Tourism business hit by recession

Calvert events report high attendance

Friday, Sept. 25, 2009

While vacationers seeking diversion close to home have inflated attendance at some local attractions and events, they also tend to spend less money, local officials and entrepreneurs report. Hotels were also reportedly far from full.

Anecdotally, hotel occupancy was down in Charles County, as was tourism spending. Attendance figures have not yet been compiled, according to Donna Dudley, county chief of tourism. Nonetheless, the region is doing better than the state as a whole.

"We're trying to put a positive spin on this, look for glimmers of hope, and I think there are glimmers," Dudley said.

Visitors to the Crain Memorial Welcome Center on U.S. 301 in Newburg increased by 4 percent this fiscal year, compared with a decrease of about 10 percent at centers statewide, according to figures Dudley received from Paulette Gray at the Crain center, which serves all of Southern Maryland.

Solomons Island is one of the region's most venerable tourist attractions, and institutions serving the area give mixed reviews of the season.

Carmen Nance-Sanders, owner of Carmen's Gallery on the island, said the season started very poorly but picked up as the summer progressed, possibly as consumers became more optimistic.

"I've certainly had better years," Nance-Sanders said. "Yeah, selling art in a recession, but thankfully some people still value art as much as they always did. … I think that maybe people are thinking the economy is turning a little bit and going, maybe slowly, in the right direction again and aren't quite as afraid. I had a lot of clients who still had money to purchase artwork but didn't know what the economy was doing so they were just sitting on it."

To increase sales, Nance-Sanders allows customers to pay for works of art in installments. She has also stocked less expensive items like handmade ponchos and jewelry for those customers who still want beautiful things but can't spend thousands of dollars on wall art, she said. She's also holding more special events to get people in the door.

Jeannie Stone of Stoney's Seafood said the summer "wasn't bad" and attributed a drop in sales to a lack of special events on the island. She said the government should help small business by offering tax breaks and easing up on permits.

"I think the Calvert County government really needs to help the retail people in Solomons because there's so many places that are closed now. There's only a couple things to do and only a couple places to shop," she said.

Kathy Magiera, marketing coordinator for Annmarie Garden, a public museum and sculpture garden in Dowell, said recent events, including last week's Artsfest, have been popular.

"We had a tremendously successful Artsfest this past weekend. … It was very well attended. We had families, singles, younger people — a very nice mix of individuals and families, and many people had been here for the first time so that was wonderful," Magiera said.

The Holiday Inn-Select did better than last year but was "down considerably" from business before the recession, said Lauren Simpson, vice president of operations for the company that owns the Solomons hotel.

"I think people were maybe sticking close to home, not making big travel plans and deciding at the last minute that they want to go somewhere," she said.

Calvert County tourism specialist Joyce Baki said September has been "extremely good" for the county, including Artsfest, an Alan Jackson concert and a War of 1812 re-enactment.

"Our numbers are either right in line or a little up from last year, which has been wonderful. Calvert Marine Museum has seen a bump in numbers, Calvert Cliffs State Park has seen a little bump in numbers. … It's not a lot, not a big bump, but it's not down. In all honesty I think that is because there are so many free or low-cost things to do in Calvert County," Baki said.

Baki did not have statistics for all county attractions broken down by season, but attendance at Calvert Marine Museum in Solomons climbed from 23,643 last June, July and August to 24,588, excluding special events.

Carolyn Laray, tourism manager with the St. Mary's County Department of Economic and Community Development, said the most recent figures available show an increase in visits to her county, which she mostly credited to the "Celebrate 375" campaign celebrating the 1634 landing on St. Clement's Island of Maryland's first European settlers.

emitrano@somdnews.com