Summer tourism good in Saratoga region despite storm setback

Summer tourism business in Saratoga Springs was trending better this year compared to the summer of 2010 until Tropical Storm Irene arrived.

“Leading up to Travers weekend most businesses were at least as good as last year and some [reported] increases,” said Jeff Clark, president of the Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association.

“But the biggest weekend of the year was ruined,” Clark said.

Tropical Storm Irene swept into Saratoga Springs late on Aug. 27. The Travers Stakes race was run with no problem at the Saratoga Race Course on Union Avenue but the next day’s racing was canceled.

“It’s hard to make up a weekend,” Clark said.

People were so concerned about the impending storm they canceled reservations at local hotels and didn’t stay in the city for dinner after the city’s biggest thoroughbred horse race of the year.

Clark said he thinks business will be a little off this year as compared to the summer of 2010 because of Irene.

“Hotels got a lot of last minute cancellations because of the storm,” Clark said.

“It was a good season but not the best ever,” said Marianne Barker, an owner of Impressions of Saratoga at 368 Broadway.

She said it really hurt all downtown businesses to lose the Sunday of Travers weekend. She said visitors go to the races on Saturday to watch the Travers but then spend Sunday shopping downtown.

“That really hurt to lose the Sunday,” Barker said. She said business at Impressions, which sells Saratoga-brand clothing, gifts, and collectibles, was off 25 percent from last year’s Travers weekend.

“If it hadn’t been for losing the Travers weekend, we would have been the same or a little better than last year,” Barker said.

“My sense is that right up until Irene we were looking really good,” said Todd Shimkus, president of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce. He said the city had a strong July and strong early August because the weather was excellent.

“I know hotel occupancy is up,” Shimkus said about the summer season. “People are staying but not necessarily spending as much.”

He said visitors tend to wait for discounted hotel and motel rates and often book their rooms online at the last minute.

The free downtown music festivals at the start and end of the racing meet and on Travers weekend were successful in bringing large crowds downtown.

The crowd at the Travers eve festival downtown the night before the race was larger than the 2010 crowd, he said.

Shimkus said everything is trending slightly higher this summer season as compared to last summer. He said the chamber will have its final occupancy and other business numbers for the summer season in a week or so.

“Given that the recession is still pending, we did very well,” said Mayor Scott Johnson.

In light of the problematic national economy, Saratoga Springs had a successful summer, he said.

But he added that the city took a “big hit” when it lost one full day of racing on Aug. 28 because of Tropical Storm Irene. He said retail, lodging, and restaurants all lost considerable business because of the storm.

Lake George

Businesses in Lake George were also impacted by the storm.

Heavy rain from Tropical Storm Irene flooded some motels, destroyed docks, and left Lake George Village without power for about 24 hours.

“Business was definitely an improvement from the last couple of years,” said Gisella Dentato, an owner of Brookside Motel just north of Lake George Village.

“We had a very good summer,” Dentato said. She said her motel suffered some water and storm damage but it wasn’t as bad as the flooding at some businesses in the village.

She said people are again taking vacations after not doing so for a year or two because of the difficult economy.

However, she said people staying at her 36-room motel appear to be cutting back on going out to dinner at an expensive restaurant.

She said some of her guests use the grills available at the motel or had pizza delivered rather going out to eat.

Marisa Muratori, a former Lake George Village trustee whose family has owned businesses in the village over the years, said it depends on who you ask whether the season was good or bad in Lake George.

“One will say it was great, some will say it was terrible,” she said.

“It seems a little off,” Muratori said about her general feeling comparing this summer to last summer.

But she said it’s surprising, when the weather is good lots of people come to Lake George.

Muratori said the horse racing meet in Saratoga Springs also really helps Lake George. She said many racing fans stay in Lake George and drive to Saratoga to attend the races.

“But the lake is still the big draw,” she said.

Categories: Uncategorized