a waterfront concert last Friday night. The band set up. We had the ominous skies. We said, 'OK, keep going.' And 25 minutes into the performance, BOOM, it started. And it was thunder and lightning. We have sound equipment, we have flags up. Do we look at that next year and say . . . do we put up a permanent tent?" 