Lake George biz: Less than 2021 but still ‘robust’

By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor

We’ve been hearing it’s not as busy this season in Lake George, or the region.

“What I’m hearing is it’s a little bit down from last year,” says Lake George Village Mayor Bob Blais. “Of course, that was our best year ever.”

He says parking meter revenues, an indicator, are down “about 3.4 percent.”

At Thursday fireworks shows, “The cars are not parked back as far as they were last year, and the village is emptying out a lot quicker,” Mayor Blais adds.

“Last year was a banner year,” says Gina Mintzer, president of the Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau. She called the Covid years “a magic bubble.”

“It’s still strong and robust,” she says. “Maybe not 2021, but stronger than 2019.”

“Things are going to keep changing, and you have to learn to keep adjusting,” says Kathy Flacke Muncil, CEO of the Fort William Henry.

“Business is shifting back to some level of the old days, but nothing is the same,” Mrs. Muncil says. “What’s happening now was bound to happen. You can’t be faint of heart in the hotel and seasonal business. Is it horrible? No.”

Coming out of Covid, things still aren’t back to normal — “maybe never will be,” says Joe Mondello, owner of The Lagoon restaurant, but that business is still good.

“This is what’s normal now,” he says. “It’s going to be unpredictable. Who knows what comes our way again?”

Mr. Mondello, who also owns Blue 32 restaurant, said of The Lagoon, “From Memorial Day on, our numbers are up. We’re lucky. We’re on the lake. If the weather is good, that’s good for us.”

He said March and April “were extremely slow,” especially compared to the prior year, when “people still had Covid relief checks to spend.”

“It helps that we are year-round, so we have a good core staff. We’re also open seven days a week, when not all the restaurants can do that.”

“The summer season has seen some bright spots,” Ms. Mintzer says.

“Events are back in full, everything from Americade to the Wine and Food Festival,” as well as less visible events that draw out-of-town guests, such as recent softball and lacrosse tournaments.

Even as Americade reportedly drew fewer, Ms. Mintzer says, “If you look at other weekends, there are major motorcycle groups all around. They learned about it from Americade, and they are still coming, but maybe at a different time.”

“We’re seeing the Canadian customers coming back, which we haven’t had since 2019. That was 12 to 30 percent for some businesses, and we didn’t have that, but it was backfilled with New Yorkers.”

On the flip side, Ms. Mintzer says, “Those who discovered us during Covid… now maybe they have the resources to travel farther afield, or abroad.”

“More similar to 2019, we are seeing dips in occupancy mid-week, and there’s a little less boat traffic,” Ms. Mintzer said.

Anecdotally, she said she sees more families with kids on weekends, and maybe older couples on weekdays.

She and Mayor Blais both note the region’s many free activities, from concerts in the park to hiking and swimming, that attract visitors looking to spend less.

Mrs. Muncil says, “It will really fall out with how the occupancy tax goes,” when that is reported later this year. “How the hotels go is how the restaurants go.

The J-1 international students are back working in the region, Ms. Mintzer notes, “not 1,000 as in the past, but about 70 percent.”

She said Greater Glens Falls Transit chief Scott Sopczyk said they produced more than 500 passcards for J-1 workers, who typically ride the trolley to work — another indication that “they’re back, more work force to serve more guests.”

“There’s still remains a staffing shortage,” said Mrs. Muncil. “They don’t always come in with experience, culinary-wise,” for example. She said housing is a growing issue, with entry-level workers unable to afford living in town.

“That’s not a quick fix, but the EDC is addressing that with the county.”

Rooms fill, but rates are down

“It’s still the best area to visit,” asserts Mrs. Muncil, but “we’re a little behind relative to the competition,” citing data from industry reporter Smith Travel Research.

Ms. Mintzer said Lake George hotels showed 75 to 85 percent occupancy on weekdays, 95 percent on weekends, in the most recent Smith Travel report.

“We are only down about 1 percent” over last year, she said, “but also, room rates are down significantly.

“Last year we were able to charge more because demand was so high,” she said.

“The weekends are still strong,” Mrs. Muncil agrees, “We’re constantly adjusting” pricing, with same-day reduced rate specials to fill empty rooms, for example.

Mrs. Muncil and Mr. Mondello said the Ice Castles attraction “was a big help.”

“The winter was so strong that businesses had the cash flow to budget ahead,” Ms. Mintzer said. “They brought in a pallet of napkins, or bought cups and towels ahead, which helped with the supply shortage.”

Fort William Henry resort did “a lot of renovations,” over the last two years, Mrs. Muncil says. She says they invested more than $4 million upgrading about 50 of their 197 rooms, doubling the size of the kitchen to better accommodate special events and guest dining both, and upgrading the conference center.

“We’re making our budget,” Mrs. Muncil says. She said attendance at the Fort William Henry’s museum is “good,” with new augmented reality exhibits, and that they expanded the haunted ghost tours to seven nights a week to meet demand.

“I am concerned for the little guys,” smaller accommodations that maybe don’t have the technology to adjust as quickly,” said Mrs. Muncil. “I know the County is on it,” even while the Tourism Department is in the process of replacing retired director Joanne Conley and County Administrator Ryan Moore “just left.”

Mrs. Muncil said, “It’s important for the community and the county to continue working together. We don’t have our Thursday meetings anymore,” the weekly support network of hotels and other tourism businesses that was initiated during the pandemic. “I think we’ll start again when it’s less busy after the summer,”

“Those last two years prepared us for a lot,” Mr. Mondello said. He describes a similar network of Lake George restaurants that coalesced to help each other with strategizing, and sometimes “even sharing product, if someone runs out.”

“Everybody recognized, we’re all better off if we all succeed,” Mr. Mondello says.

Copyright © 2022 Lone Oak Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved