You don't have to be a large tourist destination like Orlando or Las Vegas or New York City to have suffered from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a terrific deep-dive story, Vermont Business Magazine dissected the numbers and showed just how impactful the coronavirus has been on tourism in the last year.
Vermont, with its plethora of ski areas in the winter and vibrant Lake Champlain in the summer, has lost $700 million on what is normally a $3 billion annual business, according to Heather Pelham, commissioner of Vermont's Department of Tourism and Marketing.
Pelham shared that information at a February 9 hearing of the House Commerce and Economic Development Committee.
"So the estimates that we're seeing so far, these are preliminary numbers, but so far, we're looking at a loss of $48 million in rooms and meals tax receipts (revenue)," Pelham told the committee.
According to the state Tax Department, through the first three quarters of 2020, preliminary rooms and meals taxable receipts totaled $1 billion compared to $1.53 billion during the prior 2019 period.
In an interview with the magazine, Pelham said the travel and tourism industry in the state "is still very much in crisis mode."
"This is a very resilient industry and has tried to react to every step along the way ... to respond to this public health emergency, but this is an industry that has been more severely impacted than almost any other," she said.
Part of the losses has stemmed from the state-mandated travel restrictions to contain the pandemic.
Even with the travel restrictions in place, Pelham said the department continues to promote the state "to make sure people are thinking about Vermont that it stays top of minds and that they are making plans even if the timing might be delayed more than it might be in a normal year."
Vermont's hotel occupancy in 2020 was even lower than the national average of 44 percent last year.
Arguably, Vermont's ski resorts, which are some of the best in the country, took the biggest hit. Molly Mahar of the Vermont Ski Areas Association told Vermont Business Magazine that the season got off to a slow start with weather a factor.
But she also said ski areas wanted to ensure there was more terrain open so skiers could spread out more.
"You could have seen ski areas open sooner but they were waiting to get a little more terrain open," said Mahar, the VSAA executive director.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
