Summer tourism seen strong again
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While the 2020 pandemic severely hurt tourism across thae United States, Chautauqua County has not only recovered, but exceeded numbers from 2019.
According to Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau Director Andrew Nixon, last year things basically recovered from COVID-19. "2022 was good and 2023 was about on par with 2022, so we've had a couple of good years of sort of the same level," he said.
Nixon bases his opinion analyzing occupancy tax revenue collected and a separate hotel lodging occupancy survey. "In 2021, the area did well in terms of occupancy tax collection. I think a lot of that had to do with vacation homes and Airbnbs," he said.
Last year vacation homes and Airbnbs continued to perform strong, and hotels made a comeback. "They seem to be on par in 2023 with how they did in 2022, so they've come back nicely," Nixon said.
While 2023's occupancy tax numbers have not been finalized, 2022's occupancy tax rates were actually higher than both 2018 and 2019.
Nixon believes post-pandemic many people are coming to Chautauqua County to enjoy the outdoors. "Whether it's recreation like lakes, trails and golf courses, or whether it's just outdoor performances, like at the Dunkirk Pier, the Whirlybird Music Festival or the Great (Blue) Heron Music Festival, those kind of events draw people in. They've done better in the last couple of years than their counterparts," he said.
Another key tourism industry leader is Chautauqua Institution. "Chautauqua Institution came back with a full, complete season in 2022, and they repeated that in 2023, so they're building back nicely as well, but probably at a slightly slower pace than the outdoor recreation," he said.
The area lakes always draw a large presence in the summer and 2023 was no exception. Some years there are a lot of complaints about weeds in Chautauqua Lake, but not this year. "I will say that even in years where it's said to be 'bad' it's not bad. It's selectively bad, or bad possibly in a specific region or bay of the lake, but Chautauqua Lake overall has continued to be a great experience," he said.
This summer brought warm temperatures in June and July. While much of the country was experiencing record highs in August, it was cooler for part of the month. Nixon said individuals who are staying for multiple days aren't likely to cancel their visit, but bad weather can affect the day visitor. "We had some ups and downs with the weather. ... I know Labor Day was very busy throughout the area with excellent weather. There were events all over the county," he said.
In terms of a single event, Nixon believes it is probably the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival. "Reports are that they did well," he said.
They're not the only ones who had a good draw. Nixon said the Gerry Rodeo had possibly their biggest year to date, while Westfield and Bemus Point had some strong community events as well.
With the change of the season, Nixon said there's still plenty on the calendar. "With the fall, there's a lot good weekend events that center on agricultural related experiences. Whether it's wine trail events, or Peak'n Peek's fall events, the Busti Apple Festival, they all tend to take place in mid-September to mid-October so there's a good busy month there," he said.
A lot of the events are scheduled so that visitors who want to see the fall foliage can have another reason to visit the county. "It's the next big reason for people to tour through the area, or take mini-vacation getaways," he said.
Winter tourism usually depends a lot on snow. If there's enough snow, snowmobiling is a popular draw to the area. If there isn't a lot of snow, but the temperatures stay cold, ski resorts can make their own snow.
Nixon suspects 50% of tourism revenue takes places in June, July and August, with 75% coming from May to October. "Summer by far is the leader," he said.
This spring there could be an exception. On April 8 is the total solar eclipse, which has predicted large numbers of people coming to Chautauqua County. Estimates have ranged anywhere from 50,000 to 1 million people driving to or through the county.
Nixon said hotels are going fast. "I've heard that the Chautauqua Harbor Hotel is completely sold out on a package they had related to the eclipse. Other lodging properties are getting calls on a regular basis. We expect it to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a bump in an otherwise slow time in early April," he said.
For a full list of events happening in Chautauqua aCounty, visit tourchautauqua.com.