February 2022 Newsletter
Positive Events Fill the Fall and New Year Calendar
New Year’s Day 2022 rang in the New Year with a celebration of the traditional. Over 50 local and regional antique dealers showcased their collections at the Sturbridge Host Hotel. Hundreds of antique lovers enjoyed this return to an in person event. Link to www.theantiquecollectiblesshow.com or Facebook at AntiqueCollectiblesShow.
October and November saw a return or continuation of 5 popular Sturbridge events. Collectively, all of these events attract thousands of attendees who are generating local spending with some hotel stays. Early October saw a return of the annual Doll and Bear Miniature Show by Wendy Davis to the Host Hotel. The annual Herbfest Show, sponsored by local business owner Salli Greene of Alternatives for Health also resumed offering attendees helpful health and mindfulness resources. The Chamber’s Harvest Festival returned to the Town Common offering attendees a broad range of fun offerings. The Pintastic New England pinball and games event returned to the Host Hotel entertaining hundreds of game geeks along with filling several hundred hotel rooms. Mid November saw the Home of the Brave 5K race which hosted over 100 runners running to support local veteran support programs.
Survey of Hotel and Storeowners Offers Cautious Outlooks
A December survey of hotel owners and storeowners generated a variety of experiences and outlooks from the 5 of 9 hotels that responded. Although there was an even division (either good or uncertain) on the outlook for 2022, 4 of 5 stores noted that 2021 was a good year and one said 2021 was fair. 4 out of 5 hotels reported that Summer and Fall are their busiest seasons. There was mixed reaction about whether Old Sturbridge Village generated local spending, but 7 out of 9 stores would, if created, offer a discount to OSV visitors. Based on the survey responses, the sources of foot traffic is a combination of all forms of travelers.There were 9 responses from 15 locally owned businesses. While their outlook for 2022 was good, their experiences for 2021 were not better than the pre Covid year of 2019. 75% to 90% of their customer base is local. 80% are within a 25 mile range.
Hotel and Meals Spending Rebounds
Sturbridge Hotel spending this Summer 2021 was $5.3 million, a welcome return to the Summer spending levels from 2017 to 2019 which averaged $5.6 million. Hotel spending for the Summer of 2020 was $3.2 million. Meals spending for the Summer of 2021 rose to $19.2 million, a 12% increase above the summers of 2017 to 2019. Alternatively, meals spending in the Summer of 2020 was $10 million, a 70% decline from the averages of 2017-2019. If spending this Fall stays on pace with this Summer then annual meals spending for 2021 will hopefully return very close to pre-pandemic levels.