Connecticut tourism faces slow summer
State’s hotels scheduled to reopen in June
The state’s recent announcement allowing hotels to reopen June 20 has revived hopes for a successful summer of tourism, particularly in Connecticut’s shoreline towns. However, industry professionals emphasize that visitors and residents should anticipate a new type of vacation in 2020.
“Clearly we want to do everything safely,” said Ginny Kozlowski, executive director of the Connecticut Lodging Association. “It’s not going to be the exact same experience you’ve had in the past.”
Kozlowski recently said guests may see plexiglass separating employees from customers, as it does in supermarkets. Rooms may be cleaned at the beginning and end of guests’ stays, rather than every day. Instead of glass cups and mugs, hotels may return to disposables. Hand sanitizer should also be accessible to guests.
“Just think about the things you touch in a hotel room,” said Kozlowski, listing remote controls, doorknobs, light switches.
While business owners in the lodging industry “expressed relief ” that they finally had a reopening date, many were disappointed to miss Memorial Day weekend revenue, she explained. However, the weekend of July 4 is expected to be an important one for hotels and shoreline tourism overall.
“We’re ready to go,” said Peggy Roberts, president of the Greater Mystic Chamber of Commerce.
Roberts said downtown Mystic appears as it might on any warm spring day, with a number of visitors who seemed eager to take advantage of the area’s offerings and the pleasant weather “in a responsible way.”
However, she said “we would be fooling
ourselves” to expect complete normalcy.
“It’s going to look different, but we’re still hopeful we’re going to have a strong year,” she said.
Because people may not be looking to go too far from home, Roberts reasoned they may take more local “stay-cations” instead of flying off to another destination.
“We’re going to be as normal as we can be under the circumstances,” she said. “Our region is dependent on tourism and everyone is anxious to get to it. … We could have a very good summer, as long as people are willing to take precautions.”
A different look
While state officials are drafting specific guidelines for the hotels and inns, Kozlowski said the association has a general idea of what to expect. They recently shared recommendations issued by the American Hotel and Lodging Association with Connecticut’s reopening committee.
“[The guidelines] will seek to change hotel industry norms, behaviors and standards to ensure both hotel guests and employees are confident in the cleanliness and safety of hotels once travel resumes,” said Chip Rogers, president and CEO of the association, in a statement.
Among the guidelines mentioned are frequent hand-washing and the placement of hand sanitizer in meeting spaces, lobby receptions, exercise areas, and other points of contact between guests and employees. Hotels should also have signage requiring the use of masks by guests and employees for as long as it is recommended to do so by the
CDC and/or local health authorities.
Employees must complete sanitation training and use personal protective equipment, as well as regularly undergo health checks. Any confirmed cases of COVID-19 must immediately be reported to local health authorities. Guests must be kept at least six feet apart in shared spaces.
The state lodging association has already recommended to its members that they begin tackling the requirements for offices, outdoor dining, and shops, if their hotel properties contain any such spaces.
“Get started now, because those things have to be addressed,” Kozlowski said. ”Bottom line: There’s a lot of work that needs to be done to have hotels opened.”
Just as some phase one businesses did not reopen on May 20, Kozlowski anticipates some hotels may not open as soon as they are permitted.
Since many Connecticut grade schools do not finish before June, July and August tend to be more popular vacation months which beach towns “can still capitalize on,” said Sheri Cote, president of the Shoreline Chamber of Commerce.
She called the reopening of hotels on June 20 “very good news” for the state’s tourism industry.
“It will give people a place to stay when they come visit us. … If they come here and they don’t have a place to stay, that’s going to be problematic,” she said. “Because the weather has warmed up and the sun is shining, people are out and about. They’re tired of being quarantined. They want out of their houses.”
Cote said it was “imperative” that Gov. Ned Lamont fund tourism marketing for the state.
“The tourism industry has suffered greatly during this shutdown period, and it’s important that we advertise the great state of Connecticut to bring visitors back this summer and keep our venues in business,” she said.
While Cote saw many shoreline restaurants successfully reopened their patios Wednesday for outdoor dining, she also noticed some residents not wearing masks.
“I would just caution people to please continue to wear their masks. I think people get a little complacent, unfortunately. They think, ‘Oh, we’re back open and so everything is kind of off the table,’ ” said Cote. “They need to remember that we still have to take our safety precautions and keep the virus from spreading.”
Kozlowski agreed, saying, “It’s all going to depend on the actions of the folks in the state of Connecticut, and other places, to keep our numbers going in the right direction.”
Courant reporter Amanda Blanco can be reached at ablanco@courant.com