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Double Trouble as Tourism Weathers the Recession

August 18, 2009 - BELGRADE -- John Rice expected some cancellations and fewer boat rentals at his fishing camp on Long Pond because of the recession.

But the cold, wet summer has provided a double whammy.

Rice, who owns Castle Island Camps in Belgrade Lakes, said business is off about 30 percent this season because of the economy and raw weather.

"Summer has been tough," Rice said Wednesday. "It was the worst time to have a hard summer. In the past, if it was nice and sunny and you had a cancellation, there was a good chance of filling that. People only made one trip this year and wanted to make sure it was nice, so we didn't fill our vacancies as well."

His customers didn't stay as long, he said, and only rented a boat for a couple of days or not at all. Families who own summer homes on the lake or had been renting the same cottage for years, also stayed away this season, he said.

Improved weather this month has brought in more business, he said, but there's only three weeks until Labor Day – when schools go back into session and, for many families, summer ends.

"We usually average between 25 to 30 people in camp every year. But during that wet spell in July, we had a couple of weeks our numbers were down around 20," he said. "We aren't used to experiencing that. But we're full now and full for the next three weeks. People are making last-minute reservations, but it won't make up for everything."

June was the fifth-wettest month ever recorded in Maine with 8.36 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service in Gray. July was even worse. With 8.6 inches, it was the second-wettest month on record.

Vaughn Stinson, CEO of the Maine Tourism Association, said state tourism is down about 15 percent from last year because of the weather.

He said the southern end of Maine did much better than the northern section. That's because the southern part is closer to larger populated areas, he said.

"Weather is a factor for Maine more than anything else," Stinson said.

Asked to forecast the impact on this tourism season, Stinson said, "When you're weather-related as we are, and 2008 was the wettest year in Maine in 138 years and that was 2008, what do you think 2009 is going to be?"

Despite bad weather, Maine had a lot going for it this season, he said. Fuel costs didn't escalate as they did last season, and seafood such as lobster is selling at bargain prices.

"Our numbers are off at the visitor information centers, not enough folks stopping because of the weather. But right now they're through the roof," he said.

The Maine Office of Tourism markets the state aggressively in New York and Massachusetts, with more information on Maine in print and electronic media there than ever before, he said.

"Another thing not to overlook that has worked in our favor is the Canadian exchange rate," Stinson said. "When ours is closer with the Canadian dollar, we have seen a positive response with (Canadians) shopping and participating with what we've got going on in Maine."

Patricia Eltman, director of the Maine Office of Tourism, said she won't know how tourism did this year until all the numbers are in.

"We just have anecdotal information," Eltman said. "It's no secret June and July were challenging for us. I don't know the numbers and won't know until the research is done for the season.

"With fall coming up and the weather straightening out, we're hoping to have a great September and October into November so we can catch up. Fall is beautiful in Maine."

Nancy Kirkpatrick, owner of KOA campgrounds in Richmond, said she "got rained out" and lost 30 percent of her business. Even her local visitors didn't camp this summer. But two weeks ago, that turned around.

"We're busier than ever," Kirkpatrick said. "But this has hurt us financially. If you lose the Fourth of July – and it rained that whole weekend – the rule of thumb for campgrounds is you lose the summer. We lost May, we lost June and we lost July. However, August is just booming. Up through Labor Day it's going to be OK. In fact, we're busier now than we were last year at this time."

The Cabins at China Lake also got a hit this summer because of the weather.

Laura Bisbee, who manages the business for her parents, said some of her guests actually left a few days earlier than planned because of the rain.

"I don't know if it's the economy or the weather," Bisbee said. "We have a theory. Once it gets sunny out, people are like 'Oh, it's sunny,' and make reservations. Because it's raining so much, people didn't do that. They don't think of vacations because they don't think it's summer."

By MECHELE COOPER, Kennebec Journal August 16, 2009


Lakes: Great Pond, Long Pond
Regions: Belgrade


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