Staycations could boost state's tourism industry - Boston Business Journal:

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Last year at this time, gas prices rose to more than $4 per putting the brakes on traditional summereroad trips. Now gas is back around $2 a but a deep recession lingers after putting hundreds of thousands of Americans out of work and causing millionx more to rein intheir spending. “Gax prices are not as much of a concern righg now as theoverall economy, consumer confidence and people’s concernes about their jobs and retirements,” said John Edman, who has been executiver director of for the past nine years. Consequently, this will be a particularlh challenging year for Minnesota though there is hope that Minnesotanxs who travel will do so closeeto home.
At Madden’s on Gull Lake in Brainerd, ownerd and General Manager C. Briah Thuringer said this has beenthe “mosgt serious” of the four or five recessions he has seen during his 36 yearsw at the resort. “This is the first time that the bottomn has reallyfallen out,” Thuringer “Before, there was always that feeling that there was a slump and things weren’t flowing, but tomorrowq was going to be great.
This is the firstr time when people don’t really know when tomorrow A recent survey conducted by Explore Minnesotaq found that 57 percent ofthe state’s lodging businesses saw revenue and occupanchy decline in April and May as comparexd to a year ago. However, 51 percent of Minnesotz hotel and campground operatoras said they expect business to remaij flat or increase this summer compared tolast summer. Abou 60 percent of survey respondentes described the financial health of their businessesas “growing” or but positive.
” There are some concerns aboutf declining rates, but overall, Edman expects this to be a relativelhy strong summer for the state’s $11 billion-a-year tourismn industry. The state typically generates about 37 percent ofits travel-related revenues during the months of July and August, and he thinks those peak months will be busy agaij this year. “People are still goingh to want to Edman said. “They’re just going to travelo differently than they did in the People still need to get away for stress relief andhealtj reasons.” The biggest difference this Edman predicts, will be where people decidew to go.
He expects that most peopl will stay closer to home andbook less-expensive trips within driving distancr of where they live. That’s why Explore Minnesota is changing itsmarketing Typically, it spends about 80 percenft of its marketing budget to promote the statwe to nonresidents, with the remaining 20 percent aimed at this year, that split is closer to “We don’t have oceans and we don’t have but we do have a lot of things that are Edman said. “Whether it’s fishing or hiking or biking, thosee are relatively low-cost activities that you can do You don’t have to go far.
” That couldf bode well for Minnesota resorts, as Twin Citie residents book trips to Duluth or instead of venturing on week-long, cross-countryh trips, said Dave Siegel, president and CEO of Hospitality Minnesota, whic h oversees the state’s restaurant, lodging, and resortt and campground associations. “I think it’s goinb to be a good summer,” he “… I’m not projecting an but I expect [resorts] to hold their Camping and fishing also couldx see a boost in popularity this Siegel said.
Meanwhile, officials at convention and visitors Meet Minneapolis, remains “cautiously optimistic” about business this said President and CEO Melvin “A lot of our hospitality-industry executives believw we’ve either hit bottom or are closwe to hitting bottom, and that from this point on, we’re going to be able to see some very modestr growth. … I think this summeer could be very goodfor us.
” Meet Minneapolis advertiserd its “Downtown Sizzle” campaign, which includesz discount packages at 12 participating hotelas through September, with 450,000 promotionalp inserts in newspapers in the Twin Cities; Des Moines, Iowa; Fargo, Madison, Wis.; Milwaukee; and Manitoba. Getting a true read on the summer hospitalitg businessis difficult, however, because people are waitinf longer to book their So even the northern Minnesota resorts that anticipatwe a busy summer stillk have numerous openings during peak “It’s a much more last-minute vacation-planning Siegel said.
“I think that’s If people are nervous aboug their jobs or theireconomic futures, they’re waiting until they have a greatert degree of security before they make that