New Hampshire travel, hospitality sectors look to vaccines, loyal patrons to get through winter

By Sarah Downey | The Center Square

New Hampshire hospitality and tourism businesses are counting on an efficient rollout of COVID-19 vaccinations to help draw the numbers of patrons they enjoyed before the pandemic.

“It’s all about vaccinations and consumer confidence to get everything going again,” Mike Somers, chief executive officer of the New Hampshire Restaurant and Lodging Association (NHRLA), told The Center Square. “And that’s universal in tourism across the country; consumer confidence and being willing to travel.”

New Hampshire hotel occupancy rates have fared better than the rest of the country and other New England states, but consumer confidence is still quite low.

“Right now, this has been the toughest stretch of this entire effort,” Somers said. “We are encouraging folks to support local businesses, to dine in restaurants, all those little things, to help them survive. Every little bit is going to be crucial to these folks making it through.”

The NHRLA has launched an initiative called the Rally for New Hampshire Restaurants to help educate the public.

Businesses expect the tide to more fully turn once vaccinations can be more widely distributed.

“With vaccinations comes easing of restrictions that allows us to fill our hotels and restaurants and get back to some resemblance of normal like we had prior to the pandemic,” Somers said.

Opening the border with Canada also will be key.

“Canadians are a huge part of North Country business, which was a huge drawback for the industry,” Somers said.

While a variety of outdoor activities have continued to draw people to New Hampshire, canceled events mean visitors to cultural attractions are fewer in numbers.

“Last year’s visitors were from driving markets because we didn’t have travel restrictions on them,” Somers said.

Corporate business at hotels and restaurants, which has mostly stopped, needs to come back as well.

“It’s going to be all about vaccinations,” Somers said. “The faster we can get folks vaccinated, that’s the important thing.”

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Florian

5 thoughts on “New Hampshire travel, hospitality sectors look to vaccines, loyal patrons to get through winter

  1. Goes w/o saying that each official in any industry is speaking on behalf of the wage worker as they are also parts of industry.

    Although vaccine may be good for industry – it’s not good for humans or animals as both have severe reactions or die when confronted with the virus responding to the marker.

    Biggest fear is that employees will be pressured to take the vax – personally will not wear a mask or take vax and hope others don’t either.

  2. Control-freak much lol For someone whose entire comment history is mostly devoted to preaching to others on religious life, how to act and what to do and presenting as bad example imo including large doses of hypocrisy. Slamming conservatives including party leadership and now several direct TNR slams on just one page of strories accusing of being Digger.

    Derailing threads bc you disagree rather than debating on substance what exactly are you doing here except ordering others around. And have now added GG to your laundry list of doing more to help TNR. What an insult to our great authors. Of course – could always request a refund lol.

    Interestingly – nary a peep about Democrat bffs as they terrorize our state and nation, unless it’s to slam conservative voices pointing out their routine bad behavior except for occasional offhand remark that ‘they’ve been taken over by nwo pimps’ Ya think lol

  3. This seems to be corporate b.s. If you look toward granite grok people are revolting over in NH.

    We could be helping our neighbors expose their voting corruption, they could be helping us with our lt governor* Molly gray fiasco.

    Sometimes neighbors can do for the other that which is stymied within their own state. One scratching the back of another.

    Or are we a just rino’s pimping for the new world order?

    I guess based upon actions I have my answer. Sometimes facing reality is not what it’s cracked up to be. Well there are at least 17 in Vermont.

    Yeah let’s do news coverage and press for the Rinos in New England. Why are people so easily selling their souls? Will this place become Vt digger 2?

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