NEWS

Brighter days seen for Seacoast tourism and travel

Denise J. Wheeler, news@seacoastonline.com
Kathy Burns Lamphier, president of POSH Travel in Greenland, has visited all seven continents, including Antarctica. She is planning vacations for people who are getting stir crazy and predicts that when travelers start venturing out, they will begin with short, regional trips. [Denise J. Wheeler photo]

Editor’s note: This article is part of the Rebuilding America series, which explores the reopening of the nation and the Seacoast following the shutdown caused by the novel coronavirus.

From boutique hotels to campgrounds, arts festivals to secluded hiking, the Seacoast’s economy is rooted in a strong summer season. Uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 threatens that.

While suppressing the virus until a vaccine is produced resembles whack-a-mole games along Hampton Beach’s strip, local tourism and travel industry leaders say the Seacoast is better equipped than most to bounce back as the country slowly reopens.

As director of Portsmouth International Airport at Pease, Paul Brean monitors COVID-19’s impact on the aviation industry from a global, national and local perspective. He said although the industry was crippled in late March and April, there is optimism for domestic leisure travel, especially for New Hampshire and Maine’s seacoast.

“Seacoast tourism has a strong advantage over other areas of the country,” Brean said. “Travelers are drawn to the recreational and leisure activities that our incredible landscape and coastal communities offer. Quaint shops and restaurants are the attraction, not large-scale resorts and theme parks. The consumer will feel very comfortable in the Seacoast as opposed to larger tourist destinations where adapting to social distancing will be prolonged.”

Brean said collaboration between state government, local officials and area chambers of commerce helps ensure businesses preparing for tourist season do so safely.

“I’m confident as states reopen the Seacoast will be an attractive destination to travelers not only by air, but rail and automobile,” he said.

He said industry experts forecast consumers will feel most confident booking domestic travel, and leisure travel will be the first segment to return. He has already seen evidence of that at Allegiant Air at Pease. Bookings are up and some flights arriving in Portsmouth are at capacity.

“We clearly bottomed out in April, but recognize consumer confidence is returning as our passenger loads increase daily,” Brean said.

“Analysts predict consumers will forfeit big ticket resort and cruise vacations for shorter ‘leisure’ trips that are blended with family visits,” he added. “The Seacoast will be a homecoming for the millennial demographic that is most eager to return to a foodie destination and enjoy ‘normalcy’ post COVID-19. I cannot think of a more ideal location that blends family, food and recreation than the Seacoast.”

Boutique hotel owner Amanda McSharry predicts her first guests at The Sailmaker’s House in Portsmouth and Water Street Inn in Kittery will be on short, regional vacations.

“In the past, our guests have ranged from people traveling from other parts of the world to people traveling from other parts of the state,” McSharry said. “But I imagine people are going to play it safe and start with smaller trips.”

The summer occupancy rate is 96% at her inns, but that will change this year.

“We will not be flipping rooms from one guest to next,” she said. “We will let rooms sit for a few days and clear the air as part of the cleaning process. That will naturally decrease occupancy.”

Both inns have less than a dozen rooms and have been closed since late March. McSharry said she is awaiting word from state governments about when she can reopen to the general public. Maine, as of June 1, allows residents as hotel guests and out-of-state visitors who have to quarantined for two weeks. In New Hampshire, the governor has said he plans to make an announcement about hotels before month’s end.

McSharry said no one is booking for July or August yet.

“We are comfortable taking reservations per the governors’ in both states guidelines,” she said. “Our model is self-check-in, so guests don’t need to stand at a counter for eight minutes. They can go straight to their room. We have upped cleaning procedures and will be consistently sanitizing common areas. We will ask guests to wear masks in common areas and will have locally made cloth masks for sale.”

Though most arts and cultural events were postponed or canceled for the season, McSharry says the region’s natural beauty, historic charm and fine dining are attractions. She envisions guests enjoying activities such as biking, kayaking, fishing, self-guided walking tours, picnics in Prescott Park and dining at restaurant patios or via take-out.

Travel is on the minds of many, said Kathy Burns Lamphier of POSH Travel in Greenland. A self-proclaimed life-long explorer and wanderer, Burns has visited all seven continents, including Antarctica.

She advises travel-lovers to dream now and travel later. Her office did not close during the shutdown. She said she believes people need vacations to look forward to, especially in the days of quarantine, and she is planning regional spa and coastal getaways, among others, as she prepares for business to ramp up.

“For June, July, maybe August, the majority of people feeling stir crazy will do driving trips, so I’m creating mini-itineraries throughout New England with exclusive amenities and perks for my clients,” she said.

Her destinations include Chatham Bars Inn on Cape Cod, Miraval Berkshires, which includes equine, yoga, culinary, fitness, an organic farm, and an 18-hole golf course, and a getaway at the Cliff House in Ogunquit.

“The Cliff House is close by, but it’s so magical, it feels like it’s a world away,” Lamphier said.

She is not creating trips to coronavirus hotspots such as Boston and New York at this time. As for travel abroad, she predicts the Caribbean will open up for the holidays, then Italy. She said she’s hoping to get to Venice while it’s still quiet there.

As far as international travelers returning to Portsmouth, Brean said that will take a while.

“Experts forecast international tourism will be non-existent for the near future and the impact will linger for years,” he said. “Airline capacity reductions and fleet downsizing will eliminate the low-cost international segment that blossomed during the last decade. It will take years to restore the airline seat capacity that allowed Europeans to visit New England on a leisure fare.”