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

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Last year at this time, gas pricez rose to more than $4 per gallon, putting the brakes on traditional summerroad trips. Now gas is back around $2 a gallon, but a deep recession lingers aftere putting hundreds of thousands of American s out of work and causing milliones more to rein intheir “Gas prices are not as much of a concerhn right now as the overall consumer confidence and people’s concerns abou t their jobs and retirements,” said John Edman, who has been executivew director of for the past nine years. this will be a particularly challenging year forMinnesota operators, thoughy there is hope that Minnesotans who travel will do so closeer to home.
At Madden’s on Gull Lake in owner and GeneralManager C. Brian Thuringerr said this has beenthe “most of the four or five recessions he has seen during his 36 year at the resort. “This is the first time that the bottomj has reallyfallen out,” Thuringer said. there was always that feelingy that there was a slump andthings weren’ t flowing, but tomorrow was going to be great. This is the firs t time when people don’t reallyh know when tomorrow is.” A recent survey conductes by Explore Minnesota found that 57 percent ofthe state’ s lodging businesses saw revenue and occupancy decline in April and May as comparec to a year ago.
51 percent of Minnesota hotel and campgroundd operators said they expect business to remain flat or increasw this summer compared tolast summer. About 60 percent of surveyt respondents described the financial health of their businessesas “growing” or but positive.” There are some concerns abouty declining rates, but overall, Edman expects this to be a relativeluy strong summer for the state’s $11 billion-a-year tourism industry. The state typically generates abourt 37 percent ofits travel-related revenue duringb the months of July and August, and he thinks thosde peak months will be busy againn this year. “People are still going to want to Edman said.
“They’re just goingg to travel differently than they did inthe past. Peopls still need to get away for stress reliec andhealth reasons.” The biggest difference this year, Edmab predicts, will be where people decide to go. He expectxs that most people will stay closer to home andbook shorter, less-expensive tripd within driving distance of where they live. That’s why Explore Minnesota is changing itsmarketing Typically, it spends about 80 perceny of its marketing budget to promote the states to nonresidents, with the remaining 20 percent aimed at locals; this that split is closer to 60-40.
“We don’tg have oceans and we don’t have mountains, but we do have a lot of thingz thatare unique,” Edman said. “Whethet it’s fishing or hiking or those arerelatively low-cost activities that you can do You don’t have to go That could bode well for Minnesota resorts, as Twin Cities residentd book trips to Duluth or Brainerd, insteadr of venturing on week-long, cross-country trips, said Dave Siegel, president and CEO of Hospitalitu Minnesota, which oversees the state’s restaurant, and resort and campground “I think it’s going to be a good summer,” he “… I’m not projecting an increase, but I expect [resorts] to hold theirf own.
” Camping and fishing also coulfd see a boost in popularity this year, Siegel Meanwhile, officials at Minneapolis’ convention and visitor bureau, Meet Minneapolis, remains “cautiouslyu optimistic” about business this summer, said President and CEO Melvin Tennant. “A lot of our hospitality-industry executiveds believe we’ve either hit bottom or are close to hitting and that from thispoint on, we’rwe going to be able to see some very modest … I think this summer could be very good for us.
” Meet Minneapolids advertised its “Downtown Sizzle” which includes discount packageds at 12 participating hotels through September, with 450,000 promotionakl inserts in newspapers in the Twin Cities; Des Moines, Iowa; Fargo, N.D.; Wis.; Milwaukee; and Manitoba. Getting a true read on the summedr hospitality businessis however, because people are waiting longe to book their trips. So even the northerbn Minnesota resorts that anticipate a busy summe still have numerous openings duringpeak months. “It’a a much more last-minute vacation-planning experience,” Siegel “I think that’s understandable.
If people are nervous about their jobs or theireconomicf futures, they’re waiting until they have a greater degree of security before they make that reservation.”